Jeremiah Study – Jeremiah and the Last Kings of Israel – Part 2 Lesson 3

The Jeremiah Study from Tabernacle of David Restored, in Edom

Presented by Jaco van der Merwe
The Tabernacle of David Restored in Edom
Produced by Kimberly Rogers Brown – The Messianic Message

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Jeremiah Study Part-2 Lesson-3 Jeremiah and the Last Kings of Israel.pdf

 

DISCLAIMER! WHEN WE SAY THE WORD “JEWS” or “THE JEWS”, WE MEAN THE RELIGIOUS JEWS, THE CHABAD CABAL AND OTHER JEWISH LEADERSHIP AND THOSE FROM THE HOUSE OF JUDAH WHO SUBSCRIBE TO CHABAD’S EVIL DOCTRINES. I DO NOT MEAN CULTURAL JEWS OR ALL JEWISH PEOPLE!

 

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I want to quote some Scripture before we start:

Mat 23:8-10 MJKV But you must not be called Rabbi, for One is your teacher, Christ, and you are all brothers. And call no one your father on the earth, for One is your Father in Heaven. Nor be called teachers, for One is your Teacher, even Christ. 

2Ti 3:13-17 MKJV But evil men and seducers will go forward to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue in the things that you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work.

Col 2:8-12 MKJV Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead.

Jeremiah Study – Jeremiah and the Last Kings of Israel – Part 2 Lesson 3
2Kings 22; Jeremiah 1-4; Zephaniah 1-2, Nahum

Isa 28:9 MKJV Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Those weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10 MKJV For precept must be on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little;
Isa 28:11 MKJV for with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 MKJV To whom He said, This is the rest; cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing. Yet they were not willing to hear.
Isa 28:13 MKJV But the Word of Jehovah was to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.

 

Intro

King Josiah was 8 years old when he became King in Israel. His father reigned for 2 years and was killed by his servants. His grandfather was King Manasseh, who was a king that walked against Yahweh for most of his life. In the last few years of King Manasseh, he came to repentance. I believe King Manasseh’s repentance had an influence on Josiah wanting to walk the right way.

But before Manasseh’s repentance, he promoted Ba’al worship and caused the people of Judah to walk wickedly before Yahweh. When Josiah became king, the whole land, all of Israel and Judah were polluted with idol worship.

When Josiah reached the age of 16, he started to seek after Yahweh. By the age of 20, he started to clean Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, Asherah poles, Ba’al Temples and the molten images dedicated to the worship of the hosts of heaven. He did not stop in the lands of Judah, and he continued and went through all the lands of Israel, from the south in the cities of Simeon to the north to the cities of Naphtali. He also went to the east and western cities in the territories of the tribe of Ephraim.

In the year that King Josiah became 21, Yahweh called Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah the High Priest, to be a prophet to Yahweh’s people, to those in the land and to those already scattered abroad due to the Assyrian captivity.

 

Jeremiah and the call to repentance

When Yahweh called Jeremiah, he was given 2 visions. Let’s go and read them.

Jeremiah – Chapter 1

8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you, says YHVH.
9 Then YHVH put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And YHVH said to me, See, I have put My words in your mouth.
10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
11 Moreover the word of YHVH came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, Master I see a branch of an almond tree.
12 Then said YHVH to me, You have seen well: for I will hasten My word to perform it.

13 And the word of YHVH came to me the second time, saying, What do you see now? And I said, I see a boiling pot; and it faces towards the north.
14 Then YHVH said to me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For, see, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says YHVH; and they shall come, and each one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 And I will utter My judgment against them regarding all their wickedness, who have forsaken Me, and have burned incense to other elohim, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 You therefore dress up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you: be not broken at their faces, lest I break you before them.

18 For, see, I have made you this day like a walled city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the Kings of Judah, against its leaders, against its Priests, and against the people of the land.
19 And they shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says YHVH, to deliver you.

 

These prophecies were given after King Josiah went through all the land and destroyed the high places and idol worship altars, temples and Asherah poles. King Josiah had a pure heart, but the hearts of the people of the land were corrupted. They did not repent after King Josiah proclaimed that Yahweh should be worshipped. So, Yahweh called Jeremiah out to call the people of Israel, both Judah and Ephraim, those who were left in the land of the north.

