Clean Transcript

Rebellion Made Plain

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• I want you to open your Bibles to two chapters, Jeremiah chapter 28 and 29. Jeremiah chapter 28 and 29. We're going to begin by reading the first four verses of Jeremiah 28. We will come back and look at that passage, then Jeremiah 29 as well. The title of the message is "Rebellion Made Plain and Simple." So look, if you would, Jeremiah 28 verse 1: "And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that

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• Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests, and of all the people, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon. And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, saith the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon."

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• Remember, the title of this message is "Rebellion Made Plain and Simple." Years ago, I preached a message on this passage, I think, that I just simply entitled "Teaching Rebellion." I also have a series, I think, of three messages from Isaiah chapter 1 on rebellion. But if you've forgotten those messages, I would encourage you to listen to them. Although they may be pertinent to this message, I am not re-preaching them nor bringing any thoughts out of them particularly. But the enunciated truth there is just the same as the enunciated truth today. When we think of rebellion, what we normally think of is riots and revolution. We think of people looting and burning and stealing, and sometimes even a murder. When we think of rebellion, we think of teenagers that won't listen, or husbands that won't listen, or wives that won't listen. We think of someone who simply goes way out of the way and does things that are just what you and I would call exceedingly wicked and vile. Sometimes when we think of rebellion, we think of Numbers chapter 16 when we read about Korah, Dathan, and Abiram who rebelled against God and also against Moses and Aaron as well. The interesting thing that I'm going to show you today is this.

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• We do not have to go to that extent to have rebellion. Rebellion is very simple and very plain according to this scripture.

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• Now, the interesting thing is over and over throughout the Bible, God referred to Israel as being disobedient and being rebellious. So I want to show you just a few passages before we begin an exposition of the text. But I want you to look in Deuteronomy chapter 9. Hold Jeremiah 28. But go back in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 9 and look, if you would please, at verse 7. Deuteronomy chapter 9 verse 7. Here is what the Word of God says. Look at this, Deuteronomy 9 and verse 7: "Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt until you came into this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord." Now, if you would skip down to verse 24 in Deuteronomy 9, He says, "You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you." Wow. Then if you look in Deuteronomy 31, Moses is speaking and he says this in verse 27, Deuteronomy 31 verse 27. He says, "For I know

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• thy rebellion and thy stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death?" And then there's a verse in Jeremiah chapter 5 which I will quote, and I will quote it again before I close this message. Jeremiah chapter 5 verse 23, the Word of God says, "But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone." I could multiply scripture after scripture. But notice, if you would, God refers to Israel over and over as rebellious. So let me ask a question, and answer in your mind, but you may have to readjust your answer. Okay, here's the question: Are you rebellious? Hmm. How about this one? Are your children rebellious? Hmm. How about this question? Are the believers in your church rebellious? And here's a good question: Is there a difference between disobedience and rebellion? If there is a difference between disobedience and rebellion, where is the line drawn? And how do you know when you have crossed the line from disobedience to rebellion?

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• So what I want to do before I ever get to Jeremiah 28, I want to show you some scriptures dealing with the word disobedience or disobeyed or disobedient. And I'm going to give you the Hebrew word and then I want you to look at a few passages where the word rebellion or rebellious is used. I'll give you the Hebrew word, but I want you to grasp this in your mind before we get to Jeremiah chapter 28. So if you would look in your Bibles, first of all, let the word disobedient, disobeyed, or disobedience—it's used several times. So look in your Bibles, if you would, at 1 Kings chapter 13. This one would be sufficient, I would imagine. Look in 1 Kings chapter 13. This is the story concerning the disobedient prophet. God told him to go and proclaim against Jeroboam's golden calves, but not to eat anything or drink anything in the land. And of course he did, because he was lied to. But notice what the Bible says in 1 Kings 13 and verse 21. And it

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• came to pass, as they were burying a man, that behold, they spied—let's see, that's not the one. I'm in 2 Kings. I want 1 Kings. All right, 1 Kings chapter 13, look if you would please there at verse 21. Here we go. "And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and

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• drunk water in this place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come into the sepulchre of thy fathers." But notice in verse 21, he says, "Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord."

