Good morning to everyone. You can turn in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 9. While you're turning there, happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there. In our Protestant freedom, we are beholden to no holy day of observation.
Sometimes the preacher uses that Protestant liberty to preach on mothers and mothership on Mother's Day. And other times they exercise that freedom to preach on other things. Well, I'm doing the latter. We're going to preach on divine judgment against Jerusalem on Mother's Day.
So happy Mother's Day to everyone. On to more serious things. Jeremiah chapter 9. In Jeremiah 9, we're going to pick up reading, begin reading at verse 11.
Jeremiah 9 verse 11. This is the word of the living and true God. I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate without an inhabitant.
Who is the wise man who may understand this and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness so that no one can pass through? And the Lord said, because they have forsaken my law which I set before them and have not obeyed my voice. nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the bales which their fathers taught them. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them water of gall to drink.
I will scatter them also among the Gentiles whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come, and send for skillful whaling women, that they may come. Let them make haste and take up a whaling for us, that our eyes may run with tears, and our eyelids gush with water. For a voice of whaling is heard from Zion, how we are plundered, we are greatly ashamed, because we have forsaken the land, because we have been cast out of our dwellings.
Yet hear the word of the Lord, O women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, Teach your daughters wailing, and everyone let neighbor... Excuse me, and everyone hurt neighbor a lamentation. For death has come through our windows, has entered our palaces to kill off the children no longer to be outside, and the young men no longer on the streets. Speak thus says the Lord, even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field, like cuttings after the harvester, and no one shall gather them.
Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised. Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners who dwell in the wilderness.
For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. Amen. Well, let us again go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we rejoice in this Lord's Day.
We thank you for this, the reading of your scriptures. We thank you now for this, the preaching of your word. Thank you that we can do so in freedom, unhindered by outsiders and unmolested by the government, that we can gather freely with full Bibles to worship the triune God and to engage in this act of worship, the preaching of your word. We do pray that you would help the preacher to preach well the things from your scriptures.
We pray that it would be the preacher diminished in the pulpit and God exalted and Christ exalted upon the praises of his people. And we do pray that the people having gathered here would leave having been instructed by God for your glory's sake and for their good. And we do pray, God, that you would be active by amazing grace unto the salvation of sinners this morning, that many who have entered enemies of God would leave as the friends of Christ, singing the praises of salvation by amazing grace and singing the praises of our God. We do pray that you'd be with us now.
Again, that this exercise of worship would be unto the praise of your most high name. And it's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Well, our focus this morning is going to be on Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24. This is a passage that is frequently stolen away from its context and used as sort of a general proverb. It's used proverbially, completely devoid of anything Christian or anything godly. We have other examples of these in the scriptures.
John 8, 32, the truth. shall set you free, very often used Christless to apply to, you know, our discoveries of UFOs and aliens. Once we get past the government conspiracies to hide up aliens or to hide aliens, we can, you know, be free and liberated from our bondage to government impositions, some nonsense like that. We have other texts as well. Luke 11, 9, ask and it will be given to you.
The shucksters out there who fly the banner of Christ and the banner of Christianity, you know, ask and it will be given to you. Whatever you want, as long as your faith is strong, it will be given to you by God. Completely ripped from the context there, just like John 8, 32. Well, this passage, Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24, is likewise the victim of such stealing away unto misuse and misapplication.
Many would just see it as a simple proverb, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. Almost this idea like you need to break away from the shackles of your preoccupations and, you know, go bungee jumping or play Monopoly with your kids or walk barefoot through fields of lavender or, you know, find some hippie stranger who's free spirited and go backpacking in Thailand. Be not preoccupied. by these things, the madness and the folly of stealing these things away from their biblical context. What we find in Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24 is we find a warning given by the prophet in the midst of the inevitability of divine judgment and yet an admonition to own the living and true God, to know Him and to rest upon the verities of His mercy and His righteous government.
And so we're going to look at this passage this morning under three headings, very simply, the vainglory, the virtue, and the verity. But before we get there, notice
Context: Judgment on Apostate Israel
God is judging apostate Israel. Notice verse 11, I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. It's bookended at the end of Jeremiah 9 with these words, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised.
