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Caption transcript for Jeremiah: “Corruption and Closed Minds” (3/9)

• 00:01 David Hart: On this program, we see the culture ancient Judah moved toward wickedness and deceit and away from the
• 00:09 truth of God's Word. Sound familiar?
• 00:10 Let's take a closer look on "Our Jewish Roots."
• 00:13 ♪♪♪
• 00:19 male announcer: In the 6th century BC,
• 00:21 one man stood alone against the pervading wickedness of God's
• 00:25 people in the land of Judah.
• 00:28 The prophet Jeremiah was chosen by the Lord to warn of pending
• 00:33 judgment that would come at the hands of the Babylonians.
• 00:37 Visions of an exile left him heartbroken and in tears.
• 00:42 But Jeremiah remained faithful to his calling and recorded a
• 00:46 message that would speak to generations yet to come.
• 00:51 Standing tall with faith in God, he understood better days were
• 00:56 coming and there was "Hope Over the Horizon."
• 01:01 ♪♪♪
• 01:06 David Hart: We are so glad you've joined us today.
• 01:07 I am David Hart.
• 01:09 Kirsten Hart: I'm Kirsten Hart.
• 01:10 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: And I am Jeffrey Seif.
• 01:12 David: So, Jeremiah had a good word for the people,
• 01:16 and they didn't want to hear what he had to say,
• 01:17 pretty much rejected it.
• 01:19 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: Well, he had a bad word and a good word.
• 01:21 You know, sometimes you have to tear it down before you build it
• 01:23 up, and he went after the bosses in his day.
• 01:26 It wasn't pleasant.
• 01:27 David: Yes.
• 01:29 Kirsten: We're in the third program
• 01:30 in our series on Jeremiah.
• 01:31 Can you just review a little bit of the historical context?
• 01:34 What's going on in Judah right now?
• 01:36 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: Well, it's been really rocky, you know.
• 01:39 There was a very wicked king who ruled for a long time, Manasseh.
• 01:43 His son, Josiah, came to power and turned to the Lord.
• 01:47 There was some half reforms there.
• 01:49 It looked good, but he died early in battle,
• 01:51 and it just spiraled downhill.
• 01:54 In order to get some stability against the apostasy of the day,
• 02:00 the elites in Judah were turning to foreign powers for help
• 02:03 instead of turning to God, who brought the kingdom into
• 02:07 power in the first place.
• 02:08 Kirsten: Ooh, doesn't that sound like today?
• 02:10 Very interesting, that.
• 02:11 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: It's true, you know.
• 02:12 We live in political moments, and we exercise our prerogatives
• 02:15 to vote, but it's not just
• 02:18 making the wrong political decision.
• 02:20 There's a spiritual abandonment that Jeremiah takes on.
• 02:23 He takes it all on.
• 02:24 He pokes them in the eye, and he gets punched around a little
• 02:27 bit, eventually murdered.
• 02:29 David: We're gonna hear so much more from you,
• 02:31 continue what you're talking about right now,
• 02:32 but right now let's hear more about Jeremiah's story.
• 02:38 announcer: The Lord has repeatedly given warning to
• 02:41 Jeremiah of coming judgment upon
• 02:43 his people, Judah.
• 02:45 Jeremiah's scribe, Baruch, has faithfully transcribed the
• 02:49 message that tragically has gone unheeded.
• 02:55 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 02:56 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 03:06 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 03:16 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 03:26 ♪♪♪
• 03:30 ♪♪♪
• 03:40 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 03:49 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 03:59 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 04:00 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 04:10 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 04:13 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 04:23 ♪♪♪
• 04:29 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: Those who read the New Testament come upon
• 04:32 Jesus on occasion castigating the elite.
• 04:36 We hear language like, "Woe to you scribes and pharisees."
• 04:43 Of course, in their day, in antiquity,
• 04:44 these were the ones that controlled the public narrative,
• 04:47 through the written media, as the scribe,
• 04:49 and the pharisees as the teacher.
• 04:51 They're the ones that are interpreting and explaining
• 04:53 what's happening in the world.
• 04:55 The reason why I mention that here is because here in
• 05:00 Jeremiah, the prophet takes on the very same group.
• 05:06 For example, in his own language in chapter 8, verse 8
• 05:09 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 05:12 He speaks of the false or "The vain pen of the scribes."
• 05:21 Who picks up the pen today?
