Jeremiah 19:14-15

Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of Yahweh’s house, and said to all the people: “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.’ ”

So we read that God had Jeremiah travel from Gehenna back to the temple court and preach there. It’s like he moved from hell to heaven and had a message that had to be given in both places. I’m not sure what the significance of that is but I believe there may be something there to discover. It could be that Jeremiah was simply illustrating the preaching that Jesus was to do in the spiritual realm. We are told that Jesus first went to Hell to preach to those bound there and then He was resurrected. He has yet to return to Jerusalem to pronounce His final judgment there. Jeremiah was called to issue a final judgment when he was sent to Jerusalem in his day.

Jeremiah told Judah that this was the end. Everything that God had pronounced against Jerusalem and its towns was going to be done. Do you remember way back in our study when God called Moses and Joshua together and had a meeting? Do you remember what He talked to them about? He talked to them about the day when Israel would have to be punished because of their refusal to obey His rules. You can read that again in Deuteronomy 31:15-18. Right there at the beginning of Israel’s government, God started talking about how He would have to punish Israel and now all of those things were about to be done.

God reminds Israel again as to why they were now going to be punished. He said it was “because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.’” Israel’s sin wasn’t accidental. They had decided to avoid the Bible rather than to follow it. Israel was carefully given the Bible and they were all supposed to follow it. In the same way, God has made sure that the Bible is freely available to all today. He expects everyone to follow it but people are stiff necked and purposefully avoiding it today. This is more evidence that the world can expect the same kind of consequences that Israel received as well.