JEREMIAH - CHAPTER 4 - CALL TO RETURN
JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 4
Tuesday, January 26, 2020, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
The Lord Lives, in truth, in judgment and in Righteousness.
- 4: 1-2: Call to Return
- 3-4: Circumcision of Heart
- 5-8: Coming of the invader (Destroyer of the Gentiles)
- 9-10: Corruption of Leadership
- 11-13: Coming of the Judgment
- 14-18: Cause of the Judgment
- 19-22: Cry of the Prophet
- 23-28: Chaos in the Land
- 29-30: Confusion of the People.
- 31: Travail of the remnant.
4:1-2: If you will return, O Israel, says the Lord, if you will return to Me, and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved. And you shall swear, The Lord lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations will bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory.
The people did not respond to the prophet’s previous words, so he continues his impassioned plea.
Judah could still escape captivity by returning to God through a change of her ways.
God continues into Chapter 4 offering the words of confession and repentance that will open the passage to His mercy for Israel.
This is a big “if.” It is repeated three times with two conditions. This same formula will work today! National repentance beginning in the churches is the only avenue open to the nations. Short of this captivity is just down the road.
We are standing in a serious time in the history of our nation.
There are multiple areas under attack to break the power of our nation:
1. Christianity
2. Family
3. Economy
4. Defense
5. Education
6. Freedom of speech
7. Freedom of Assembly
8. Free elections
9. Sovereign borders.
10. Law and Order
The loss of anyone of these would put our nation into captivity by the opposing power to destroy our liberties.
Who is our enemy? Foreign nations? The plague? Our own government? Yes, to all three. These enemies are attacking our nation to destroy our nation from within
and without. The United States is in a global war as well as a war within our own government being waged against the American people.
“A strong nation will not surrender its sovereignty. Americans will not agree to turn over our monetary system, military or courts to a world body made up of governments which have been despotic to their own people. But congress has a 3-trillion-dollar-bill in the house to give billions of dollars to Russia, Syria, Communist China, and Iran through the International Monetary System. If Americans can be brought to the point where they are suffering from a collapse of their economy and from a breakdown in civil order, they will surrender and cower down. When Americans stand in bread lines and face anarchy in their streets, they will be more willing to give up sovereignty in return for assistance from the World Bank and the UN peacekeeping forces…the government and media will spin this as social democracy.”
4:3-4: Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord. Take away the foreskins of your heart.
Judah’s heart was not yet changed. She was still full of the seeds of her former wickedness. The prophet’s anguish is here revealed as he sees the judgment falling. Jeremiah promises if these measures are not implemented, God will bring to their doorsteps “great destruction.”
Jeremiah 4: 5-9: Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, blow the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defensed cities. Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make your land desolate; and your cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. For this gird yourself with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. It shall come to pass at that day, says the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
All of this language expressed alarm in view of impending war---Blow the Trumpet; Cry; Gather Together; Go into the defensed cities; Stay not outside. The destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way to make the land desolate! At that time the destroyer’s tool for destruction was Nebuchadnezzar who conquered many nations, took the Jews captive and founded the Babylonian empire of Daniel 2: 37-38; 7:4.
The unholy trinity comes to kill, steal and destroy. In the late 1980’s the LORD gave me dreams and a revelation about the Destroyer. I have an in-depth teaching on The Destroyer on the website.
The destroyer’s name is “Abaddon.” In the Greek tongue, his name is “Apollyon.”
Thus, says the Lord: They had a King over them which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue has his name Apollyon…and the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. It is said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind…and the number of the horsemen were 200,000,000…The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood – Idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts (Rev. 9: 11-21).
Abaddon is first mentioned in the bible in Job 26:6 R.S. “Sheol (death) is naked before God and Abaddon (destruction) has no covering.” Abaddon is also named as destruction in Job 28:22 and Proverbs 15:11.
Abaddon is further identified as the prince of Grecia in Daniel 10: 20-21:
“In the Hebrew prince is from the word “sar” which means a chief ruler.”
It is my belief since the Lord showed me the destroyer and his method of operations, that this spirit was released on the earth in the late 1980’s. This is my personal opinion and if you disagree with me, I will not impose that on anyone as doctrine.
“The Prince of Grecia is the satanic ruler prince of the Grecian Empire that caused Alexander the Great to be so successful in 13 years as to destroy the Medo-Persian Empire completely. In Jeremiah and Daniel, the Medes are foreseen as the conquerors of Babylon.” (Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible).
The sins throughout scripture that reap destruction in addition to those listed in Rev. 9: 20-21 are murder, magic arts, pride, adultery, whoredom, murmuring, and sexual immorality; an uncontrolled tongue; and a man who robs his parents, (Job. 31:3; Prov. 28:24, 6:32; 31:3; 16:28 and 1 Co. 10:10)
So how does this affect us? Jeremiah has instructions for us as he tried to prepare Israel for her coming judgment, so are we prepared. Israel’s sin of idolatry; and following their vain imaginations plus all of the above-mentioned sins brought this judgment on the nation.
Thus, says the Lord:
- Break up your fallow ground! (idle, uncultivated, unproductive)
- Sow not among the thorns!
- Circumcise yourselves to the Lord! (remove all stubbornness)
- Take away the foreskin of your heart!
- Declare, publish and blow the trumpets!
- Cry, gather together and say assemble yourselves!
- Set up a standard toward Zion!
- Retire to defensed cities, stay not outside.
- Wash your heart from wickedness!
- Make mention to the nations!
It is my belief that the destroyer has been released from the abyss and his 200,000,000-demon army has been released upon mankind. Judgment begins at the household of God. It is God’s way to start at the top and go down. I believe the sixth angel has sounded the sixth trumpet (written by Carolyn Sissom in the 1980’s).
The Good News is God has made a way for us through the blood of Jesus Christ. He always makes a provision for his remnant before the need arises.
God’s provision from destruction is first repentance and obedience.
Secondly, the blood on the doorpost protected the Israelites from the destroying angel.
Further God sent His Word and delivered them from destruction. (Psalm 107:20)
God promised protection from destruction for those who would commit their cause to him. (Job 5: 21-22)
Tithing is spiritual warfare against destruction.
Malachi 3:11: I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.”