Text: Jeremiah 34:7-11
Proposition: Why do people practice foxhole religion?
Introduction
A Foxhole is a hole that a soldier digs in the ground so that he can shoot at his enemy with only the top of his head exposed and if need be he can duck all the way under ground. A soldier in a foxhole wants to be right with God. He will make promises to God. He will make promises to God that he will stay out of sin all his life because he knows his life could end any second and he will meet his Creator. Once he is out of the foxhole and is safe he forgets his repentance and the promises he made and is back to his old life of sin. We call this foxhole religion. In this chapter Nebuchadnezzar has laid siege to Jerusalem. Whenever people are in a war they want God on their side. They want to get rid of the sin in their life so that God will look favorable on them. So the people of Judah decided to do what was right. They knew that they were not supposed to keep their Hebrew brothers enslaved for more than six years. The people of Judah had kept them enslaved for more than six years. They were hoping to get God on their side and by doing right and they let their slaves go free. Then Babylon lifted the siege and when the slave owners saw that they had nothing to fear from Babylon anymore they took the slaves back that they had let go free. Jeremiah was sent to tell them the evil of what they had done. They had foxhole religion and foxhole religion is worthless.
I. They get into trouble.
II. They forget what they promised
III. They get into trouble again and they find their religion is worthless
I. They get into trouble (What do people who get into trouble do?)
A. They decide to do what they know is right
1. The people in Jerusalem decided to set their slaves free.
2. The Hebrews were not to enslave their Hebrew brothers for more than six years.
a. Exodus 21:2-6
b. The other way a man could be freed was in the year of Jubilee.
c. Leviticus 25:8-10 and 38-42
d. In the year of Jubilee even those who had agreed to be a slave of their master forever were to go out with their wife and children.
3. The year of the Jubilee was designed to end permanent slavery. It was every fifty years. All the land that was sold during the years previous went back to the family that it originally belonged to when the land was conquered from the Canaanites.
4. It was the Year of Liberty. Debts were forgiven and slaves were set free.
5. As a side note. Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks makes Jesus coming a type of Jubilee.
a. Daniel 9:24-27
b. Isaiah 61:1
c. Luke 4:18-19
d. Jesus proclaimed release to the captives.
e. We are free from the law. We are free from Satan. We are free from sin. Satan wants to be like those in Jerusalem and take us back into bondage, but Jesus has released us from him. He no longer has power over us.
6. Jeremiah 37:17-21
7. Zedekiah wanted to know if there was any word from the Lord. There was a word from the Lord. Zedekiah had foxhole religion. He wanted to do what was right. He was different than his brother Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim didn’t care to do right at all even when he was in trouble.
a. God had no mercy on Jehoiakim
b. Jeremiah 22:13-18
c. Zedekiah, God had mercy on.
d. Jeremiah 34:1-5, Zedekiah was disciplined for his foxhole religion. His sons were killed before his eyes and then his eyes were put out. He was allowed to live long enough to repent. I hope that he did.
B. They make promises
1. Jeremiah 34:8-10 and 15, passed between the parts of the calf (See Genesis 15)
2. They even made the promise in God’s house.
3. When people are in trouble they make promises to God
4. They get sick and they promise that they will go to church if they get well. They get into financial trouble and they say they will tithe if the Lord gets them out of the trouble they are in.
5. When we make a promise to the Lord we are to keep it.
6. Matthew 5:33-37, it is better to just keep his commandments and not make any vows.
7. When you are in trouble don’t make vows. Do what is right and if you make a promise keep it.
II. They forget the promises they made (Why do people forget the promises they made?)
A. Their trouble goes away.
1. Jeremiah 37:5-11
2. Egypt came to fight against Babylon.
3. Zedekiah sent for help to Egypt.
4. Ezekiel 17:12-20
5. When Egypt came to fight against Babylon, the people of Judah thought that their troubles were over. They forgot about the covenant that they had made and took their captives back.
6. Jeremiah 34:10-11
B. They think about all the money they can make if they forget their promise
1. Slaves are a good source of income. They give cheap labor and produce goods and money for their owner. Some of these slaves who had been freed were probably skilled in their work, and those who owned them were losing a lot of money.
2. Even businesses today do not like to lose people who work for them. When I worked for UPS they did not like for people to be hired and then quit soon after they were hired. UPS generally doesn’t hire people who work for them and then quit, but if you quit within the first 30 days they will never hire you again. It costs a lot of money to hire a person. They want you to work for them long enough that they can at least get the money out of you that it cost them to hire you. I am sure it is about the same way with Tyson. They hire a lot of people and then they quit. They want people to keep working. Once they are trained to do their job efficiently they make money for the company. These slave owners didn’t want to miss out on the money the slaves were making them so they forgot their promise they made to God in his assembly and took their slaves back.
3. They loved money
4. I Timothy 6:10
5. Many people forget God and pursue money.
a) They lie to get more money.
b) They will sacrifice their children for more money. They send the kids to the babysitter so that they can make money. Some people have no choice, but many people could live on the income of their husband. They just don’t want to.
c) They work every Sunday.
d) They don’t tithe and they keep the money instead of give it to God.
III. Trouble returns and they find their religion is worthless (Why is foxhole religion worthless?)
A. Babylon returned.
1. Jeremiah 37:6-10
2. Babylon returned and burned the city and the temple with fire. Zedekiah, the king who always hesitated between two opinions, was captured, his sons were killed, and he was taken to Babylon.
3. Jeremiah 34:17-21
4. Those who didn’t keep their promise were cut in two.
5. The land was given to those who were the poorest of the land, probably those who were enslaved.
6. Jeremiah 39:6-10
7. God freed those in captivity and sent the free into captivity. The poorest of the land had the land of their captors.
8. Psalm 37:9-11
B. You reap what you sow
1. Galatians 6:7-8
2. If you sow a bunch of lies and break God’s commands you are going to reap what you sow. If you mock God and his commands you will pay the price.
3. Many people mock God’s commands. They think they don’t need to follow what he says. They wear immodest clothes. God wants a woman to be covered.
4. I Timothy 2:9-10, many people mock this. They don’t think their clothing should reach the knee. They want to show everyone their breasts.
5. Modesty is for the good of the woman. It makes her more valuable. A immodest woman looks cheap.
6. If you mock God’s command to discipline your children you end up with a child who is selfish and a pain in the neck.
7. Proverbs 29:15-17, A child that is trained will give you rest. When you tell him to go to bed he will without getting up 3 times.
8. The final consequence of mocking God is hell for eternity.
Conclusion
Those with foxhole religion will be like the calf, cut in two. Matthew 24:42-51
The good things done before will not be remembered, Ezekiel 18:24. If you do good for a while and then turn away from doing good you will not be remembered for the good you did. Those like Jeremiah who serve God when things are good and when things are bad will be rewarded with the joys of heaven forever.
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