Let’s go and read the message of Jeremiah to the people.

 

Jeremiah – Chapter 2
Israel Forsakes the Lord
1 Moreover the word of YHVH came to me, saying,
2 Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, This says YHVH; I remember you, and the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridehood, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was set-apart to YHVH, and the first fruit offering of his increase: all that devoured him became guilty; evil came upon them, says YHVH.
4 Hear the word of YHVH, O House of Jacob, and all the families of House of Israel:

Verse 4: Yahweh will now speak to all 12 Tribes, not just to those of Judah that were left. He now will make a parallel between the current people in the land and their fathers who were in the desert with the exodus.

 

5 This says YHVH, What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity, and have become worthless?
6 Neither did they say, Where is YHVH that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat its fruit and the good of it; but when you entered it, you defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination.
8 The Priests said not, Where is YHVH? And they that handle the Torah did not know Me: the shepherds also transgressed against Me, and the Prophets prophesied by Ba’al, and had their walk after things that do not profit.

9 Therefore I will yet plead with you, says YHVH, and with your children’s children will I also plead.
10 For pass over to the coastlands of Kittim, and see, and send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has ever been such a thing as this.
11 Have the gentiles changed their elohim, which are not the true elohim? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heaven, at this, and be amazed, says YHVH.
13 For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living water, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant? Was he born as a House-servant? Why is he plundered?
15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land wasted: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
16 Also the children of Noph and Tahpanes have shaved the crown of your head.
17 Have you not done this to yourself, in that you have forsaken YHVH your Elohim, when He led you in the right way?
18 And now what have you to do with the halacha of Egypt, to drink the water of Sihor? Or, what have you to do with the halacha of Assyria, to drink the water of the river?

The people that Yahweh chose to be His people did not enquire after Him. He was their Elohim when they were plucked out of Egypt, yet they turned to worship the gods of the nations. Yahweh is the only God, there is no other gods but Him, yet His people did not walk in the commandments that He gave them. And doing so, the result was the worship of Asherah, Ba’al and the hosts of the heavens.

It is the commandments of Yahweh that keep us safe from worshipping images and idols.

19 Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backslidings shall reprove you: know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, in that you have forsaken YHVH your Elohim, and that My fear is not in you, says the Master YHVH of Hosts.
20 For from old times I have broken your yoke, and cut your cords; and you said, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree you wandered off, playing the harlot.
21 Yet I had planted you as a noble vine, a fully right seed: how then are you turned into the foreign plant of a strange vine before Me?
22 For though you wash with nitre, and you use much soap, yet your iniquity is ingrained before Me, says the Master YHVH.
23 How can you say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Ba’als? See your way is in the valley, know what you have done: you are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways;

We have read throughout this study that Solomon, Omri and Ahab, King Ahaz and then Manasseh all walked after and worshipped Ba’al. All of these kings had their people worship Ba’al and Asherah as well. There is no claiming innocence for this. The call is for acknowledgment and repentance. Israel was already punished for this with the Assyrian captivity, with the Tribe of Judah being spared because of a promise to King David, yet we will learn that the House of Judah claim that they are innocent and not guilty of worshipping other gods.

24 A wild donkey used to the wilderness that sniffs up the wind at her desire; in her time of mating who can turn her away? All that seek her will weary themselves; only with her footprints can they find her.
25 Keep your foot from being bare, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is useless, for I have loved gerim, and after them will I go.
26 As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so is House of Israel ashamed; their Kings, their leaders, and their Priests, and their prophets,
27 Saying to a tree, You are my Father; and to a stone, You have given me birth: for they have turned their back on Me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

A tree, those who worship nature. A stone, dirt that is clogged together, this is what the evolutionists believe in. Before it was understood, it was seen as mystical and magic, and after people understood the workings of nature, it was called physics. Nothing new under the sun.

28 But where are your elohim that you have made? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities so are your many elohim, O Judah.

