Crystallization-Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations
Message Seven
Knowing Jehovah, the Eternal God, in His Lovingkindness, Compassions, and Faithfulness
Scripture Reading: Jer. 2:19; 10:10a; 11:20; 20:12; Lam. 3:22-25; 5:19
I. Jeremiah often addressed God as Jehovah of hosts—Jer. 2:19; 5:14; 6:9; 7:21; 9:7, 15, 17; 11:17; 20:12:
A. "Jehovah is the true God; I He is the living God and the eternal King"—10:10a:
1. Jehovah means "I am who I am," indicating that Jehovah is the eternal One, the One who was in the past, who is in the present, and who will be in the future forever—Exo. 3:14; Rev. 1:4:
a. Jehovah is the self-existing and ever-existing God; this One exists eternally, having neither beginning nor ending— Exo. 3:14.
b. I Am denotes the One whose being depends on nothing apart from Himself—John 8:24, 28, 58.
2. Jehovah is the only One who is, and we must believe that He is—Heb. 11:6.
3. As the I Am, Jehovah is the all-inclusive One, the reality of every positive thing and of whatever His people need—John 6:35; 8:12; 10:14; 11:25; 14:6.
4. Apart from Jehovah, all else is nothing; He is the only One who is, the only One who has the reality of being—Heb. 11:6.
B. "O Jehovah of hosts, who judges righteously, I Who tests the in-ward parts and the heart"—Jer. 11:20:
1. The title Jehovah of hosts indicates that Jehovah God is the Mighty One, the Lord of all the heavenly host, the Commander of all the host—20:12; 30:8; 48:1; 50:18; 1 Kings 22:19.
2. Jehovah of hosts is the King of glory, the One who is strong and mighty; He is Jehovah of the armies—Psa. 24:8, 10.
3. The King of glory, Jehovah of hosts, is the consummated Tri-une God em bodied in the victorious and coming Christ.
4. As the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ, the King of glory is coming to possess the earth and take it as His kingdom:
a. Jehovah of hosts makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He will be exalted among the nations, and He will be exalted on earth—46:9-10.
b. Jehovah of hosts has the authority to rule over all the na-tions, and His hand holds the authority to remove kings and set up kings—Dan. 2:21.
5. At a time when the priesthood had become destitute, God re-vealed His name as Jehovah of hosts, indicating that when His administration was in such a destitute state, He would come out to rule over the entire situation to usher in the reign of His kingdom—1 Sam. 1:3.
II. "You, O Jehovah, abide forever; I Your throne is from gener-ation to gener ation"—Lam. 5:19:
A. In verse 19 Jeremiah, changing his position and angle from him-self to God, refers to God's eternal being and unchanging gov-ernment.
B. Jerusalem was overthrown, the temple was burned down, and God's people were carried away, but Jehovah, the Lord of the universe, remains to exercise His administration.
C. The phrase You, O Jehovah, abide forever indicates that God is eternal and that there is no change in Him—v. 19:
1. God remains immutable, not subject to any change due to any kind of en vironments and circumstances—Psa. 90:2; Rom. 16:25-26.
2. In the human realm changes take place in every way, but there is no change with God's eternal being; He remains for-ever the same.
3. Abraham "called on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal God"— Gen. 21:33:
a. In Hebrew the Eternal God is El Olam; El means "the Mighty One," and Olam means "eternal" or "eternity" and comes from a Hebrew root mean ing "to conceal" or "to hide."
b. The divine title El Olam implies eternal life—cf. John 1:1, 4.
c. By calling on Jehovah, the Eternal Mighty One, Abraham experienced God as the ever-living, secret, mysterious One, who is the eternal life.
D. The phrase Your throne is from generation to generation refers to God's eternal and unchanging government—Lam. 5:19; Psa. 45:6; 93:2; Rev. 4:2-3:
1. God's throne has no beginning or end; His throne exists from generation to generation.
2. Jeremiah's writing at the end of Lamentations concerning God's eternal being and unchanging government surely is divine:
a. Jeremiah's word about God's eternal being and His throne is a strong sign that in writing Lamentations Jeremiah touched God's economy.
b. He came out of his human feelings, touched God's person and God's throne, and entered into God's divinity.
E. In the New Jerusalem God will be fully unveiled in His person as the eternal King and in His government as His eternal, unshak-able kingdom, both of which are the unshakable foundation of His dealing with His people—Heb. 12:28; Rev. 22:3.