• 05:25 Strikes me as a reasonable question,
• 05:28 and answering to it I can think
• 05:29 of those who control social media.
• 05:33 I can think of giants who control news media.
• 05:37 I can think of the conglomerates that have control
• 05:40 over print media.
• 05:43 Individuals pick up the quill and people read it and assume
• 05:49 it's true because they pick up the information on a source that
• 05:54 they assume to be true.
• 05:56 Well, sometimes looks can be deceiving,
• 06:00 not just in today's world, but in yesterday's world,
• 06:04 Jeremiah spoke in chapter 8, verse 5.
• 06:07 He said
• 06:09 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 06:12 "That they hold fast to deceit."
• 06:17 Can it really be that people are unscrupulous,
• 06:21 they're driven by their own agendas,
• 06:24 and they deceive?
• 06:26 But we think that they're so very wise.
• 06:29 Similarly, looking in the very same chapter,
• 06:32 chapter 8, verse 8, he speaks of those
• 06:37 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 06:40 They say we're wise, but the truth is indeed they are not.
• 06:46 And he goes on to speak of the false pen of the scribes.
• 06:52 What's driving the media in Jeremiah's day?
• 06:56 Well, in verse 10, he speaks of those that are greedy for gain.
• 07:03 He speaks of the prophet, and prophets were,
• 07:06 in effect, advisers to the king, cabinet members.
• 07:10 They controlled the political agenda.
• 07:13 He speaks of the corruption of the prophet and even the priest,
• 07:18 the religious that hop in bed with it.
• 07:22 And he says they--he says, "Everyone deals falsely."
• 07:29 Sadly--and I say this more out of grief than anger--sadly,
• 07:35 when I think of his day here, I think of our day here.
• 07:43 He sums it up here.
• 07:44 He says in verse 11 of this same chapter,
• 07:48 "They heal the hurt of my people,
• 07:50 saying, 'The more they say
• 07:53 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 07:56 "They say peace, peace, when there is no peace."
• 08:02 Translated, you know, everything's really gonna be all
• 08:07 right, because we're the ones in the know.
• 08:12 We're smarter than you people.
• 08:14 We have the information.
• 08:16 See, we're the authorities.
• 08:19 Well, that's what they said, but it's not what the Lord says
• 08:24 about them.
• 08:25 He says in verse 9--and I'm reading--he says
• 08:28 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 08:33 He says, "They have rejected the word of the LORD."
• 08:36 In this case, justice, righteousness, and truth.
• 08:42 It's driven far from them.
• 08:43 It's not in their arena,
• 08:45 because they're driven principally by greed.
• 08:48 What a tough world, and what a tough word that Jeremiah had for
• 08:56 that world: "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
• 09:04 You'll be swept away.
• 09:07 Trouble is coming upon you."
• 09:10 He saw that.
• 09:11 He gave voice to it, and he saw that and more;
• 09:15 however, should they repent, there was hope,
• 09:19 yes, even in the lateness of the hour,
• 09:23 those that would turn to him, if they only would,
• 09:26 could experience some reprieve.
• 09:28 But they didn't, and judgment came in their day.
• 09:33 May it be different in our day, as individuals heed the Word of
• 09:38 the Lord, do what's right, and by virtue of our so doing,
• 09:43 we find hope on the other end of the horizon.
• 09:50 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 09:55 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 10:05 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 10:15 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 10:25 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 10:35 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: I don't know what comes to mind when you
• 10:37 survey your webs of relationships,
• 10:39 and you come upon someone or someones
• 10:43 who are troublesome for you.
• 10:46 They are difficult.
• 10:48 They seem unbending.
• 10:50 You, yourself, you've endeavored to try
• 10:53 and ameliorate the situation.
• 10:55 You've tried to improve it, but to no avail.
• 10:58 It just seems the people are hard,
• 11:01 and sometimes people cannot just be hard but be wicked,
• 11:05 hardened in wickedness.
• 11:09 I don't know what comes to your mind when you hear that.
• 11:12 I know certain people come to my mind when I say that.
• 11:16 And the reason why I'm saying it is because Jeremiah gives voice
• 11:20 to that and more.
• 11:22 And you know what his response is to it?
• 11:26 He doesn't rage.
• 11:30 He doesn't express anger.
• 11:33 There's a deep and abiding sadness,
• 11:37 in fact, in chapter 13, verse 17.