From here, Jeremiah’s message turns away from all Israel, to the House of Judah. In the chronology of our story, the House of Judah are the remnant of Israel who are left. King Hezekiah’s reformation and then again, King Josiah’s reformation turned all Israel to the throne of the Tribe of Judah who were ruling from Jerusalem.

29 Therefore will you complain to Me? You all have transgressed against Me, says YHVH.
30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
31 O wicked generation: See the word of YHVH. Have I been like a wilderness to Israel? Like a land of darkness? Why then do My people say, We roam from You; we will not return to You?
32 Can a maiden forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
33 Why do you adorn yourselves to seek love? Therefore you have also taught the wicked ones your ways.
34 Also in your skirts is found the blood of the beings that are poor and innocent: I have not found it by a secret search, but upon all your skirts.
35 Yet you say, Because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn from me. See, I will bring judgment on you, because you say, I have not sinned.
36 Why are you so busy trying to change your ways? You also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

37 Yes, you shall go forth from there, with your hands upon your head: for YHVH has rejected those you trust, and you shall not prosper by them.

Going back to the 2-House concept. Assyria is where the Northern tribes of Ephraim were exiled to, Assyria and beyond. Later in our story we will learn that Judah went against Yahweh’s Torah and ran back to Egypt for their assistance.

Deu 17:16 MKJV But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, so as to multiply horses, because Jehovah has said to you, You shall return no more that way from now on.

 

Jeremiah – Chapter 3
1 If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, shall he return to her again? Shall not that land be greatly defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; yet returned again to Me, says YHVH.
2 Lift up your eyes to the high places, and see where you have not lain with men. In the roads have you sat for them, like an Arabian in the wilderness; and you have defiled the land with your whoring and with your wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter-rain; and you have a whore’s brazen look, you refuse to be ashamed.

4 Will you cry to Me from now on, My Abba, you are the guide of My youth?
5 Will He reserve His anger forever? Will He keep it to the end of the age? See, you have spoken and done all the evil things that you could.

 

Let’s see how the original commandment looks like in the Torah

Deu 24:1 MKJV When a man has taken a wife and married her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorce and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
Deu 24:2 MKJV And when she has departed from his house, she goes and becomes another man’s;
Deu 24:3 MKJV and the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, he who took her to be his wife
Deu 24:4 MKJV her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled. For that is hateful before Jehovah. And you shall not cause the land to sin, which Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance.

Yahweh, through Jeremiah, is equating the worship of Ba’al, Asherah and the molten Images with a wife cheating on her husband, thus creating a metaphor of Israel, 12 Tribes being a wife unto a husband, Yahweh, and whoring herself to other men.

Jeremiah Chapter 3 verse 1 to 5 were part of the message that Jeremiah shouted out to Israel to repent and return to Yahweh.

Then Yahweh goes further and explains this metaphor to Jeremiah regarding the wickedness of Judah in comparison with the House of Israel, who were taken captive because of their continues sinning.

Jeremiah – Chapter 3
Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

6 YHVH said also to me in the days of Josiah the King, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She is gone up to every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot.
7 And I said after she had done all these things, Repentance to Me. But she made no repentance. And her perverted sister Judah saw it.
8 And I saw, that for all the reasons which backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her perverted sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
9 And it came to pass through her excessive whoring, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with trees.
10 And yet for all this her perverted sister Judah has not made repentance with her whole heart, but with falsehood, says YHVH.

Keep in mind, this is after King Josiah went through all the land and torn down the idolatry and commanded that the people return to worship Yahweh. King Josiah was the leader of his people and he worshipped Yahweh with all his heart, but as a nation the people did not do the same.

11 And YHVH said to me, Backsliding Israel has justified herself more than perverted Judah.
12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, return, backsliding Israel, says YHVH; and I will not cause My anger to fall upon you: for I am full of mercy, says YHVH, and I will not keep My anger forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against YHVH your Elohim, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice, says YHVH.

14 Make repentance, O backsliding children, says YHVH. For I am married to you: and I will take you one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

Now we will have the point where the Levitical Priesthood failed. The Levitical Priesthood were the shepherds to Yahweh’s people, and the ark of the covenant was the centre of the Levitical Priesthood.