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. The book of Jeremiah begins with this. After the call of Jeremiah, if you have your fingers at the ready on your Bibles, you can turn to Jeremiah 1, because notice what we find there, the certainty of judgment.
After the call of Jeremiah, we read in verse 14, Then the Lord said to me, Out of the north calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord. They shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem against all its walls all around and against all cities of Judah. I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness because they have forsaken me, burned incense to other gods and worship the works of their hands.
You see, judgment is coming and it is not arbitrary. It is not God being capricious and just haphazardly outpouring his wrath upon an undeserving nation, but rather these judgments come from on high in accordance with his promise because of their wicked disobedience.
Covenant Background in Deuteronomy 28
Just as we continue to introduce this, turn with me to Deuteronomy. to understand the background. You see, God had called Israel, God had redeemed Israel from out of bondage and slavery in Egypt. He had put them into the promised land after their wilderness wanderings. He had given them graciously a law to observe and religion to follow in order to reflect the holiness of God and in order to bear witness to the nations around them.
But you see, in so doing, the Lord God gave this covenant, ratified this covenant, and gave blessings and cursings, blessings for obedience and cursings for disobedience. And so the background, much of the background to Jeremiah 9 and the book of Jeremiah is Deuteronomy 28. In Deuteronomy 28, What we find is the promise that God would judge disobedient Israel if they do not follow after his statutes and if they do not follow after his precepts. Notice what we find in Deuteronomy 28 at verse 15.
But it shall come to pass if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all his commandments. and his statutes, which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks." Notice verse 25, the Lord will cause you to be defeated. before your enemies, you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them, and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.
And then finally, verses 47 to 49, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand. So now we fast forward to the prophet Jeremiah, and we see that this prophet comes as a divinely sanctioned and a divinely commissioned prosecutor. to bring to bear the curses of that covenant that God promised He would bring upon them if disobedient.
Jeremiah comes and he speaks with regards to the fact that having been disobedient, having disobeyed, having fallen away unto wickedness, God is now doing that which He has promised.
Reasons for Judgment in Jeremiah 2
Notice in Jeremiah 2, the reasons for this judgment. Again, we hadn't caught it in that reading of Jeremiah 1, God is not capricious. He is not arbitrary. He is not simply haphazardly meeting out judgment upon them, but rather it is for a righteous and for a holy and for a just reason.
Notice Jeremiah 2 verse 12. Be astonished, O heavens, at this and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters. and hewn themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Verse 17, have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the Lord your God? Verse 19, in the middle, know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of me is not in you, says the Lord God of hosts. And finally, verse 24 of Old, I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds and you said I will not transgress when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down playing the harlot. Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine? You see here the promise of God. This is the thing that we have with our God, the promises of God. are seen both in the fact that He exercises judgment in accordance with His holiness, and He exercises mercy in accordance with His covenantal and condescending love. Here we see that most certainly God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His holiness as He is carrying out, as He will carry out that which He promised to carry out.
They had not heeded the word of the Lord, Jeremiah 9, 13, because they have forsaken my law, which I have set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the bales, which their fathers have taught them. And so judgment is coming. Now again, as we find our way back now to Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24, the focus of our study this morning,
Structure of Jeremiah 9:23–24
just see three things The text is broken up here, and then we'll get to the subject matter of our meditation this morning. Notice in verse 23, we have a prohibitive warning issued. Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches.
A prohibitive warning. What not to do? God's judgment is most certainly coming. There is no getting away from it.
There is no stopping it. It is irreversible. The Lord is faithful to his promise. This is coming.
And so a what not to do warning, a prohibitive warning is issued upon the heels of that. Secondly, a prescriptive counsel is given what to do. But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me. What not to do, verse 23, what you are to do, verse 24.
And then thirdly, some attendant truths expressed in so doing what you are to do. What are the specific considerations? What are the specific contemplations? They are to understand and know that God is the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight, says the Lord. So now getting to what our subject matter will be this morning and this evening, Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24, the vainglory, the virtue and the verity.