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• Now skip down to verse 26, because a lion did kill this prophet. "And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him." Now, it doesn't matter if you're looking at the word disobeyed or the word disobedient. The Hebrew word is the word marah, and it means to be contentious, to be rebellious, to be refractory, to be disobedient towards, and to be rebellious against.

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• Now, the word in the New Testament that is translated disobedience happens to be the Greek word apeithes, and it means to be impersuadable, uncompliant, disobedient, and here's a big word, contumacious. Now I'm just going to give you—I'll quote at least three passages where you have this word in the New Testament. Romans 1 and verse 30, God says that these people are backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. And then in Romans 10 and verse 21, "But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." And then you have Titus 1 and verse 16, where the word of God says, "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."

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• Now, the interesting thing is this. I took the time to check every reference in the New Testament to the word disobedient or disobeyed or disobedience, and each time it is from the exact same Greek word. Now that is how the word disobedience is used in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Now before I get to my text, I want you to look, if you would please, to the book of Isaiah chapter 30, because I want to show you the word rebellious. Look in Isaiah chapter 30 and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 9. Isaiah 30 and look there with me at verse 9. Here's what the scripture says: "That this is a rebellious people, lying children." Now I want you to note this latter part: "Children that will not hear the law of the Lord." So he calls them a rebellious people and lying children. Now here's the verse that I told you I was going to quote later. That's Jeremiah chapter 5 verse 23 when he said, "But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart.

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• They are revolted and gone." Now, I want you to turn over to the book of Ezekiel chapter 2. Ezekiel chapter 2 and look, if you would, at verse 3. Watch this. Ezekiel 2 verse 3: "And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day." Wow.

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• Now, the Hebrew word that is used in the Old Testament for rebellion—it's used in different forms, sometimes verb, sometimes noun—but it is the Hebrew word marah. And it means to be contentious, to be rebellious, to be refractory, to be disobedient towards, to be rebellious against, as well as to show rebellion, and to show disobedience and to disobey. So I hope you notice right now that the Hebrew word for disobey and the Hebrew word for rebellion are exactly the same identical word.

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• Now, the interesting thing is, he did say, and I want you to look at it again, Ezekiel chapter 2 in verse 3: "And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day." Now note, if you would, he's talking about a rebellious people. Okay, skip down to verse 8. Ezekiel 2 in verse 8. Look what God tells Ezekiel. He says, "But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee. Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house. Open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee." Now hang on. Look at verse 8 again. "But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee. Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house. Open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee." What was God giving Ezekiel? He was giving him his word. He says in verse 9, "And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein. And he spread it before me.

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• It was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe." So what God is telling Ezekiel is he must eat or assimilate the Word of God. He must make it his own. But the interesting thing he says: "Now do not be like that rebellious house. Hear my words." Now one other passage. I want you to go back in your Bibles to Psalm 78 and look at verse 8. Psalm 78 and verse 8. Here we go. In Psalm 78 and verse 8, God speaks and he says this. Oh, look at it. Psalm 78 and verse 8. He says, "And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God." Now if you've not put two and two

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• together at this point and come up with the answer, let me try to help you calculate. First of all, the Hebrew word for disobedient, disobedience, or disobeyed is marah. And the Hebrew word for rebellion happens to be one and the same. I want you to see that rebellion, according to the texts that I just gave you, happens to be a failure to hear, receive, and obey the word of God.

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• Now, let me remind you of Ezekiel 2 in verse 8. What did God tell Ezekiel? He said, "But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee. Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house. Open thy mouth wide, and eat that which I give thee." So rebellion, according to the scripture, is a failure to hear and receive and obey the Word of God. This was the sin

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• of Israel over and over in the Old Testament. This is the sin that God cried out against. They were a rebellious people, and God is cautioning Ezekiel not to be like that rebellious nation.