15 And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says YHVH, they shall say no more, The ark of the Covenant of YHVH: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that ritual be done any more.
17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the Throne of YHVH; and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the Name of YHVH to Jerusalem: neither shall they have their walk any more after the imaginations of their evil heart.

18 In those days house Judah shall walk with House of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers.
19 I shall put you among the children of Israel, and give you a pleasant land, a good heritage from the hosts of nations? And I said, you shall call Me, My Abba; and shall not turn away from Me.

Yahweh is saying that he will put the House of Judah with the House of Israel, creating the 12 tribe Israel again. Take very careful note that Yahweh did not say that he will take Israel and put them with Judah. Yahweh’s people are called Israel and they are 12 Tribes. The mentioning of the 2 House separate here again is to explain some detail about each one of them. In the next verse when House of Israel is mentioned, it again is all Israel, all God’s people.

20 Surely as a wife unfaithfully departs from her husband, so have you betrayed Me, O House of Israel, says YHVH.
21 A voice was heard upon the high places, the weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their ways, and they have forgotten YHVH their Elohim.
22 Make repentance, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. See, we have come to you; for You are YHVH our Elohim.
23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the high hills, and from the multitude of mountains: for truly in YHVH our Elohim is the Yeshua of Israel.
24 For shame has devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us: for we have sinned against YHVH our Elohim, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of YHVH our Elohim.

 

Jeremiah – Chapter 4
1 If you will make repentance, O Israel, says YHVH, then make repentance to Me: and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then shall you cease to stray.
2 And you shall swear, YHVH lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.
3 For this says YHVH to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to YHVH, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest My wrath come forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Taking in consideration the whole of Chapter 3 that we just read: Israel, the Northern Tribes that was taken captive, has justified themselves more than Judah and Jerusalem, Yahweh is telling them to change or else…

 

The Prophet Zephaniah

King Josiah’s heart was towards Yahweh. In the 12th Year of his reign he destroyed the Asherah’s, Ba’al Temples and Molten Images out of all the lands of Israel. In the 13th year of King Josiah, Jeremiah was called to be a prophet and he called Jerusalem and Judea to repentance. He also called the Israelites that was left to repentance.

Another Prophet that prophesied during the time of Josiah was the prophet Zephaniah. He was bringing a message of destruction to the house of Judah. We know that King Josiah was worshipping Yahweh, but yet Zephaniah’s message is to that of an unretentive nation. Let’s go have a look.

 

Zep 1:1 MKJV The Word of Jehovah which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

 

The Coming Judgment on Judah

Zep 1:2 MKJV I will completely snatch away all from on the face of the ground, says Jehovah.
Zep 1:3 MKJV I will snatch away man and beast; I will snatch away the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks, even the wicked; and I will cut off man from the face of the earth, says Jehovah.
Zep 1:4 MKJV I will also stretch out My hand on Judah and on all the people of Jerusalem. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, the name of the idol-worshipers, with the priests,
Zep 1:5 MKJV and those bowing to the host of heaven on the housetops, and those bowing, swearing to Jehovah, also swearing by Malcham;
Zep 1:6 MKJV and those drawing back from Jehovah, and who have not sought Jehovah, nor asked for Him.

This part will have a near fulfilment during the time of King Josiah after he restored the Temple.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

Zep 1:7 MKJV Be silent before the face of the Lord Jehovah, for the day of Jehovah is at hand. For Jehovah has appointed a sacrifice; He has consecrated His called ones.
Zep 1:8 MKJV And it shall be in the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice, I will punish the rulers, and the king’s sons, and all who are clothed in foreign clothing.
Zep 1:9 MKJV And I will punish all those who leap on the threshold in that day, who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
Zep 1:10 MKJV And it shall be in that day, says Jehovah, the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate, and a howling from the Second, and a great crashing from the hills.
Zep 1:11 MKJV Howl, people of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are cut down; all those who carry silver are cut off.
Zep 1:12 MKJV And it shall be in that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled on their lees; who say in their heart, Jehovah will not do good, nor will He do evil.
Zep 1:13 MKJV And their goods shall become a prize and their houses a waste. They shall also build houses, but not live in them, and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine.
Zep 1:14 MKJV The great day of Jehovah is near; it is near and rushing greatly, the voice of the day of Jehovah. The mighty man shall cry bitterly there.
Zep 1:15 MKJV That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of waste and ruin, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16 MKJV a day of the ram’s horn and alarm against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17 MKJV And I will bring distress on men, so that they shall walk with the blind, because they have sinned against Jehovah. And their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung.
Zep 1:18 MKJV Their silver nor their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy. For He shall make even a full, yea, a speedy end of all the dwellers in the land.