The Vainglory (Jeremiah 9:23)
First, the vainglory, and this will be our focus this morning. What is the vainglory? Well, that's verse 23. And what does vainglory mean?
There's a word for you, kids and adults. Vainglory. Well, it really takes the two meanings of vanity and puts it into one word, vainglory. It simply, it means excessive arrogance and pride or confidence in empty or hollow things.
We take the definition of vanity and it could be twofold, excessive pride and arrogance in self, self-confidence, and then also a hollow or an emptiness, a hollowness or an emptiness. Well, here we have Those two things wrapped up in the vain glory of verse 23. Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. This prohibitive warning issued, the vain glory of these things listed.
And we'll look at this under three things.
General Folly of Boasting in Wisdom, Might, and Riches
The first is this, the general folly of boasting in wisdom, might, and riches, the general folly of boasting in wisdom and might and riches. And it's simply seen in the fact that it is the Lord who gives these things in the first place. Wisdom, strength or might and riches, do these not all come from the Lord? We are not to glory in things to the exclusion of and to sacrifice glorying in the one Who has given us these things?
Even if in some of these things, especially the wisdom, is not a good, a holy, or a righteous wisdom. But wisdom in and of itself is a good thing when it finds as its foundation the word, the revelation of the living and true God. Riches in and of themselves are not inherently wicked. It is good to have riches if held and acquired righteously.
And, of course, strength is okay. We ought not to, as men, be wimps. We ought to, as much as we are able, exercise a measure of bodily health and have a measure of strength. It is what men are to be marked by, among other things.
Women as well. This touches upon all men before God, all men and women, boys and girls. But the idea here is, in the vain glory, the vanity, the hollowness, the emptiness of these things, In the first place, any of these things given, it is the Lord who gives them to us. In Psalm 68, you can turn there with me because we need to see that the vanity, the general folly of boasting in wisdom and might and riches, is seen in the fact that the Lord gives these things to us in the first place.
Psalm 68. Be a little bit of Bible flipping today, hopefully, so that you can see these things. Jeremiah 9, touching upon the other parts, other addresses of Holy Scripture. Notice in Psalm 68 at the end, verse 32, what do we find there?
A song to God or an exhortation to do so, to sing to God. Sing to God, verse 32, you kingdoms of the earth. Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah, to him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old. Indeed, he sends out his voice, a mighty voice, a scribe's strength to God.
His excellence is over Israel, and His strength is in the clouds. O God, You are most awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God.
You see, if we are to glory in anything, as the text in Jeremiah 9 says, we're to glory in the Lord because it is He who gives strength and power to His people. And you see the flow of this text here First, ascribe strength to God, verse 34. His excellence is over Israel. So the ascription of might by the mighty men, the ascriptions are to be unto God.
Ascribe strength to God. And then we have this, verse 35. The God of Israel is he who gives strength and power to his people. So the vanity of glorying and strength and power and wisdom enriches his It is seen in the fact that God himself is the author and the provider of these things.
It is he who is to be gloried in alone. Acts 17. What do we find there? That our life, our breath, that the all things that we enjoy are not a result of natural things, natural causes or gifts given to us by men, but of course gifts given to us from on high. from a gracious and a loving God.
Notice what we find there in Acts 17 at verse 25, beginning at the end of verse 23 there. Therefore the one whom you worship without knowing, him I proclaim to you, God, who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is he worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, and all things." You see, God is the originator of our gifts. God is the originator of any wisdom, of any strength, of any might, of any riches.
And so it is an absolute falling to glory in wisdom, might, and enriches. Notice the lesson given by Daniel in Daniel 5. This is after the Nebuchadnezzar event. If you turn with me to Daniel 5, or if you just like to listen as I read it, in Daniel 5, we have a lesson given to the son of Nebuchadnezzar.
It speaks to the fact that God is the giver. Notice what we read in Daniel 5, beginning in verse 18. O king, The Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar, your father, a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. And because of the majesty that he gave him, all peoples, nations and languages trembled and feared before him.
