Wise Teachers

October 7 Jeremiah 8:8-9:26

Object Lessons That Demand Obedience

Wise Teachers

Who would you consider some of the “Wisest Teachers” of our day?

What pastor would you consider has a successful ministry and what would our judgments of success be based on in this day and age?

Interesting questions to ponder aren’t they?

One author has written about Jeremiah, “He was not a mighty man like Elijah, eloquent as Isaiah, or seraphic as Ezekiel, but one who was timid and shrinking, conscious of his helplessness, yearning for a sympathy and love he was never to know--such was the chosen organ through which the Word of the Lord came to that corrupt and degenerate age.” (Notes by Dr. J. Vernon McGee)

Jeremiah did not have one single convert! Not one! Would you call this man successful?

How many churches do you know of that would keep this guy on staff as the lead pastor?

Today’s lesson is all about teaching and what God has to say about what is needed from HIS perspective.

“How can you say, ‘We are wise because we have the word of the Lord’. When your teachers have twisted it by writing lies? These wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness, for they have rejected the word of the Lord. Are they so wise after all? ( 8:8-9) “They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wounds. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions? Not at all--they don’t even know how to blush’!” (8:11-12)

Do you remember Jeremiah’s teaching in yesterday’s passage?

Jeremiah 7:8-10 is talking about the hypocrisy of the people who are called by God. They were USING God but NOT CHOOSING God. They wanted the Temple’s glory but not the sacrifice of living with God’s glory in their lives. He asks, “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense unto Baal and then have the audacity to come and stand before me in the Temple?

They wanted God’s BLESSINGS but did not follow HIS TEN COMMANDMENTS.

Maybe you are thinking, “Well, that doesn’t apply to me! I haven’t killed anyone and I don’t swear that often.” Interesting that “Swearing falsely is the same as gossip and Jesus rephrased “Killing someone with a heart condition of “less than love”.

Ah Ohhhhhh! Then, there is the “Baal situation”... Did you know that Baal was “the god of intellect”?

Do we find the time to expand our intellect with T.V., the internet, Facebook, science, and politics, but have very little to no daily time left over for the Word of God?

USING GOD is praying for God to meet my needs and wish lists, and CHOOSING God is submitting to meet God’s desires and then praying for HIS will to be done through me!

USING GOD is the easy American watered-down gospel version. “Go to sleep tonight and pass on the Facebook message and you will receive blessings”. Really folks? Is that how God works?

Do you see a lot of blessings coming Jeremiah’s way, and was he a success in man's eyes?

Why were these people not being blessed?

“The Lord replies, ‘This has happened because my people have abandoned my instructions; they have refused to obey what I said. Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the images of Baal, (the god of intellect) as their ancestors taught them.” (9:13-14)

God goes on to tell them that He will feed them bitterness and poison. They will reap what they have been sowing! How does all of this relate to us today?

It is interesting that Jesus “Cleansed the temple” and kicked out those that were USING Him, but He reached out to those who were CHOOSING HIM. He healed the lowly and the broken who were simply willing to come to Him.

So, I ask you again, do you think that Jeremiah was a successful prophet of God?

Isaiah wrote powerfully about the coming of Christ in words so powerful that they are quoted all throughout the Bible. Ezekiel was a mystical prophet who talked about vision such as a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

Jeremiah spent forty-two years preaching the word of God and not a single person responded. Why? They didn’t think they needed to respond. They preferred “business as usual”.

What kind of “Wise Teaching” is God looking for in our time?

What are your thoughts based on today’s passage?

(No names of contemporary leaders, please, just descriptions)