INTO THE IRON FURNACE
Jeremiah 11, “The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh Mighty One of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant 4which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your Mighty One,’ 5that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.”’” And I answered and said, “So be it, Yahweh.”
The historical context of the Book of Jeremiah is the last days of Judah, before and during the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Solomon’s Temple was destroyed in 588 BCE and the altar services were stopped a few years later in 584 BCE, after the Third Deportation of the Jews. In this context of the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem, Yahweh laid a heavy word on Jeremiah. Yahweh laid this heavy word on us last night, June 21, 2011 CE, after another long hot day visiting the once great City of Colorado Springs. Yahweh has been and always will be faithful to His covenant. His people have been and continue to be unfaithful to His covenant. Because Yahweh’s people continue to disobey His covenant, our land is under a curse. Our land being America as Manasseh, Great Britain and all its former Commonwealth Nations as Ephraim, and the land of Judah, the modern State of Israel. The curse is especially upon each disobedient individual. Remember, this has nothing to do with obeying the Torah of Moses. The covenant of faith came centuries before the Law of Moses. Yahweh’s eternal Feasts were in place from creation, they have nothing to do with the Torah of Moses. Yeshua may have fulfilled the Law of Moses, but we are still obligated to walk in the covenant of faith and in the Feasts of Yahweh. The Feasts are shadows of things to come, they are prophetic rehearsals of future events. Yeshua fulfilled the three spring Feasts through Unleaveaned Bread, but He HAS NOT FULFILLED SHAVUOT THROUGH TABERNACLES! It’s way past time to practice these Feasts to gain prophetic understanding of the last days we are living in.
“6Then Yahweh said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, “Obey My voice.” 8Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done.’””
Does “everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart” sound like the headlines of today’s news? It describes the activity of the whole house of Israel perfectly. Even though we have walked in 2,000 years of the Gospel of Yeshua HaMashiach, men are not changing for the better at any increased speed, the world is not improving, but continues to plunge headlong to its destruction. Keep preaching, teaching, and evangelizing, but men will continue to do what they want. Yeshua said few would be saved. The salvation of men’s souls is in His merciful hands, but we continue to follow and obey Him.
“9And Yahweh said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel (includes Great Britain and all the former Commonwealth nations, Ephraim, and America, Manasseh) and the house of Judah (Jews dwelling in modern State of Israel) have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”
11Therefore thus says Yahweh: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. 12Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the mighty ones to whom they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13For according to the number of your cities were your mighty ones, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal (idolatry).”
And you thought conspiracy theories are just a marvel of modern history. Not so, all men of all ages have stumbled over conspiracies against Yahweh. Yahweh told Jeremiah that the conspiracy found in the house of Israel (America, Great Britain, Israel) is that they have BROKEN HIS COVENANT!! It appears the problem then and now is the same, IDOLATRY! You wouldn’t think that born-again, Bible thumping, spirit-filled Christians would be capable of idolatry, but we are human. My guess is that our idolatry today is focused on worship of self and materialism. Do you listen to the words of today’s worship songs? Many of them are all about I, me, my, mine, our, us, we, worship of humanity. Do you think modern Christendom is stumbling over materialism? Just look around your local church properties. Yahweh said He’s brining calamity on us from which we will not be able to escape. Oh great, and you thought you already had problems. Read verse 11 over again; Yahweh will not hear us when we cry to him out of a proud idolatrous heart. It’s time to humble ourselves as Yahweh’s people and trust in Him. What was it Yeshua stated in Luke 14:33, “whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” That sounds like the exact opposite of materialistic idolatry. The world is upside down from Yahweh’s Kingdom. Wealth, power, greed, and self GO NOWHERE in Yahweh’s Kingdom. And it’s His kingdom that will soon be established on this earth. Please accept this post as your wake-up call.
