The Prophet Jeremiah delivered his God-given message to both globally scattered Israel and the Jews of Judea in the mid-600’s B.C.  God said to him: “I have set you (Jeremiah) over (to spiritually instruct) the NATIONS and over the KINGDOMS” (1:5,9,10).  He was to get God’s Words to “all the families (12 tribes) of the house (nation) of Israel (2:4).  Note that though Jeremiah was living in Judea and was the Lord’s prophet to the Judahites (Jews) at the time of his ministry, he was commanded to deliver God’s Words of warning to both the Jews of the Middle East and the Israelites that had been defeated, enslaved and scattered throughout the world over 100 years earlier.  How could Jeremiah, a Jew being held captive in Babylon, get God’s message to the nine tribes of Israel whose whereabouts he did not know?  He would speak to them through the book he would write, the same book we are studying for this posting that can be found in every “nation” and “kingdom” on earth today, which is where the children of Israel had been scattered by the Lord for their rebellion against Him.  Through this book Jeremiah continues to speak to Israelites and God-seeking Gentiles throughout the entire world.

For over 50 years Jeremiah spoke face-to-face to the Jews in the Holy Land.  Let us study what God was saying to the Jews of that day and to Israelites living in those “nations” and “kingdoms” to which He sent Jeremiah’s book, along with the rest of the Holy Bible (1:5,10), which is the most purchased and most stolen book in the history of printing.

In Jeremiah 1:18,19 God is speaking to the prophet about the Jews, saying that He would use him to warn “… the kings of Judah, the princes, the priests and the people of the land.”  He warned Jeremiah that the Jews would reject his words.  However, He (God) promised to bring His judgments (curses) against them (1:15,16) and remind them of how they (and the other tribes of Israel) had rejected Him and served other gods for 40 years while in the wilderness of Sinai (2:2).  He would remind them that early on “Israel was holiness (obedient) unto the Lord” (2:3), and had remained holy until she CHANGED GODS.  He pointed out that not even the heathen were vile enough to change their gods (2:10,11,28).

The Lord chastised Israel for their idolatry, saying: “My people have … forsaken Me–the fountain of living waters–and have hewed out for themselves broken cisterns that do not hold water” (2:13).  Israel had forsaken Him by not obeying His Word/Law/”voice” (3:13).  During this study keep in mind that the Words God was telling Jeremiah to speak and write were meant not only for the three Israelite tribes (“Jews”) that lived in the Promised Land, but for the nine tribes that God had scattered throughout the “nations and kingdoms” of the world where they remain to this day.  Ironically, they do not know that they are Israelites.  Having taken on the social and religious characteristics of the Gentiles among whom they live, they believe themselves to be Gentiles (Heb.–goiim–heathen).  Read Who and Where is Israel Today?  Key word–Today.

Bear in mind that the Jews Jeremiah personally ministered to were the descendants of the Israelties who had watched the Lord send wave after wave of curses on their Egyptian captors.  They had watched as He forced the Egyptians to release them and to give them their gold and other treasures, thereby making the Israelite nation wealthy upon leaving Egypt.  The Jews Jeremiah ministered to were the descendants of those Israelites who had watched the Lord part the Red Sea and miraculously provide food and water for them as they made their way to Mt. Sinai.  After arriving at God’s chosen meeting place He (the Word who would become Jesus of Nazareth) spoke to them in an audible voice, telling them that they would be His people if they obeyed His Words.  Upon hearing the voice of the Lord the tribes of Israel had promised to do whatever He commanded them to do.  Ironically, by the time Moses came down from the mountain they had already lost their faith, created a new God out of the gold the Egyptians had given them, agreed to follow the idol back to Egypt, then had engaged in a sex orgy.

Later, Israel refused to enter the land God had promised Abraham He would give to his (Abraham’s) descendants–the land of the Canaanites, the heathen descendants of Noah’s son Ham.  Because of their lack of faith, God sentenced Israel to 40 years of wandering in the Sinai desert until the rebellious generation had all died off.

At the time of his ministry (around 650 B.C.) Jeremiah found himself dealing with the descendants of three of the Israelite tribes (Judah, Benjamin and Levi called “Jews”) who, having forsaken their God, were serving heathen gods.