Whomever he wished, he executed. Whomever he wished, he kept alive. Whomever he wished, he set up. And whomever he wished, he put down.
But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in pride, He was deposed from His kingly throne, and they took His glory from Him. Then He was driven from the sons of men. His heart was made like the beasts, and His dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed Him with grass like oxen, and His body was wet with the dew of heaven, till He knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men and appoints over it whomever He chooses.
But you, His son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your hearts, although you knew all this. You see, against better wisdom, against the story of his own father, who thought himself to be the originator of his power, his wisdom, his strength, against all that, Belshazzar rejected the fact of verse 18, that the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar, your father, a kingdom and majesty and glory. and honor. The general folly of boasting in wisdom, might, and riches is seen in the fact that it is the Lord who gives these things in the first place. It's seen secondly in the fact that glorying is to be in the Lord only.
So misplaced boasting steals from the glory that is due to him alone. You see the vainglory and boasting in the wisdom and boasting in the strength and the might, boasting in the riches is that we steal from where the boast is to be directed. And it steals from the object, the true object of boasting and glorying, which is the Lord God Almighty. A very interesting text that touches very strongly upon this one this morning is Revelation 5, specifically beginning in verse 11.
Hopefully, you know, and you can turn there. What's going on in Revelation 5 is we have no one. No one is able to open the scroll. The one seated upon the throne.
John is lamenting over the fact that no one is able to do so. And yet hope comes upon the heels of that lamentation delivered by God because there is one strong enough to open the scrolls. And it is the Lord God. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who has been victorious over death and hell and the devil.
Notice in Revelation 5 in verse 11, then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. You see what happens when we glory and when we boast in wisdom and strength and riches, we steal away from the glory that is to be rendered unto God, that is to be offered to God, that is God's alone. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive what? The very things that these people were boasting and glorying in.
Power, riches, wisdom, strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. when the general folly of boasting in wisdom and might and riches is seen, in that glorying is to be in the Lord only." Notice in 1 Corinthians 1.31, yes, a lot of Bible turning, but hopefully no one rails against that because our Bibles are the revelation of God Most High, and it's good to know where things are. 1 Corinthians 1, you know what the Apostle Paul does here is he quotes Jeremiah 9. In 1 Corinthians 1, in quoting Jeremiah 9, he brings to bear the very thing that we are talking about this morning. Notice in 1 Corinthians 1 at verse 26, for you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of this world to put to shame the wise.
And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. You see the way that God works here. He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, doesn't he?
You see the mighty, the noble, and the wise are brought to the fore here. And the author is saying that God's glory does not rest upon these who boast in their wisdom and in their strength and in their power. A very interesting thing is in Acts chapter 2. on this very thing, on this very topic. It's very interesting because of this.
You see, the Jews of this time, the Jewish leaders of this time, the pious Jews of this time, would have thought and would have seriously, with great strength, understood in the folly of their own minds that the glory of God rests upon the wise and the mighty. and the rich. But what do we find in Peter's sermon is that he quotes Joel. And what happens on the day of Pentecost? Do the cloven tongues of flame rest upon the Jewish leaders?
They rest upon the prominent men of Jerusalem? No. We read this in verse 16. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy." Who is it that has the Spirit of the Lord poured out upon them? Is it not the menservants and maidservants, the fishermen, tax collectors? A gathering not of wise men in the eyes of the national apostates, not resting upon the powerful, the strong, or the rich, but rather it comes upon, as 1 Corinthians 1 says, the base things, the low things, the things that scandalize the human mind. It is the general folly of boasting and wisdom and might and riches as seen Again, first, in that it is the Lord who gives us these things in the first place, and that glorying is to be in the Lord only.
This lands upon, this terminates upon a Christological truth in the New Covenant, doesn't it? God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, if boasting in wisdom and boasting in strength and boasting in riches steals away from the glory of God, that is all the more punctuated in its wickedness because it steals away from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to glory in God alone.
