THE HORSEMEN

IF THE FOOTMEN TIRE YOU WHAT WILL THE HORSES DO?
Jeremiah 12:5, If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
It is Old Fashion Sunday. This is an old question asked by God to the nation of Judah, 2600 years ago. Jeremiah has been looking around at the conditions of his nation and things were not improving. So, he sits down with Almighty God and ask God some questions that maybe you have asked God and God gives Jeremiah the answers.

I – JEREMIAH’S ADDRESS TO THE LORD
1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

A – THE PLEA:
Jeremiah knows that God is righteous and true and he doesn’t make mistakes but something was bothering him.
Jeremiah looked around and He saw the wicked prospering and they were happy. They were, it seemed, having a great time, laughing, drinking and partying.
Jeremiah says to God, "Why do the wicked prosper?" And, "Why are they so happy?" This is not a new question. Job, Isaiah, David, Habakkuk and others have asked the same question.
Jeremiah had been preaching for over twenty years and though, Josiah repentance brought a measure of faith and peace to Judah, when he died, the people turned right back to their evil ways.
Jeremiah sees the false priest and prophets prospering and they were being well taken care of and Jeremiah felt like a sacrificial lamb.
Stop and let me present to you a question: Why do you do good? Why do you live as you live? Is it because of mom or dad? Is it because of your mate or religious peer pressure? Is it because of the preacher or for the sake of your children? Or do you live as you do to honor Jesus Christ?
Well, just as you live to honor Jesus Christ because of your image of Him who is holy and righteous and wonderful and true, Judah lived as they did because of the imagination of their hearts.

B. THE PLANT V 2
2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
Now, Jeremiah says, God you see their fruit. You see their motives (v 2) and you’ve done nothing. Notice verse 2: Jeremiah was saying, "They speak good of you with their lips, but their motives are impure." They were all talk and no truth.
He says, "God you judged me according to my heart, now, judge them now according to their hearts" (v 2).

C. THE PUNISHEMENT V 3-4
Jeremiah was so troubled that he admonished God to take the wicked to the slaughter house and kill them (v 3). He says, God why not make some lamb chops out of your sheep. 3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
What happened to Jeremiah's love? Folks, Jeremiah was human. He knew what was right. He told the people how to live and they ignored him. They laughed at him. They conspired, a plan to tried to kill him.
"I've wept over these people" (v 4). 4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
God had sent desolation on the land. You’ve sent the famines and the pestilence and the flocks and the animal life have suffered because of the sins of the people of Judah (v 4). And still these people will not return to you.
Hey folks, listen, man may live wickedly all week long but, remember this, God doesn't always send His payment on Friday, but I promise you there will be a payday someday for all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah wanted that day to be soon, but don’t judge Jeremiah too badly, for friend, with what is happening in our country, I too, would like to see God send some judgment on the wicked.

II - GOD'S ANSWER TO JEREMIAH
5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
God often answers a question with a question. Why?
1. Sometimes we already know the answer, we just need to meditate upon the Scriptures.
2. Sometimes, we don' t know the answer and we must search the Scriptures.
Well, when God gives Jeremiah this answer, it isn't what the great prophet expected. He talked about two things:
A. FOOTMEN AND HORSES: Jeremiah realized God's focus was not on the enemy but on His servant.
-When difficult times come, we often ask, "How can I get out of this?" God wants us to ask, "What can I get out of this?"
-We often want God to deal with others, when God is actually dealing with us.
-We want God to change the world around us and God wants to change the world in us.
God says to Jeremiah in verse 5, Jeremiah, you are only running with footmen now, what are you going to do when the horses come?
Here is what that means: Today, the footmen are family problems, economic woes, financial concerns and political corruption.
Hey, if we can’t handle what every other person in the nations is handling, how are we going to fare when real trouble hits?
How are we going to stand for God in a time of true persecution?
The heartaches we are experiencing in America today are minor compared to what is coming if America doesn’t turn back to God.
Jeremiah saw the moral problems in his country. He saw the social problems, the religious problems, the political corruption, the economic problems, and he is very troubled.
The horse for Judah would be the Babylonians. They would be foreigners that will came into the land and take the land over.
The Babylonians oppressed Judah with threats for six to ten years. Then for twenty years, then the horses came. They fought against Judah and slowly took away their liberties, their freedoms and their way of living.