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• Now, I want you to look in your Bibles back from Psalms to the book of Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse 26. So, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther—so if you look in Nehemiah chapter 9 and at verse 26, Nehemiah 9 verse 26, still referring to Israel: "Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee." How did they rebel against God? "And cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations." So you must see in this passage that rebellion is turning your back upon God. It is a refusal to hear God's Word. What did they do in Nehemiah chapter 9? He said they cast thy law behind their backs. In other words, they're not listening to God. They're not receiving his word. They're not honoring him. And they not only cast the law of God behind their backs, when God sent prophets to them, preaching them, telling them to turn and repent and come back and obey him, they murdered the prophets. Wow. So, a failure to hear and obey the Word of God is rebellion.

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• Now, I want you to think about this question, because I asked this earlier: Are you rebellious? I ask, are your children rebellious? Are the people in your church rebellious? And the answer would be yes, if they are refusing to hear, heed, and obey the Word of God, because God classifies that as rebellion.

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• Now, I want you to go in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 28 so we can look at chapter 28 and 29. Now, what God does in these two chapters is he gives us another plain and simple illustration of rebellion. In fact, he gives us a couple, one in Jeremiah 28 and one in Jeremiah chapter 29. So, when we get to Jeremiah 28, which we will take first, this involves Hananiah the prophet. Hananiah happened to be the son of Azur the prophet, and he was teaching contrary to the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah had been warning about the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem. And here comes Hananiah and says, "Look, this is not going to happen. In fact, those that have already been taken into captivity, they're going to return." You have to remember now that Nebuchadnezzar came against Judah and Jerusalem in 605 B.C. When he came the first time, he did not destroy the city. He did not destroy the temple.

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• He left people in the land. He just took a number of the major folks into captivity.

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• Now, when he came back in 586 B.C., that's when he destroyed the city. That's when he destroyed the temple. That's when he took everything out of it and away from the king's house and burned all the palaces. And so this is before Nebuchadnezzar's second return to destroy Jerusalem. And so Jeremiah now has been saying, "Well, look, he's coming back. We better get right with God. You better get right with God or else he's going to come back and destroy everything."

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• Now, Hananiah is a false prophet. So God tells Jeremiah, "I'm going to give Judah and Jerusalem into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and it's not just Judah and Jerusalem, I'm going to give him all these kingdoms around here. And anyone who submits to him, to Nebuchadnezzar, will live and I will not destroy the city. But if you fight against him and do not submit to him, you're going to die." So let's look at that. It's found in Jeremiah 27, which sets the stage for chapters 28 and 29. So let's read the first 19 verses of Jeremiah chapter 27. Look, if you would, beginning there with verse 1. "In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord to me." Now look at this.

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• "Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck. And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah. And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom

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• it seemeth meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. Therefore hearken not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon.

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• For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from the land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.

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• Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste? But if they be prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. For thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city."

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• He goes on to say He is going to take them all. So notice, if you would, now what God is saying. God is saying all these nations, they're going to serve Babylon. They're going to serve Nebuchadnezzar. If they want to live, that's all. If you fight against him, if you don't submit, then you're going to die. So what is happening in Jeremiah 28 is this. Hananiah, the false prophet, prophesies that within two full years, all of the vessels from the temple that have been stolen by Nebuchadnezzar shall be returned. And within that same two full years, all the people that Nebuchadnezzar had taken captive are going to be returned. So I want you to watch this. He makes this prophecy. And let's just look within verse 3. Jeremiah 28 verse 3, he says, "Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon. And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah,

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• with all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." So he's giving this prophecy that in two years all this is going to happen. Now, it was a wonderful prophecy. It was a prophecy that everyone desired. It was the end that everyone wanted. And even Jeremiah said amen to that. For instance, look at it in verse 5. "Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord, even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the Lord do so: the Lord perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place." Yes, do that.