• 11:42 It says
• 11:43 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 11:50 "My eyes will weep and run down with tears."
• 11:55 Just sad, just really sad.
• 12:01 He loves people.
• 12:02 We discover later on in the literature that even members of
• 12:08 his own clan, the world where he fares from,
• 12:14 they turn on him.
• 12:16 A lot of people turn on him.
• 12:17 They're upset with him,
• 12:19 because he doesn't have a popular message.
• 12:23 He doesn't go with the flow.
• 12:27 Sometimes the Lord has us to go against the grain now,
• 12:32 doesn't he?
• 12:33 A biblical word isn't always a popular word,
• 12:37 and sometimes we have to take a deep breath,
• 12:40 but utter it, difficulties associated
• 12:43 with it notwithstanding.
• 12:46 And many, I dare say too many are afraid to do that.
• 12:52 Jeremiah had a prophetic voice in a world
• 12:55 at the ragged edge of time.
• 12:58 The deceit in the culture was ubiquitous.
• 13:01 It was everywhere, controlling mass media,
• 13:05 corporations, leadership, religion, all of it.
• 13:10 And he stood alone as a prophetic voice
• 13:13 and what he said came true.
• 13:17 He saw it before he said it, and he was grieved in so doing,
• 13:22 because he saw that their recalcitrance,
• 13:25 their refusal to bend would bear bad fruit at the end of the day
• 13:30 and bring down God's judgment upon a nation.
• 13:36 The million-dollar question is,
• 13:38 "Is this a world not like our very own?"
• 13:43 Are we today similarly at the threshold of something?
• 13:48 Will it be good? Will it be bad?
• 13:51 Well, God's people need to keep praying and believe;
• 13:55 because difficulties aside, because he lives we can face
• 13:59 tomorrow, and we can see hope on the horizon.
• 14:04 ♪♪♪
• 14:17 David: Our resources this week,
• 14:19 we have two ways you or someone you love
• 14:21 can learn the New Testament.
• 14:23 First, the book, "Once Through the New Testament," Zola Levitt
• 14:27 and Dr. Tom McCall created this concise readable
• 14:31 and clear overview.
• 14:33 Or the audio CD, "Survey of the New Testament."
• 14:37 Hear Zola Levitt's unique point of view
• 14:39 from the Gospels to Revelation.
• 14:41 Contact us and ask for the book or the CD.
• 14:48 Kirsten: For many, a trip to the Holy Land is the dream
• 14:50 of a lifetime.
• 14:52 Where else can you go see the Scriptures come alive,
• 14:55 as you visit the sites where so many biblical events happened?
• 15:01 We invite you to come on a Zola tour in the spring or the fall,
• 15:05 as we explore Israel and Petra.
• 15:08 Reserve your dream of a lifetime.
• 15:11 Contact us for more information.
• 15:13 ♪♪♪
• 15:18 Kirsten: We are a television program--that's probably obvious
• 15:21 'cause you're watching us right now.
• 15:23 But we come under a big umbrella that is full of ministry.
• 15:29 Something that we put out to the world is we have two monthly
• 15:32 periodicals, and I just want you to know that we send what's
• 15:37 called our "Levitt Letter."
• 15:38 You can subscribe to that--also it's very easy--
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• 15:47 So, when you send your monthly donations,
• 15:50 however large or small it is, it's pinpointed to reach out to
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• 16:00 they can hear the good news through the eyes of the Jews,
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• 16:10 Your monthly donations help make differences in people's lives
• 16:14 all throughout this country.
• 16:16 We have--and throughout the world, should I say.
• 16:19 We have more to come from Dr. Seif in just a minute,
• 16:21 but first here's our special guest for the whole series,
• 16:24 Dr. Michael Brown, more on Jeremiah.
• 16:29 Dr. Michael Brown: The prophetic calling is a calling
• 16:31 to go against the grain.
• 16:34 God told Jeremiah the princes, the kings,
• 16:37 the royal authorities, they'll oppose you.
• 16:39 The religious leaders, the priests,
• 16:41 the prophets, they'll oppose you.
• 16:43 The elders, the wise men, they'll oppose you.
• 16:46 Your own family will oppose you. Why?
• 16:49 Because the nation was going against God,
• 16:53 and God called Jeremiah to speak his Word to the nation.
• 16:57 As followers of Jesus, it's the same for us.
• 17:00 We're called to go against the grain.
• 17:02 We're called to swim against the tide.