Now, let me make that applicable. Back in 1956, Nikita Khrushchev said, "We will bury you." speaking to America. In Yugoslavia he remark that his speech, "We will bury you" did not mean we will bury you with a shovel. It meant that your own ‘working class’ will bury you.
The ‘working class’ defined by Marxism is the lower class of a country, yea, the unemployed and welfare state. Well, look at America. For fifty years the democrats of America has built their platform upon socialism.
Our present President has introduced Marxist-socialism into our country. He has forced those beliefs upon our country with the help of the former President Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party.
What has happened? The ‘working class” has increased as people have lost their jobs. The jobless rate is higher today than any time outside of the Great Depression, though the media is not saying so.
As of September 2, the jobless rate was at 15.3 million. There are 2.5 million who have given up looking the NPR states. Those on Welfare was around 5 million. That gives us 22.5 million unemployed. In the Great Depression of 1929, there were 12,830,000 unemployed.
At first it will just affect the lower class. Then it will begin to affect the middle class. And one day there will be only two classes of people.
God was telling Jeremiah. Jeremiah you are walking with the footmen, the horses are coming, prepare yourself.
B. SWELLING OF JORDAN
When God’s hand of judgment moves upon a nation, it does so like a storm. At first, it is like a rainy day. But, the rain doesn’t go away. The days turn to weeks and the weeks to months and gloominess sets in. When the Jordan began to swell disaster was next to come. (v 5).
When the Jordan would swell in Israel, the flood waters overflowed the banks. The harvest was lost. The lions and beast of the fields were driven into the cities and farms where they preyed upon man and his livelihood, wrecking terrible havoc.
This is an analogy of when the criminals and those with no concern for anybody, but their own hunger will do.
They will rob and steal and kill and do what they have to in order to satisfy their own hunger.
Jeremiah would now cry the more to Judah, turn back to God, the horses are coming.
Stop! Christian, don't get discourage over what is happening in America. There is hope as long as God is on His throne and His children are on their knees.
James said, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."
God then gives Jeremiah another piece of information (v 6): God tells Jeremiah who his footmen are, that's troubling him.
6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
God tells Jeremiah, that the footmen were those of his own nation and house. God said, "Don’t listen to and don't believe your family or your friends." Don’t listen to the kind words people of the people.
They may speak gracious and beautiful words trying to persuade you to turn away from truth. Jeremiah, you stand for right. You preach truth."
Remember this: God is concerned with the development within us, not just the difficulties around us.

III - JEREMIAHS' AMAZEMENT
Jeremiah stops and thinks and realizes God is right. (v 7-10).
1 - Jeremiah’s Heritage
a. Jeremiah enemies (v 7) He realizes his family and countrymen have forsaken truth. They have become the enemies of Jeremiah because they were now the enemies of God.
In America many of our political leaders have forsaken God’s Word, God’s commandments and have ceased to stand for truth.
7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
b. Jeremiah attackers: (v 8).
8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
Jeremiah says, because I stood for truth and my countrymen did not, they have cried against me.
They have turned against me because I would not compromise God’ word. They have roared against me like a lion in the forest.
They have called me names and mock me, because I did not become part of the Association or the National Council of Churches or the World Council of Churches.
c. Jeremiah tells God, they are treating me like a speckled bird (v 9).
9 Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
If you grew up on a chicken farm you will know what Jeremiah meant here. As a boy, we raised 32,000 chickens every 9 weeks. That seems like a lot to most of you, but it is actually a small amount compared to the way chickens are raised today. In each chicken house we would have about 8,000 birds. They were all yellow. When they grew up they all turned white. If one of the birds had a speck on it, the other birds would pick it to death. They would pick it till blood flowed from its body. They would pick on it till it ceased to move. This is how Jeremiah’s family had treated him.
2. Jeremiah’s Homeland
a. The Pastors have changed:
10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
Jeremiah tells God that even the pastors had become weak and were afraid to preach truth (v 10). I've had people tell me, Preacher, you can't preach like you do, people won't listen. Friend, people didn't call me to preach, God did. We need God called preachers today, not seminary prepared, mama called and daddy sent.
Under Karl Marxist beliefs and under Joseph Stalin's rule, the Russian government destroyed and closed 98% of all the churches in Russia.
Russia was turned into a socialistic-communistic government. Everyone was equal. They became equally poor. There but two classes. The upper class was less than 5% of the nation and the lower class was 95%. By 1991, Russia was bankrupt.
If America keeps going in the direction that this present administration is directing it, we will follow the path of Russia.
In America, the churches have not been closed, though thousands of churches shut their doors every year.
But, the pastors have compromised. They do not take seriously enough the study and preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Pastors need to preach truth.
A friend came last week to church whose pastor's wife and children won't even go to church.
Churches have been compromised, just as during Jeremiah's day. It was weak, liberal pastors, afraid to preach truth that left men's heart a wilderness, rather than filling their heart with the fruit of God's precious word.
b. The Spoilers were coming.
12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
The spoilers were those who oppress and rob and lay waste a land.
They may be soldiers or they may be pestilence. They may be foreigners who buy out the land or illegal immigrants that take the jobs. They may even be a government who sells the jobs overseas.
I want you to know that it seems that the winds are shifting, politically. It seems as if in a few months, the pendulum will shift the other way. So God has heard the prayers of Gods’ people. Remember that.
Things are not changing in America because of talk radio or Fox news. Things are changing because God’s people have been praying and turning back to Him.
c. Economic trouble --13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Our government tried a trillion dollar stimulus package. It didn't work. They tried raising taxes, it didn't work.
What will work? "If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, seek God's face, turn from their wicked ways, then God can work." I believe that is happening.

What is the answer? (14-17).
God says I will take my people out of their land to chasten them. If they will diligently learn my ways as they sought to learn the ways of the world, God says, I will built them again (v 16). If they will not obey me, then I shall destroy them.
Christian, you look at America as Jeremiah looked at Judah and you say, God, it doesn't' look good.
But, here is the good news: Let us diligently learn the ways of God and walk in those ways and obey Him and He promises to bless us again.
God's children have problems, so we will claim His promises.
Our lives are not built on explanations but on promises.
God said, seek, serve, study and stand. His promise to those who do is a long and free life.
14 Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
If we would give ourselves to the Lord as we give ourselves to pleasure, hobbies, God will give us freedom.