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• And that's what I would like. Now he says this: "Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people; The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him. Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way." So Jeremiah, he said, "Amen, I'd like to have that too. I'd love to see all those treasures returned. I would love to see all the captives returned." And but he said, "Listen, when a prophet prophesies of peace, if it comes to pass, then we're going to know that prophet spoke of God.

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• If it doesn't come to pass, obviously he was not of God when he spoke it." And so Hananiah then goes up, takes that wooden yoke from off the neck of Jeremiah and breaks it. Says, "Thus saith the Lord, I've broken the yoke." Well, wonderful. So you would think that, boy, he's got everything going. The only problem with this prophecy is it was not true. The only problem with this prophecy, it was a lie. So if you look in verse 12, "Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also."

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• Now, what is the implication when God says, "Make a yoke of iron"? Well, it's very difficult to break a yoke of iron, isn't it? You might can break a yoke of wood, but not a yoke of iron. So what God is saying is, "Look, my word is going to stand, not the word of Hananiah. Hananiah is prophesying a lie. The captives are not returning. The vessels are not returning.

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• No, 70 years of captivity have been prophesied. 70 years they're going to stay in captivity. Not two years, not three years or four years or five years, but 70 years." So I want you to watch this. Look now in verse 15.

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• Now, notice the scenario now. Hananiah has prophesied. God tells Jeremiah differently. Verse 15: "Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die." Are you looking? "Because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord." So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. Wow. What did God charge Hananiah with? Teaching rebellion. I want you to think about this. Rebellion is a failure to teach the truth. Rebellion is when you teach a lie. Rebellion is when you allow and enable folks to believe a lie. Think what happened with this COVID debacle. Just think about this. Think of all the people that not only allowed, but enabled people to believe a lie, and many of them died because of it, and others suffered greatly because of that lie.

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• Now, let's ask a question. Was Hananiah deceived? Why did he say what he said? Do you understand that a lie can be intentional? People could intentionally lie and try to make you believe something else. All of our children did that. You and I did that. But sometimes a lie can be based upon ignorance. You just don't know. Sometimes a lie could be based on a desire for praise and recognition. I just want attention.

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• I read about this regularly. People say things and do things that are not true. They just want you to think more highly of them than they deserve to be thought of. Sometimes people will do it for money. But the point I'm trying to make right now is very simple. I want to put two and two together now for you. Hang on. I want you to think about this because if on the one hand, rebellion is a failure to hear, receive, and obey the Word of God. On the other hand, rebellion is a failure to teach the Word of God and preach the Word of God. So let me say this another way.

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• A half-truth presented as the whole truth is an untruth. So when you teach something from the Word of God, that you're not being honest with it or about it, and you're just giving what you think or what you have been taught instead of what the text teaches or the analogy of scripture teaches, you are in rebellion. So pastors, preachers, and teachers that fail to proclaim and teach the Word of God are teaching rebellion.

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• That's what it said about Hananiah. He was not teaching and preaching the Word of God, although he was presumably representing God. He was claiming to be a prophet of God. "Thus saith the Lord, the Lord God of hosts." But he was preaching a lie. So rebellion on the one hand is a failure to hear and heed the Word of God. And on the other hand, it's a failure to preach and teach the whole Word of God.

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• Now, I want you to look in Jeremiah 29 for the second illustration, because here we have Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, and Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Jeremiah in chapter 29 lets the people know that the captivity is going to be for a long duration. It's going to be 70 years. So I want you to look at the first 14 verses. Here we go. "Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon." That would be the first captivity. "After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem; by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon)

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• saying, watch now, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon." Here's what Jeremiah tells them: "Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.

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• For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive." Now notice what Jeremiah is saying. Settle down. You've got 70 years in front

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• of you. You build your house, you plant your garden. You get married, you allow your children to get married. It's going to be a long, long time. Now if you've paid attention to the text, you will notice that God said, "Do not pay any attention to anyone who speaks contrary to his word or who speaks anything different than his word." He said anyone that did so was a liar. They prophesied falsely and he did not send them. I want you to look back very quickly to Jeremiah 23 at what God says concerning his word and concerning their lies. In Jeremiah 23, if you look at verses 28 and 29, Jeremiah 23 verses 28 and 29, he says, "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.