We are to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. So first off, the vain glory again is seen in the general folly of boasting and wisdom might enriches now
Specific Error of Boasting
the specific error of boasting. in wisdom and might and riches, turning back to Jeremiah 9. The specific error of boasting in wisdom, might and riches, you see, because we cannot tear this away from the context and what is going on in the prophet Jeremiah's foreboding warning against the nation of Israel. The specific error of boasting in wisdom, might and riches, we want to note first off that
These Things Cannot Avert Divine Calamity
wisdom, might and riches will not help them in the face of irreversible calamity. Why are they not to boast in wisdom and might and riches? Because there is an irreversible calamity coming. Your wisdom, your riches and your strength will not help you against the whirlwind of divine justice.
You see, it would have been the case that you see the prominent rich men in the nation of Israel may have thought, well, you see, we'll bring our gold. And we'll bring our silver and we'll bring all of the bejeweled trinkets that we have as a nation, present them before Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon and his invading armies. And we can buy them away from this coming calamity. But you see what they didn't understand, why God follows this up with what let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me what they didn't understand. that God had put it into the heart of Nebuchadnezzar, that God had put it into the hearts of the conquerors of Babylon to destroy his apostate and chosen people.
There is no escape from the coming calamity. You have forsaken me. You have brought before your eyes the bales. You have heaped before you all manner of things to help you abominate my law, to blaspheme me, and to break my statutes.
This judgment is most certainly coming. Your wisdom, your might, your riches will not help you in the face of irreversible calamity. This is what Matthew Henry says. Notice the text first in Jeremiah 9, 21.
For death has come through our windows, has entered our palaces to kill off the children no longer to be outside and the young men no longer on the streets. Henry. Death shall ride in triumph, and there shall be no escaping his arrests when he comes with commission, neither within doors nor without, not within doors, for let the doors be shut ever so fast, let them be ever so firmly locked and bolted. Death comes up into our windows like a thief in the night, it steals upon us ere we are aware.
Nor does it thus boldly attack the cottages only, but it has entered into our palaces, the palaces of our princes and great men, though ever so stately, ever so strongly built and guarded." Note, no palaces can keep out death. You see, the riches of Israel will not help them. They can shut their doors and think with some sort of misplaced confidence that the doors will stop death coming. but it's going to creep through the windows. They can erect, and they had already had no doubt erected their palaces, but you see as strong and mighty as they were, nothing can stop again the whirlwind of divine and infinite justice.
The specific error of boasting and wisdom and might and riches is seen again, and that these things will not help them in the face of irreversible calamity. The wise cannot by political machinations maneuver Israel out of harm's way. Oh, you see this Judgment we have heard is coming, but perhaps we can have a sit-down discussion with Nebuchadnezzar and his cronies Sit down around the table in one of our palaces and have a discussion about polity and perhaps we can issue a tribute to him the rich men We glory and can provide them with a tribute to to buy off to stay this execution But remember no one understand me. God says this is in this isn't a perfect fulfillment of the promise that I would judge you and visit you with the curses of the covenant if you go a whoring from me.
You break my laws, you break my statutes, you depart from me, you forsake me. This is in fulfillment. I have put these things in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar and his cronies to judge you in accordance with infinite, eternal, and unchanging divine justice.
These Things Will Be Taken Away
Secondly, under the specific error of boasting and wisdom might and riches, wisdom, might and riches, all these things will be taken away. What is it? What is the good in grasping, latching onto to the exclusion of glorying in the living and true God? What is good in latching onto these things?
When when death comes, they will all be taken away from you. Wisdom, might and riches, all these things will be taken away. You see, 2 Kings provides a commentary on the events that we're reading about and preaching about right now. You can turn there with me to 2 Kings to see that the specific error of boasting in wisdom and might and riches is seen and that all these things will be taken away.
In 2 Kings chapter 24, notice what we find there. 2 Kings 24, beginning in verse 1. In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him, and the Lord sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon." Now, just pause there for a moment. This is something that you could read alongside Jeremiah to see what Jeremiah prophesied 2 Kings is now rehearsing by way of narrative.
He sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah to remove them from his sight because of the sins of Manasseh according to all that he had done and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood which the Lord would not pardon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did Are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? So Jehoiakim rested with his fathers.
Then Jehoiakim, his son, reigned in his place. And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore. For the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Jehoiakim was 18 years old when he became king.
Then he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother's name was Nehushtah. the daughter of Elnathan at Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done. At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against the city, as his servants were besieging it. Then Jehoiakim, king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers, went out to the king of Babylon, and the king of Babylon in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner. And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house. And he cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.
Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem, all the captains, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest of the land. You see here, why the prophet says, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, because Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon are taking all of these things away. These things are not everlasting.
You are not to put your glorying, your boasting, and to rest your confidence in these things. know me to understand that I am the Lord exercising mercy and perfect government in the land. You see, all of these things would be taken away. So the specific error of boasting and wisdom might in riches is seen in the fact that those things will be taken away. We see this in the New Testament scriptures as well.
If you're still with me, you can turn to Revelation six. Notice what we find there with regards to wisdom and strength and riches, because It is the same thing that we find. Revelation 6, beginning in verse 12. I looked when he opened the sixth seal and behold, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood.
The stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand?
You see, this was the same in Jeremiah's day. The wrath of God is coming upon apostate Israel and the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men. These are calling upon the rocks and the trees to hide them from the wrath of infinite, eternal, and unchangeable divine justice. These things will be taken away.
This is what Gill says on this particular point. John Gill commenting, in fact, on a different passage, but it touches upon the weight of what we're discussing here. Speaking of the rich, the wise, the mighty, who on account of their noble birth, large possessions and high attainments in knowledge and learning, thought themselves something, all which will one day be abolished and will stand them in no stead with regard to future happiness and glory. The Jews have a saying quite contrary to all this, that the Shekinah, or presence of God, does not dwell on any but upon a wise man, a mighty man and a rich man.
You see, God is coming with infinite justice, railing against these distorted and perverted proverbs that the Jews had in their traditions, that the Shekinah glory rests upon the wise and the mighty and the rich. God says that my glory rests upon my people, who I have caused to know and to understand me. to love my mercy, to know my justice, and to know my judgment. And to know that I delight in these things. You see them, the specific error of boasting in wisdom, might, and riches is most certainly seen in the fact that all these things will be taken away.
Think of the madness and the folly of some other religions. Send the The Greco-Roman religion, and as far as I know, they still do this in some places in the Mediterranean today. They put coins upon the eyes of the, you know, the people that they bury so that they can pay their way across the River Styx into the land of Hades or whoever that nonsense goes. Those things will be taken away.
There is no taking of coins left upon the eyes of dead bodies into another world. Buried with treasure, the pharaohs of Egypt, They entered into an eternity of hell and torment, taking no trinkets, taking no bejeweled cups, taking no gold and silver with them. These things will be taken away, is the knowledge of God and the understanding of the Triune God that is most necessary. And thirdly, under the specific error of boasting in wisdom and might and riches, notice that,
Boasting Set Against Knowledge of God
thirdly, boasting in these things is set against the knowledge of God and heeding his word. So you see, what is the remedy? What is the contrary? What is the opposite to boasting in these things?
Well, it is verse 24. Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me. Notice Jeremiah 8 and verse 9. The wise men are ashamed.
They are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord. So what wisdom do they have? Boasting in these things is set against the knowledge of God and heeding his word.
And thirdly and lastly, under the vain glory,
Case Studies in Vainglory
we have some case studies in the vanity of glorying in wisdom and might and riches. If we consider our Bibles, do we have any case studies in glorying in wisdom and might and riches that we can sort of depart from this text for a moment, but then find our way back? where we find those first, glorying in wisdom or wisdom so-called. You can turn with me to Romans, the book of Romans in Romans chapter one, and the taught mind will perhaps know where I'm going with the case study and glorying in wisdom. And here it's wisdom so-called, which is really foolishness, which is really falling.