The day of the Lord is the day of Judgment. This is one of those prophecies that are always true. It happened with the Northern Tribes of Israel already, but now this judgment is spoken out to the House of Judah. This came to pass with the descendants of King Josiah. This happened at 69-70AD when the 2nd Temple was destroyed, and it will have a fulfilment again in the last Judgment of Yahweh when the final happenings of the book of Revelation plays out.

 

Judgment on Judah’s Enemies

Zep 2:1 MKJV Gather yourselves together; yea, gather, O nation not desired;
Zep 2:2 MKJV before the birth of the decree, the day shall pass like the chaff; yet not before the hot anger of Jehovah comes on you, yet not before the day of Jehovah’s anger comes on you.
Zep 2:3 MKJV Seek Jehovah, all the meek of the earth who have done His justice; seek righteousness; seek meekness. It may be you shall be hidden in the day of Jehovah’s anger.
Zep 2:4 MKJV For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a ruin. They shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
Zep 2:5 MKJV Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The Word of Jehovah is against you: Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will destroy you, so that no inhabitant survives.
Zep 2:6 MKJV And the sea coast will be pastures, meadows of shepherds, and folds for flocks.
Zep 2:7 MKJV And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed on them. In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down in the evening, for Jehovah their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity.
Zep 2:8 MKJV I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the curses of the sons of Ammon, with which they have cursed My people and have magnified themselves on their border.
Zep 2:9 MKJV Therefore, as I live, says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah; a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a ruin forever. The remnant of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.
Zep 2:10 MKJV They shall have this for their pride, because they have cursed and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah of Hosts.
Zep 2:11 MKJV Jehovah will be frightening to them; for He will make all the gods of the earth lean; each man from his place and all the coastlands of the nations shall bow to Him.
Zep 2:12 MKJV You Ethiopians also shall be slain by My sword.
Zep 2:13 MKJV  And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desert and dry like a desert.
Zep 2:14 MKJV And flocks shall lie down in her midst, all the beasts of a nation; both the pelican and the bittern shall roost in the capitals of its pillars; a voice shall sing at the window, ruin shall be at the doorsill, for he will bare the cedar-work.
Zep 2:15 MKJV This is the rejoicing city, dwelling confidently, who says in her heart, I am, and no other still is. How she has become a ruin, a resting-place for animals! Everyone who passes by her shall hiss; he shall wag his hand.

There is a lot of prophecies against the enemies of Israel. Nineveh was destroyed by the Babylonians, and then again, Babylon was destroyed by the Persians.

 

The prophet Nahum prophesied the destruction of Nineveh.

Nah 1:1 MKJV The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Nah 1:2 MKJV God is jealous, and Jehovah revenges; Jehovah revenges and is a possessor of wrath. Jehovah takes vengeance against His foes, and He keeps wrath against His enemies.
Nah 1:3 MKJV Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power. And He does not by any means acquit the guilty. Jehovah has His way in the tempest and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.
Nah 1:4 MKJV He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon withers.
Nah 1:5 MKJV The mountains quake from Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is lifted up from before Him; even the world and all who dwell in it.
Nah 1:6 MKJV Who can stand before His fury? And who can stand up in the heat of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken down because of Him.
Nah 1:7 MKJV Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.
Nah 1:8 MKJV But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness shall pursue His enemies.

According to History, Nineveh was abandoned in 612BC. In the Book of Daniel, the anti-Christ is associated with Assyria, so yet again, like with all the prophets, it will have a far fulfilment during the time of the Tribulation as well.