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• What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord." And the Lord, his word is wheat, their dream is chaff. Then he says this: "Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" So what God is saying through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29 is, no one or nothing is going to stop God from fulfilling his word. He decreed 70 years. It's going to be 70 years.

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• That's all there is to it. Now, hang on. I want you to look now in verse 16. Look at this. Jeremiah 29 verse 16: "Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity." We're talking about these folks that are left in Judah and Jerusalem. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them." Hang on, look at

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• this: "Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord." Now God said, "Here's why you're being destroyed. Because you haven't hearkened to my words. You wouldn't listen to me." That is rebellion. Now, rebellion left and right. Now, what happens now is you get to some false prophets here.

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• Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, were preaching. I want you to look at this. Look what happened to them. Look in verse 21. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes." Oh, good news for you. It doesn't pay to be a false prophet when God delivers you to Nebuchadnezzar. Hmm. Yes, he slew them. But look how in verse 22: "And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire." He put him on a spit and grilled them. That's how he slew them. He roasted them alive. Why? Hang on. "Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives.

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• And have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord." Wow. So what has God done? God has caused Nebuchadnezzar to barbecue these two lying false prophets. He says, "Moreover they have committed villany in Israel. They've committed adultery with their neighbours' wives. They've spoken lying words in the name of God." He says, "Which I had not commanded them. Even I know, he said, and I am a witness against them." Wow.

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• Now, the word villany means to do that which is senseless, immoral, foolish and wicked. So they were not only adulterers, they were not only immoral, they were foolish, senseless, and wicked. And they also prophesied or preached a lie. And they did so in the name of the Lord. They were saying, "Thus saith the Lord," when the Lord did not say. And so their punishment was that God had Nebuchadnezzar roast them in the fire. Now also, Jeremiah 29 you have another false prophet by the name of Shemaiah. So if you look in verse 24, God says, "Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the

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• people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying," look what this man did, "The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks." Now look what he's saying. He's telling him that he used to be the priest instead of Jehoiada, he's to put everybody in prison that prophesies contrary to this. Look in verse 27: "Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?" Do you see the words? You should have gotten rid of Jeremiah. "For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them." Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, "Send to all them

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• of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie: Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord." Wow. How do you teach rebellion against the Lord? You don't teach his word. You don't expound his word. Not only that, Shemaiah tried to replace the priest with Zephaniah.

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• He was usurping God's sovereign authority. And God says, "Look, I did not send him. I did not speak to him." And thus he was condemned to death.

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• Now, I want to try to tie this together for you. I've said this about three times already. I'm going to say it again. Rebellion is when people refuse to hear God's word. Refuse to submit to him, refuse to believe him. Rebellion is when preachers, pastors, teachers preach and teach and say things that are not true. Calls people to believe a lie instead of showing them point-blank, "Thus saith the Lord." So, let me make the first application. Preaching the Word of God is not some light, frivolous, trifling work. Those who preach, those who teach, must make sure that they know the truth and they have the truth, they hold the truth, and they communicate the truth. Preaching is not a job.

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• It is a ministry. Study is not optional. It is mandatory. How in the world can you know the truth of God if there is no studying in the Word of God? Expounding and explaining the word is a divine must. So here is where we are today. You normally find the larger churches, and I say larger churches, even the mega churches, are nothing more than feel-good entertainment centers. Because people really do not want the Word of God. They want to be made to feel good. They want to be entertained. They want to be made and feel acceptable regardless of their sins, regardless of their wickedness. And when you're honest with the Word of God and when you come out with "Thus saith the Word of God," people are going to be upset and people are going to get mad and they're going to