III. "It is Jehovah's lovingkindness that we are not consumed, I For His com passions do not fail; I They are new every morn-ing; I Great is Your faith fulness"—Lam. 3:22-23:
A. Jehovah appeared to Jeremiah, saying, "I have drawn you with lovingkind ness"—Jer. 31:3:
1. Jehovah's lovingkindness is precious, everlasting, and higher than the heavens and leads to Christ as the cornerstone for God's building—Psa. 36:7, 9-10; 108:4; 118:1-4, 22-29; 136:1, 26.
2. Psalm 103 speaks of God's history in His lovingkindness and compassions in His forgiving of sins, healing, redeeming, and caring for His people.
3. The psalmist said to Jehovah, "In the abundance of Your lov-ingkindness I I will come into Your house"—5:7:
a. Anyone who had the privilege of entering into the temple on Mount Zion had to be under God's lovingkindness.
b. Actually, to enter into the temple in itself was an enjoy-ment of the abundance of God's lovingkindness.
c. Considering Jehovah's lovingkindness in the midst of His temple indicates that we touch His lovingkindness in the church.
4. Psalm 101 unveils how Christ will reign over the earth with lovingkindness and justice.
B. The people of Israel had failed, but God's compassions preserved the remnant of Israel for the carrying out of His economy—Lam. 3:22-23:
1. Compassion is deeper, finer, and richer than mercy—Rom. 9:15; Psa. 103:8.
2. Compassion refers to God's inward affection originating in His loving essence—2 Cor. 1:3; James 5:11; Luke 6:36.
3. Christ came to the earth because of the merciful compassions of God—1:78.
4. Jehovah's compassions "are new every morning"—Lam. 3:23:
a. Verse 23a indicates that Jeremiah contacted the Lord as the compas sionate One every morning.
b. It was through his contact with the Lord that he received the word regarding God's lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness.
C. Jeremiah said to Jehovah, "Great is Your faithfulness"—v. 23b:
1. God's compassions do not fail, because He is the faithful One— Psa. 57:10.
2. God is faithful to His own word; He cannot deny Himself; He cannot deny His nature and His being—2 Tim. 2:13.
3. In His faithfulness God has called us into the fellowship of His Son, and He will keep us in this participation and enjoyment in His faithfulness—1 Cor. 1:9.
4. The faithful God who has called us will also sanctify us wholly and preserve our entire being complete—1 Thes. 5:23-24.
IV. "Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; I Therefore I hope in Him"—Lam. 3:24:
A. Jeremiah's word concerning Jehovah being our portion and our hoping in Him bears a New Testament flavor—Col. 1:12, 27:
1. Jeremiah enjoyed Jehovah as his portion, and he put his hope not in himself nor in anything else but only in Jehovah—Lam. 3:24:
a. On the one hand, Jeremiah realized that God is a God of lovingkindness, that He is compassionate, and that His word is faithful.
b. On the other hand, Jeremiah realized that we still need to contact the Lord every morning, put our entire hope in Him, wait on Him, and call on His name—vv. 23-25, 55.
2. When the psalmist went into the sanctuary of God and had a divine view and perception of his situation, he could say that God was his portion for ever—Psa. 73:17, 26:
a. In God's sanctuary the psalmist was instructed to take only God Him self as his portion, not anything other than God—v. 26.
b. God's intention with His seekers is that they may find everything in Him and not be distracted from the abso-lute enjoyment of Himself.
B. "Jehovah is good to those who wait on Him, I To the soul that seeks Him"—Lam. 3:25:
1. Although God is true, living, compassionate, and faithful, in order to test His people, He often delays in fulfilling His word—Psa. 27:14; 130:6; Isa. 8:17; 30:18; 64:4.
2. To wait on the eternal God means that we terminate ourselves; that is, we stop ourselves with our living, our doing, and our activity and receive God in Christ as our life, our person, and our replacement—40:28, 31:
a. We need to learn the lesson of waiting on the Lord—30:18.
b. Today is not the time of the ultimate consummation; there-fore, we need to wait on the Lord—64:4.
3. As we are waiting on the Lord, we should seek Him and call unto Him:
a. "You will seek Me and find Me if you search for Me with all your heart"—Jer. 29:13.
b. "Call unto Me, and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things, which you do not know"—33:3.