So, Zephaniah was prophesying together with Jeremiah during the time of King Josiah, and we have the prophet Nahum whose prophecy runs together with Zephaniah Chapter 2, about judgment on Israel’s enemies. Jeremiah’s last message to Jerusalem and Judah was a call to repentance. Let’s get back to our story of King Josiah and continue our reading.

 

King Josiah Repairs the Temple

2Kings – Chapter 22
Josiah Repairs the Temple
3 And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the King sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the Sopher, to the House of YHVH, saying, 
4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may weigh the silver that is brought into the House of YHVH, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people: 
5 And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work; that have the oversight of the House of YHVH: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the House of YHVH, to repair the damages of the House, 
6 Unto the carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and cut stone to repair the House. 
7 However there was no accounting made with them of the silver that was delivered into their hand, because they acted faithfully.

In Josiah’s 12th year he started to purge the land and in the 13th year Jeremiah started to prophesy repentance to all Israel. In Josiah’s 18th year, meaning he would have been at the age of 26, he was done and he gave word that the Temple should be repaired, using the money being brought into the Temple.

 

2Kings Chapter 22
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

8 And Hilkiah the High Priest said to Shaphan the Sopher, I have found the scroll of the Torah in the House of YHVH. And Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it. 
9 And Shaphan the Scribe came to the King, and brought the King word again, and said, your servants have gathered the silver that was found in the House, and have delivered it into the hand of those that do the work, that have the oversight of the House of YHVH. 
10 And Shaphan the Scribe showed the King, saying, Hilkiah the Priest has delivered to me a scroll. And Shaphan read it before the King. 
11 And it came to pass, when the King had heard the words of the scroll of the Torah, that he tore his clothes.
12 And the King commanded Hilkiah the Priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the Scribe, and Asahiah an servant of the King, saying, 

13 Go, inquire of YHVH for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this scroll that is found: for great is the wrath of YHVH that is lit against us, because our Fathers have not listened to the words of this scroll, to do according to all that which is written concerning us. 

14 So Hilkiah the Priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she dwelt in Jerusalem studying Torah), and they communed with her. 
15 And she said to them, This says YHVH Elohim of Yisrael, Tell the man that sent you to Me, 
16 This says YHVH, See, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of it, even all the words of the scroll that the King of Judah has read: 
17 Because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense to other elohim, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be lit against this place, and shall not be quenched. 
18 But to the King of Judah who sent you to inquire of YHVH, this shall you say to him, This says YHVH Elohim of Yisrael, about the words which you have heard; 
19 Because your heart was tender, and you have humbled yourself before YHVH, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against the inhabitants of it, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard you, says YHVH.
20 See therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered into your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place. And they brought the King word again.

When Josiah heard the words of the book of the Torah, he understood it’s words. King Josiah spent 4 years cleaning up the lands of Israel and he saw all the abominations which the children of Israel was doing. He knew their hears was far away from Yahweh.

 

King Hezekiah was faced with the same during his time, but he received favour from Yahweh. King Josiah’s heart was right with Yahweh, but the people of the land did not heed Jeremiah’s call to repentance. So, King Josiah had to find out if Yahweh will give them another chance.

There was a family amongst the Levites that walked true to Yahweh. I believe that Josiah spent a lot of time with them to learn about Yahweh. This would be the family of Hilkiah, who was the High Priest of Elohim. Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, and I’ve showed in a previous lesson that Jeremiah’s vision of the almond branch meant that he was from the original line of Aaron.

Now, Huldah the prophetess was the wife of Shallum, who was the keeper of the wardrobe. The wardrobe was the white garments that the priests wore when they were in service to Yahweh. These garments were Holy for service only. They were pure white and were not allowed to have any blemish on them.

In the book of Jeremiah we read the following about Shallum.

Jer 32:7 MKJV Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth; for the right to redeem it is yours, to buy it.
Jer 32:8 MKJV So Hanameel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the Word of Jehovah and said to me, Please buy my field in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the right to redeem is yours. Buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the Word of Jehovah.