Approximately 150 years earlier the nine tribes of Israel that had split away from the Jews had been defeated and enslaved by the Assyrians.  As ancient prophecies had warned, they were later scattered throughout the world.  A hundred plus years after Israel’s scattering we find Jeremiah warning the Jews that God was going to curse them exactly as He had cursed their Israelite brethren, an for exactly the same reason–forsaking Him and worshiping other gods.  Jeremiah warned the Jews that God would send the heathen to defeat them and enslave them.  Because they had not learned the lesson He had taught the other nine tribes, their enemy would also destroy their national capital.  Jeremiah’s words came to pass exactly as he had warned.  The Babylonians defeated and enslaved the Jews, destroying the Holy City in the process.

Fast forward 500 years or so and we find the 13 apostles warning the Jews who had returned to the Holy Land after 70 years of enslavement in Babylon.  These being warned by the apostles were the descendants of the Jews whom Jeremiah had warned for more than 50 years.  Those being taught by the apostles were Jews who comprised the majority within the New Testament Church that had been established on the Day of Pentecost, 31 A.D.

Not long after her establishment, the church found herself under attack.  Satan had already established a foot-hold in the church as Paul warned the churches of Galatia in 68 A.D.  He told them that they were following after false prophets who were teaching them a perverted version of God’s gospel (Gal. 1:6-9).  He also told the congregation at Corinth that if someone presented another Jesus to them, they would embrace him (2 Cor. 11:4).  The New Testament church of the first century was under and all-out attack by Satan.  The 13 apostles spent their time traveling, speaking and writing to the churches, warning them that much of what was being put forth as God’s Truths were in fact Satan’s lies.  By the time all of the apostles except John had been martyred, the New Testament Church had lost most of its members.  As Jesus had prophesied in Matthew 7:13,14, few would find His strait gate (church) and walk His narrow way (in obedience) that leads to eternal life.  Many, He said, would enter Satan’s citadel of sin and walk its hell-bound path.  Only a few faithful saints continued to hold on to God’s Word.  Between 90 and 100 A.D. John compiled the writings of the prophets and apostles into what came to be known as the Holy Bible (Eph. 2:20) which was to be used as God’s instruction manual for the end-time church (1 Cor. 10:11).  Catholicism was on the rise and would, by 150 A.D., dominate the “Christian” world called the Holy Roman Empire.  The weak within God’s true church had joined the Catholics out of fear for their lives.  Read Simon of Samaria: the Legacy.  Key word–Legacy.  Those who refused to obey Catholic dictates were forced to flee.  For many years they were hunted by the Roman military which, due to Emperor Constantine’s supposed “salvation experience,” was operating under the direction of the Catholic Church.  In Revelation 17:1-5 Jesus used a beast (nation) and a woman (church) to symbolize the church-state union.  Church leaders had decreed that everyone in the Roman Empire must either convert to Catholicism or die.  Many chose to die.  Following the Inquisition in which over 50,000,000 people were martyred for resisting the church’s dictates, most of God’s surviving saints fled to areas not under Roman (Catholic) control.

This website has proven repeatedly that Satan gained a foothold in the Lord’s church early on and has increased his power over her as man’s desire for self-governance grew.  Led by the “angel of light” and his “ministers of righteous” (2 Cor. 11:13-15), the Catholic/Protestant Church System no longer look to God’s Word for her truths, doctrines, etc.  To this day the descendants of the people the original prophets taught are conducting the same type of spiritual warfare against the same God by rejecting Him and embracing other gods–themselves.  Only God makes spiritual rules.  Man makes his own rules.  Man has declared himself his own god.  Read Spiritual Warfare.  Key word–warfare.

The Lord’s minutely few true ministers will continue to speak to those God-rejecters who claim the right to sin and get away with it, who flaunt their supposed “sin freedom” before the world while trying to entice others to follow their lead.  We who proclaim God’s Scriptural Truth will continue to “stand at the door (hearts) and knock (call out)” to the modern day Laodiceans of Revelation 3:14-20.  We will continue to work by showing them the Word of God in its pure state until darkness comes when no man can work.  For this reason I rarely miss a day in placing a message on this website.  At present there are some 1900 such messages available to those with eyes to see and hearts to believe what the Lord is saying to the nations.  For a copy of series titles email me at lpj4142@gmail.com.  The war goes on.  L.J.