Notice what we see here, beginning in Romans 1 at verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. so that they are without excuse.
Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things." You see, when one is set against the knowledge of God and heeding His Word, His wisdom as revealed by Him alone, then we have this result, professing to be wise, they became fools. We see this today, I think, in many examples, but wouldn't we see this today in the atheist who says in his so-called wisdom that there is no God? It is a fool that says in his heart, there is no God.
But you see, they boast, don't they, in that wisdom. They glory in that wisdom. They have, some of them, to be sure, an excessive pride and arrogance in that so-called wisdom to the exclusion and rejection of the knowledge of God. And this is against the clear testimony, the clear word of God.
Psalm 19, what do we read there? The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament shows his handiwork. Day after day utter speech, night after night reveals knowledge.
It is the biggest fool. I think we can, I can back this up. There may be bigger ones in fact, but it is a big fool who can, as Spurgeon says, look up to the stars and then write himself down an atheist. Because these things declare the glory of God.
They declare his righteousness. The atheist looks up to the stars, writes himself down an atheist, and a Spurgeon says at the same time, brands himself either a liar or an idiot. Not to be insulting, but to use idiot in a wholesomely severe manner. The one who can look up to the stars and say, no, God, is a fool.
They boast in wisdom if they call it wisdom to reject God and say that everything exploded and nothing exploded created everything. I love what Spurgeon says after that, and you've heard me quote this a number of times, but he goes on to say that, in the expanse above us, God flies as it were his starry flag, Psalm 19, right? The heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows his handiwork. In the expanse above us, God flies as it were his starry flag to do what?
To show the king is at home. And he hangs out his coat of arms bearing shield, to show the atheist how much he despises their denunciations of him. The fool is seen in rejecting the revelation of God in creation, to be sure, but all the more when he reveals himself to us in his holy word, discloses his mercy, his justice and his judgment, all of his his perfections that Christ that he sends to bring salvation to guilty sinners. What a fool. boasting in their wisdom, so-called, and rejecting the living and true God.
We see a case study in the vanity of glory and might, I think, don't we, in a pagan example in that Philistine giant, Goliath. What goes on there but a rejection of the living and true God and a boasting of self-confidence in one's own strength? What do we read in that account with regards to David and Goliath, but one who to his folly and to his shame, glories in his own strength. In 1 Samuel 17, we read in verse 44, and the Philistine said to David, come to me and I will give you your flesh to the birds of the air.
I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. You see what the giant is doing there. And we didn't read what came before, but he puffed up in his own giant strength is saying that he in his own strength, will give the flesh of David to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. But then you see, rightly responding, David says to the giant, you come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin.
But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Hopefully you see the connection there. The giant is boasting in his strength. The giant is boasting in his sword, his spear, and his javelin.
Where does the true and only boast and glorying lie though? In the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. And notice that David doesn't say by his own strength what he's going to do, but rather verse 46, this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth. that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
You see, the giant wanted to know that there is strength in Philistine military might and in training. But you see, God demonstrated that day that the one who glories in the Lord is the one who is safe, the one who is favored, the one upon whom the glory and the blessing of God rests. Where do we see, lastly, the vanity, a case study in the vanity of glorying and riches. Well, hopefully one might come to mind, and that is one that had already been spoken of.
That's Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. What do we see there? Notice Daniel's boast and notice, excuse me, notice Nebuchadnezzar's boasting and his false glory in Daniel chapter 4. We see in verse 29 the falling.
Case study of boasting in riches. Notice what we find there. All this, in verse 28, all this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of the 12 months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke saying, is not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power for the honor of my majesty?
You see a case study there in boasting in riches. Is this not great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty? But you see, God brings lessons, doesn't he, to those who would be wrapped up in self-boasting. While the word was still in the king's mouth, verse 31, a voice fell from heaven.
King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken, the kingdom has departed from you. And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses." At that very hour, the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men and ate grass like oxen.