• 17:04 Jesus, Yeshua, said that "If you love the world and you are of
• 17:08 the world, then the world would love you,
• 17:10 because the world loves its own.
• 17:11 But because you're not of the world,
• 17:12 but I've called you out of the world,
• 17:14 the world will hate you the way it hated me."
• 17:18 I was speaking in India one time to pastors that were going back
• 17:21 into an area of heavy persecution.
• 17:24 They knew that they might be beaten.
• 17:26 They knew that they might even be killed for the faith.
• 17:28 And I said to them, "This is how the prophets
• 17:32 suffered before you."
• 17:34 This is what Jesus says in Matthew 5,
• 17:36 "Rejoice, your reward is great in heaven,
• 17:39 because this is how the prophets before you were treated."
• 17:42 And those men began to dance and rejoice.
• 17:45 Those men who knew they might die for their faith began to
• 17:49 dance and rejoice, because they had the privilege of being
• 17:52 treated the way the prophets were.
• 17:54 It's the same with us when we take our stand,
• 17:56 when we do what's right against all opposition.
• 17:59 God's saying, "I'm with you.
• 18:01 You're being rejected the way my son was,
• 18:03 the way the prophets were.
• 18:04 Rejoice."
• 18:08 ♪♪♪
• 18:12 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: There were lots of problems in the world in
• 18:16 Jeremiah's day.
• 18:18 And I can see them when I look in the literature.
• 18:22 There are lots of the problems in the world today,
• 18:25 and I can see them when I look at the world today.
• 18:30 The question is, however, are there any solutions?
• 18:36 Midway through this series on Jeremiah--which is a tough
• 18:40 series to do, because it is so checkered by denunciation.
• 18:47 There's so much of the prophet calling out the elite
• 18:51 for their unfaithfulness.
• 18:53 There's no way to do justice to Jeremiah's text without that.
• 18:57 But while he does that, he doesn't just do that.
• 19:04 Midway, I want to land squarely on what,
• 19:08 in effect, was a solution in his own day and what's similarly a
• 19:14 solution in our own day, both to our country,
• 19:19 to our households, and our individual lives.
• 19:25 And what do I mean by that?
• 19:26 Well, in Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 16,
• 19:33 here's what the doctor ordered.
• 19:35 He said,
• 19:36 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 19:38 which is ask,
• 19:40 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 19:42 for the paths
• 19:44 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 19:45 that are old.
• 19:47 "Ask for the old paths."
• 19:51 This prophet says the answer is found in yesterday.
• 19:57 And what's the old path that he's talking about?
• 20:00 He's talking about the biblical way,
• 20:03 and he says, as he goes on,
• 20:07 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 20:10 "And you will find rest for your souls."
• 20:16 It's an answer for a culture.
• 20:20 It's an answer for a household.
• 20:24 It's an answer for an individual.
• 20:28 I believe, personally, even if the world goes to hell in a
• 20:33 handbasket, and I don't believe that necessarily has to happen,
• 20:39 though frankly I'm not a happy camper as I sit right now.
• 20:45 I'm a believer in tomorrow, what God can do,
• 20:48 as God's people turn to him, the difficulties in the broader
• 20:54 culture aside, individuals can turn to God,
• 20:58 and it affects their own inner being,
• 21:01 and it affects their own household in this world.
• 21:05 Yes, friend, you are not powerless.
• 21:11 If Jeremiah was here today, speaking to you,
• 21:14 he'd say, "There's hope for tomorrow,
• 21:16 and there's hope for you today."
• 21:19 The question is how do you grab a hold of that hope?
• 21:24 Well, he gave the answer to that question now,
• 21:27 didn't he?
• 21:29 He said, "It's in the old way," the Bible's way.
• 21:37 I hope you won't, when this program's over,
• 21:39 say, "That was a nice message you gave."
• 21:41 I would rather it be said that I did a reasonable job of giving
• 21:45 voice to the message that was already given,
• 21:49 because therein people can find healing and hope,
• 21:54 and they can embrace tomorrow and find a better world to come,
• 21:59 as they reach into the future on "Over the Horizon."
• 22:05 David: Jeremiah's story seems to have so many similarities
• 22:08 to us today.
• 22:09 Would you agree with that?
• 22:11 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: Yes, especially in today's
• 22:12 political climate that's characterized by
• 22:17 apostasy in so many ways,
• 22:19 just an abandonment of the fundamentals that this country
• 22:23 was founded upon.
