1

Jeremiah Foretold the Destruction of Judah

2

[Jeremiah 19 : 15]

“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’”

3

The God who made the whole world is the only master of the whole universe.

God made little Israel special among many nations. He gave them his holy word and

promised to bless them if they lived according to the word of God.

4

However, Israel could not live properly even after receiving the grace of God.

They did not worship God according to the Word and practiced idolatry.

Even though they sinned, they did not repent.

As time went on, they became more and more serious.

5

The same was true of the people of Judah in the south of the time of the prophet Jeremiah.

The city of Jerusalem, where only God was to be served, has become a city full of sin.

The prophet Jeremiah cried out to Judah to forsake sin and repent.

However, rather than repenting upon hearing the word, the people hated Jeremiah and

even tried to kill him.

6

God told Jeremiah to do one thing. He told the potter to go and buy a pottery (jar).

Jeremiah obeyed God's word and went to the potter and bought a pottery.

7

And God told him to take some of the people and priests to the Valley of Hinnom at the

entrance of the city gate to preach the word of God.

As God commanded, Jeremiah took some of the people and priests to the Valley of Hinnom

at the entrance of the city gate. This place was also called'Topheth'.

8

Topheth, where Jeremiah took the people, is the place where wicked things took place.

It is where the terrible thing happened when people set up Baal's shrines instead of God

and burned their children to Baal.

9

Jeremiah gave them God's warning against Judah, who practiced idolatry and did evil.

“I will cause the people of Judah and Jerusalem to be stabbed to death here by the sword of the enemy, and their bodies will be prey to the birds of the air and wild animals.

It will be completely destroyed, causing people to see it, laugh at it, and mock it.”

God told Jeremiah that Judas, who forsaken God and worshiped idols, will be destroyed.

10

After saying this, God told Jeremiah to break the pottery (jar) in his hand.

Jeremiah broke the pottery (jar) in his hand according to God's command.

The pottery was shattered.

11

He delivered the word of God to those who were looking at the broken pottery.

“This is what the LORD Almighty has said. Jars cannot be joined once broken.

I will break this people and this city as if breaking a jar.

There will be buried people here in Topheth, countless in number, with no more places to bury.”

12

God said the city of Jerusalem would be like this Topheth, and the houses of Jerusalem and

the palaces of the kings of Judah would also fall.

Jeremiah prophesied that the kingdom of Judah would be completely destroyed

because of the sin of forsaking God and worshiping idols.

13

Jeremiah returned from Topheth and preached the word of God in the courtyard of the temple. “God said this. He said that because you were stubborn and did not listen to God, this kingdom of Judah would be destroyed as God warned. “Jeremiah knew that people hated to hear it,

but he delivered the word of God.

14

Even after hearing God's warning several times over and over again, the people of Judah did not repent. The priest Pashhur, who had to obey the Word before anyone else, rather beat the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was imprisoned by filling it with a furrow over his neck.

15

Judah, who did not repent, was destroyed by Babylon as Jeremiah prophesied.

Many were taken captive and taken to Babylon. Jerusalem has become like Topheth as Jeremiah prophesied. The punishment for not repenting at the end of listening to God's word was so

great and terrible.

16

The loving God wanted Judas to repent and return to the end.

Countless times through Jeremiah he told them to repent.

However, they ignored God's warnings and did not give up their arrogant heart,

and eventually suffered great punishment. Judas perished like that.

17

Jeremiah 17:9 says the following.

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

The Bible says that not only the people of Judah, but all people are perverted before God because they are sinners. Man's power cannot correct a crooked heart. It is only possible when the Holy Spirit is with you.

We must not be like the people of Judah who perished by living with a perverse heart. You must keep in mind the teachings of the Bible every day and constantly reflect yourself in front of the Word of God. I hope that you will have a humble faith that immediately repents upon hearing God's warning.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)