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• leave. And a lot of preachers and teachers will preach and teach a lie. Sometimes not intentionally, but through their own ignorance and lack of study. Sometimes it's so that they can appear successful and build what you and I would call a big work. But whatever you do for a lie, whether through ignorance, laziness, or indolence, God calls it rebellion. Rebellion is a very serious sin. So likewise when you look at Jeremiah 28, 29 as well as the other passages. When a Christian then refuses to hear, heed, and obey the Word of God, it is rebellion. Disobedience is rebellion. Refusal to hear is rebellion. So let me put this in plain everyday English. If God holds me accountable and responsible to teach the truth, God holds you accountable and responsible to hear, receive, and obey the truth. If I do not teach the truth, it's rebellion on my part. If you do not receive the truth, it's rebellion on your part. You say, "But I don't like it." That's immaterial. "But I don't understand it."

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• That's immaterial. "But I don't want it." That's immaterial. If it is the Word of God, you are duty-bound. You are obligated as a child of God to hear it, receive it, submit to it, and obey it. It's just that simple. God holds you accountable just as he holds me accountable. And if either one of us refuses to bow to the Word of God and submit to the Word of God, it is rebellion. Now let me remind you of 1 Samuel 15 verse 23. What did Samuel tell King Saul? Well, let's see. He said, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." So what was the penalty for witchcraft and idolatry? Death. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." Now let me give you two passages. I've used these for many, many years. They're wonderful passages. The first one is found in Mark chapter 4 and verse 24. Jesus Christ is speaking and here's what he said: "Take heed what you

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• hear." Take heed what you hear. In other words, you better make sure that you are hearing the Word of God. God holds you accountable. God holds you responsible to make sure that you are hearing the Word of God. You say, "How in the world do I know I'm hearing the Word of God?" Well, I'll tell you how you know. You be a Berean. You study the Word of God for yourself. You read the Word of God for yourself. You read it through and through over and over, and when you hear something that's contrary to what you know is in the Word of God, you dismiss it. He said, "Take heed what you hear." Then Luke chapter 8 and verse 18, he said this: "Take heed how you hear." In other words, God says you better pay attention to my word. You better not be daydreaming. You better not be sleeping. You better not be planning your work for the next week. You better take heed how you hear. You better hear with hearing ears so that you may submit and obey. Wow. So here's my question. If a failure to hear the Word of God is rebellion, and a failure to preach the Word of God is rebellion, where does that put us as a

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• nation in America? Where would that put Germany? Where would that put England? Where would that put any nation? And you wonder why we are having so many problems and we're in the situation that we're in. And when you remember that God judged Judah and Jerusalem and all these other nations for a failure to hear and obey and to preach and proclaim, kind of makes you wonder what we're in for in this country. And God took his perfect justice upon those who would not hear and those who would not preach and proclaim his word. So he tells us that we must hear and we must obey and we must proclaim his truth.

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• "Thus saith the Lord." When you go into any church, you should be hearing, "Thus saith the Lord. This is what the word of God says. This is truth." And we must bow to it. Otherwise, we're in rebellion against him. So rebellion is made plain and simple. It's not just rioting and revolution. It's a refusal to hear, submit and obey, and a refusal to preach and teach the whole counsel of God.

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• May I remind you what the Apostle Paul said in the book of Acts? He said, "I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men." So how in the world did the Apostle Paul in Acts 20 get free from the blood of all men? Here's how. He said, "I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." The only way a preacher can get free from the blood of all men is by preaching the truthfulness and the entirety of the word of God. It is His word.

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• And we're bound to obey. Father, I pray that you'll speak to our hearts, open our eyes, teach us how plain and how simple rebellion really is. We don't have to riot. We don't have to be in a revolution. We don't have to go out and get drunk. We just have to refuse to obey, refuse to preach and teach your word and it's rebellion. Help us, Lord, not to be rebellious. Help us, Lord, to be faithful unto Thee, obedient unto Thee, and help us to be submissive. And, Lord, bow before Thee, for Thou alone art God. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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• so so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T18:13:28Z