Now notice what Yahweh told our dear brother Jeremiah:
“14“So do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble. 15“What has My beloved to do in My house (your body, the Temple of the Holy Spirit), having done lewd deeds with many? And the holy flesh has passed from you. When you do evil, then you rejoice. 16Yahweh called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken.
17“For Yahweh of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the house of Israel (includes Ephraim, Great Britain and all the former Commonwealth Nations, and Manasseh, America) and of the house of Judah (Jews dwelling in modern State of Israel), which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.”
This is one of the most awful things I’ve ever read in the Scriptures. Yahweh commanded Jeremiah, and my wife and I, NOT TO PRAY FOR HIS PEOPLE ANYMORE. Friends, do you understand the implications of this command? This day could very well be the moment when Yeshua has stepped out of the Sanctuary in the heavens, and is now entering into the Judgment Hall of Heaven. When Yeshua opened my spirit to understand this, I was in prayer on my face before Him this morning. The anointing came so strong I could not get up, I could not even move, and could barely breathe. Folks, it’s because of our trouble, we are troubling the earth. Yahweh has been merciful, patient, long-suffering for all the past ages, but now is the time to wrap up human history as we know it. Judgment is upon the whole house of Israel. Judgment always begins with the house of Yahweh. You can now pray for the lost hordes outside His house, the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Satanists, etc. Their punishment comes after Yahweh uses them to discipline His children. Notice verse 16, Yahweh calls us the Green Olive Tree. That’s the natural tree that we Christians have been grafted into. Notice we have produced Good Fruit. Thank Yahweh for that. But continue reading, Yahweh has set a fire against this Tree and is breaking off its branches. Now listen closely, this fire is a refining fire if you repent, and humble yourself before Yahweh and begin to obey and follow Him and His way. If you do not repent and turn to Yeshua, this fire becomes a fire of destruction to your soul. He only has one fire, but how you respond to the fire of Yahweh determines what kind of fire it is to your tree. If you continue in your arrogant pursuit of power, wealth, and preeminence in this world, you will be destroyed by this fire. But if you repent of your self-sins and turn in humility to Yahweh, this fire will simply purify your character some more. The choice, as always, is yours. We were chosen to choose. Choose life. Notice the last part of verse 17, Yahweh knows our idolatry is sin against ourselves. Sin destroys us, not Yahweh. We have to repent, not Yahweh. We need salvation, not Yahweh.
“18Now Yahweh gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me their doings. 19But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.” 20But, O Yahweh of hosts, You who judge righteously, testing the mind and the heart, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have revealed my cause. 21“Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the men of Anathoth (a city of Benjamin allotted to the priest, birthplace of Jeremiah) who seek your life, saying, ‘Do not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, lest you die by our hand’—22therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine; 23and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring catastrophe on the men of Anathoth, even the year of their punishment.’””
In verses 18-19, we see Jeremiah as a type of Yeshua, the Lamb of Yahweh, led to the slaughter. Jeremiah pointed out Israel’s sins, Israel wanted to destroy his tree with its fruit. That’s always what happens to Yahweh’s servants. We preach or teach Yahweh’s word, and the listeners do not want to hear it, they’d rather kill the messenger than receive the message. Father, let me see your vengeance on my enemies, for I have revealed my cause to You only, not to them. Look at verses 22-23, those statements should put the fear of Yahweh into your heart. Do you realize America has military troops in about 150 countries of this world? We are engaged in FOUR wars at this moment. Our young men are dying by the sword, and soon, their sons and daughters will be dying by famine. We are now entering a time, or year, of punishment. Another word for punishment here would be visitation. When Yahweh shows up, things burn up. Yahweh promised not to destroy the earth again with a flood. This time it will be with fire. We are about to enter the iron furnace. Will your fire be for the purpose of destruction or for the purpose of smelting and refining you into pure gold, useful for the King’s eternal purposes?
Praying for the Peace (Yeshua, our Sar Shalom) of Jerusalem,
Gene Benjamin II
June 22, 2011 CE
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