Shallum was a Levite and was the Uncle of Jeremiah. This will make Huldah, Jeremiah’s Aunt, and would then explain why Josiah inquired from her what Yahweh’s word would be regarding the Book of the Torah and of that written in it. They were a family, descendant from the line of Aaron who were still loyal to Yahweh. The Bible is written in a summation form and is not always clear on the detail.

The message to Josiah was clear, Yahweh was going to do everything that was written in the Book of the Torah, about the breaking of the covenant, made to the fathers of the sons of Israel. 

This message did not discourage King Josiah and he continued with his plans to restore Israel back to Yahweh. Every time before Yahweh’s heart changed towards the destruction to his people and He had mercy on the sons of Israel.

But this time Yahweh said that enough is enough and he sent more prophecy to Jeremiah. We will find that even though Jeremiah brought the message of destruction, Yahweh had a plan to save a remnant of the descendants of Israel who were still loyal to Him.

So, from here the message of repentance changed from a nation to the individual. Those who repent and follow after Yahweh will be saved from the coming destruction. But the destruction will be coming for sure.

Zep 2:3 MKJV Seek Jehovah, all the meek of the earth who have done His justice; seek righteousness; seek meekness. It may be you shall be hidden in the day of Jehovah’s anger.

It is the same message than what we have today. Tribulation is coming, seek Yahweh and his righteousness, so that you will be kept save during His wrath in the coming Tribulation.

Destruction Coming from the North

Jeremiah – Chapter 4
Disaster from the North

5 Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow the shofar in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the walled cities.
6 Lift up the banner toward Zion: be strong and do not stand still: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the nations is on his way to you; he is gone forth from his place to make your land desolate; and your cities shall be laid waste, without any inhabitants.
8 For this dress yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail: for the fierce anger of YHVH is not turned back from us.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, says YHVH, that the heart of the King shall melt, and the heart of the leaders; and the Priests shall be amazed, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Oy vey, Master YHVH! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; whereas the sword reaches to their being.
11 At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind from the bare heights in the wilderness blows toward the daughter of My people, not to cool them, nor to cleanse them,
12 Even a full wind from those places shall come from Me: now also I will give judgment against them.
13 See, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are plundered.
14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your worthless thoughts stay in you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes affliction from Mount Ephraim.
16 Announce to the nations; see, publish against Jerusalem, that captors will come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 As keepers of a field, are they against her all around; because she has been rebellious against Me, says YHVH.
18 Your ways and your doings have brought these things on you; this is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart.

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

19 My inward parts, my inward parts! I am pained in my very heart; my heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my silence, because you have heard, O my being, the sound of the shofar, the alarm of a war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is being cried; for the whole land is plundered: suddenly are my tents plundered, and my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see the banner of war, and hear the sound of the shofar?
22 For My people are foolish, they have not known Me; they are stupid children, and they have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23 I saw the earth, and, see, it was without form, and void; and the heaven, and they had no light.
24 I saw the mountains, and, see, they trembled, and all the hills swayed.
25 I saw, and, see, there was no man, and all the birds of the heaven had fled.
26 I saw, and, see, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities of it were broken down at the presence of YHVH, and by His fierce anger.
27 For this has YHVH said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end of it.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heaven above shall be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not relent, neither will I turn back from it.
29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into bushes, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man shall dwell in them.
30 And when you are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you dress with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your face with makeup, in vain shall you make yourself pretty; your lovers will despise you, they will seek your life.
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labour, and the anguish as of her that brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewails herself, that spreads out her hands, saying, Woe is me now! For my being faints because of the murderers.

 

As we continue through the book of Jeremiah, we will receive more message of why destruction will be coming and how Yahweh will save the remnant of His people.

Join us again next week a we continue to read through Jeremiah and his interaction with the Last Kings of Israel

Kimberly Rogers-Brown has been teaching Torah and special Bible topics since 2008. She is also the author and publisher of Beast Watch News dot com and is heard internationally via two radio programs on Hebrew Nation Radio. Kimberly now lives in Aqaba, Jordan close to the Exodus wilderness area where the Bride (i.e. "the woman" of Revelation 12:6) will flee for 1260 days of the Great Tribulation.

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