His body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like bird's claws. Now you might be saying, you know, these are examples of pagan and heathen folly. What does this have to do with the nation of Israel? Well, like the heathens who were puffed up in their own wisdom, rejecting the God of general and special revelation, the people of Israel, his own chosen, the ones who had the adoption, the promises, the oracles, the law, the word of God, They reject the living and true God, and they would receive the judgment, just like those pagans who think themselves wise, heaping to themselves idols.
What about Goliath? Well, you see, just like that Philistine giant, they were boasting in their own strength, weren't they? They weren't giving glory to God. They weren't doing and operating and functioning for the glory of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.
They were caught up. glorying, boasting in their own strength. And it would be, as Jeremiah warns with foreboding, that they would like Goliath lose their head for the honor and for the glory of God. What about Nebuchadnezzar? Well, like Nebuchadnezzar, like the very pagan king who would conquer them, they gloried in their own riches and in the works of their own hands.
And so God rightly brings judgment upon them, doesn't he? Hopefully we see the folly of glorying in anything and everything save for the living and true God. You know, if you're here this morning, kids, and your days are preoccupied by everything other than God, you're here, adults, and your days are preoccupied by everything except for God, how do you think that you're going to deserve any better lot than the apostate Jews of this time. I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals.
I will make the cities of Judah desolate without an inhabitant. Even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field like cuttings after the harvester, and no one shall gather them. You see, these that were treating the knowledge of God as dung would fall on the fields as refuse, as dung. You see, if you're neglecting the living and true God, and you think you're doing it out of some sort of indifference, I just don't have time for that, or I'm putting that off for another day, or openly rejecting and blaspheming the living and true God, you need to place yourself upon the pages of Jeremiah 9 and see your lot is just like these. under the right judgment of a God, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His holiness and in His justice.
But you see, the help, the remedy, the glorious admonition comes to you. Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me. You see, the God of consuming fire and hot and wholesome severity and justice is also the God that says, I am the Lord exercising lovingkindness. We'll see that tonight, but right now, if you're opposed to this God, if you're glorying in your wisdom, if you're glorying in your strength, if you're glorying in your riches, and this is all to the absolute and horrible and wicked exclusion of glorying in the living and true God,
Application: Fly to Christ
you need to know your own heart. You need to know your own sinfulness. You need to know that day upon day, you have sinned and you have fallen short of the glory of God. And there is one escape.
There is one place to be found. free of condemnation and judgment, and that is safely in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says so simply and so clearly, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. He was bruised for the iniquities of his people. He was chastised for the peace of his people.
He bore in his own sins, or in his own body, excuse me, Christ was sinless, holy, harmless, and undefiled. Preacher's misstep. He bore in his own body Our sins, His people's sins. Find yourself under the judgment and condemnation of God because of your sin, but quickly fly to the Savior.
Kids, perhaps your eyes are going over here somewhere, going over there. Perhaps you're looking at me, but you're really not because you're looking forward to a mac and cheese or you're looking forward to doing whatever you're going to do when you can finally dart from these doors and not listen to this bald-headed guy anymore. Listen to the word of the living and true God. All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.
He is infinite, eternal, and unchanging in His justice. He cannot look upon one who does not glory in Him favorably. He can't just close His eyes or look away and not consider. He must, according to His holy character, judge.
But you see, Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. Believe on Him and you shall enjoy and you shall have everlasting life. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we pray that you would go with each and every one of us now, that your people would have been strengthened, a measure by your preached word, that you would come by your spirit to continue to strengthen them on this, your Lord's Day, this day of rest, this day of worship. We pray that you would encourage the hearts of your saints here this morning to go out into this world in this upcoming week, to live for your glory's sake, to know you, to understand you, and to delight in those things that you delight in, mercy, justice, and judgment. We pray that you'd be with any and all here right now, Lord God, who are outside of Christ in unbelief, that you would come upon the wings of amazing grace, and by the word preached and by the power of your spirit, you would cause them to turn from wickedness, to turn from glorying in anything save for you, that they might glory you, that by your grace you would cause them to know you, to glory in you, and to glory in the Christ whom you have sent. and we pray in his precious name, amen.