• 22:25 Kirsten: So many people today use the term,
• 22:27 "I wish we could go back to the good old days."
• 22:30 You know, especially with what's going on politically and then
• 22:32 in our whole world.
• 22:34 And I was thinking about Jeremiah 6:16,
• 22:36 where God says, "Let's go back to the way we were."
• 22:41 So, God is even saying, "Let's go back to the good old days.
• 22:44 Remember when we walked hand in hand
• 22:46 and we had a peaceful relationship."
• 22:49 I like that. I like that thought.
• 22:52 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: It's true.
• 22:53 That's why it's good to have an open Bible to look at the
• 22:55 sidewalk, to see what those ways really are all about.
• 23:00 But what's appended to it, by the way,
• 23:03 to the statement about going back to the old ways,
• 23:07 is a promise that says, "And you will find rest for your souls."
• 23:13 And isn't that so much what we need?
• 23:16 We're restless.
• 23:18 People are like that, and God says,
• 23:22 you know, "Return to me.
• 23:25 Go back to those old ways.
• 23:27 Open up a Bible, and you'll find rest for your souls."
• 23:33 It's a promise for them then.
• 23:35 It's a promise for us now.
• 23:37 Kirsten: When you were teaching the last segment,
• 23:40 we were thinking about the song that goes--
• 23:42 ♪ Peace, peace, wonderful peace coming down ♪
• 23:45 ♪ from the Father above. ♪
• 23:47 Kirsten: And I think that's what so many people are
• 23:50 searching--you're probably searching for that, too,
• 23:52 right now, is peace.
• 23:54 We want that old path that God says, "Remember?"
• 23:57 And I love the visual of when we walked hand in hand,
• 24:01 and that's the only way that peace comes is when we
• 24:04 walk that close to him.
• 24:05 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: It's true.
• 24:06 And, you know, no one gets a perfect life.
• 24:10 I mean, I'm a little disquieted internally now,
• 24:15 in part because my wife's in Israel and I'm here,
• 24:18 the separation.
• 24:19 She's the tail in my kite, in so many ways.
• 24:23 But you can be in an airplane and a pilot--you're going
• 24:26 through a storm--but there's certain instruments you focus
• 24:30 on, and if you focus on them, it'll get you through it.
• 24:33 It can get a little restless on occasion,
• 24:35 and the Lord is--it says elsewhere in Scripture--
• 24:39 will be the stability of our times.
• 24:42 But people need to turn to him and get their eyes on the
• 24:46 instrument, on the right stuff.
• 24:48 In Jeremiah's day, they were looking at other stuff.
• 24:51 "Well, I need this politician.
• 24:53 I need this arrangement."
• 24:56 Yes, one politician might be better than another.
• 24:59 One arrangement could be better than another.
• 25:02 But in conjunction with all that,
• 25:04 Jeremiah says we need to get our eyes on the Lord.
• 25:06 David: I was just thinking, Bible stories aren't always that
• 25:09 popular, but they have answers at the end of the stories.
• 25:13 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: They surely do.
• 25:14 David: Just like Jeremiah.
• 25:15 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: Yes, and, you know, people say with the Bible,
• 25:17 the answer's at the end of the book.
• 25:18 God wins.
• 25:20 But it's not just his eventual triumph over human history.
• 25:22 God can help us triumph over our own unique story.
• 25:26 Kirsten: And these are stories that I refer to them as
• 25:29 stories also, but I think these were real people.
• 25:32 And that's the beauty.
• 25:34 I think of Jeremiah as he exposes his soul.
• 25:37 I mean, he's called the weeping prophet.
• 25:39 He had real emotions and real feelings
• 25:41 to everything that was going on.
• 25:43 He just wasn't a story in an old book.
• 25:45 We get to see the insides and see his heart.
• 25:48 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: When you stand up for the Lord,
• 25:49 you can get beat around a little bit,
• 25:51 but greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.
• 25:55 And the prince of darkness is pretty great,
• 25:58 but God is greater.
• 26:00 Kirsten: I like that. Good way to end our program.
• 26:02 David: Yes, so much more to come with you.
• 26:03 We end our program today--
• 26:05 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: Speaking of peace,
• 26:06 sha'alu shalom Yerushalayim.
• 26:09 Kirsten: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
• 26:12 ♪♪♪
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