Day 243: Jeremiah 40, 41 and 42

May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us (Jeremiah 42:5).

It had happened. Nebuchadnezzar had broken through the wall of Jerusalem and captured the city. He killed Zedekiah's sons and put out his eyes before marching him off to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar installed Gedaliah as governor over Judah and the poorest of the poor who remained, but he had been assassinated and his killer had escaped to Ammon.

Fearing reprisal for the death of this Babylonian appointee, a band of people led by Johanan asked Jeremiah for advice. Should they stay? Should they flee to Egypt? With God as our witness, we'll do whatever you say (Author's Paraphrase, v. 5). Jeremiah assured them that if they remained in Jerusalem, God would preserve and provide for them.

That wasn't the answer they were looking for. Johanan and his compadres accused Jeremiah of lying to them. "God would never say that!" Hey, don't like the prophet's answer? Attack the prophet's character. Not only did they reject Jeremiah's advice, they forcibly removed him to the city of Taphanhes in Egypt, where they continued to disregard his counsel.

Kind of makes me wonder, why did they drag him to Egypt if they were just going to keep ignoring his advice?

What do you do when you pray and don't get the answer you want?

Day 242: Jeremiah 37, 38 and 39

While your feet were stuck in the mud, they left you (Jeremiah 38:22).

Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He was a wishy-washy king who found it difficult to make a decision. In his defense, he was scared of both Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his own advisors. They were telling him to resist the invading army, but Jeremiah was telling him he should surrender. Zedekiah was afraid Jeremiah was right, but he didn’t want his advisors thinking he was weak. Too late.

The king's counselors were determined to shut Jeremiah up. Zedekiah spinelessly gave them his permission to throw the prophet into a cistern – empty of water but full of mud. There they left him but, thanks to another flip flop by the king, he was released. Zedekiah once again asked him for advice, but Jeremiah was reticent to speak, considering where his words had already landed him… literally.

Finally Jeremiah told Zedekiah that if he surrendered he would fare better than by continuing the fight. He said that if the king rejected his counsel, the women of Jerusalem would be taken captive by the Babylonians, and taunt him about being misled and abandoned by his most trusted friends. While your feet were stuck in the mud, they left you.

Jeremiah was dropped in the cistern, but Zedekiah was the one stuck in the mud.

Have you ever been stuck and unable to make a decision?

 

Day 241: Jeremiah 34, 35 and 36

Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot (Jeremiah 36:23).

 

It was a fasting day when many of the faithful would flock to the temple for worship and prayer, yet Jeremiah had been barred from that sacred place. So Jeremiah instructed Baruch, his secretary, to write down his prophecies on a scroll and then read them to the people of Judah who had traveled to Jerusalem for the fast. (This was likely after the first exiles were transported to Babylon but prior to the taking of the second group. People could still travel and there was probably little if any Babylonian military presence.)

Baruch complied with Jeremiah’s instructions, but when palace officials heard him reading from the scroll, they were alarmed, knowing they would have to report these events to the king. Still, being sympathetic to Jeremiah, they sent both Baruch and the prophet into hiding before making their report.

Seated before the fire in his winter quarters, the king demanded the scroll be read in his presence. As three or four columns were read, Jehoiakim took a knife and cut that portion from the scroll and burned it in his firepot. By the time the assistant was finished reading, the entire scroll had been burned to ashes.

How do you respond to Scripture that makes you uncomfortable?

Day 240: Jeremiah 31, 32 and 33

Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land (Jeremiah 32:15).

 

Times were bad in Jerusalem. The first (the best) and second (the brightest) waves of exiles had already been transported to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was besieging the city, Jeremiah was imprisoned by the palace guard, and things were looking bleak. Then Jeremiah’s cousin showed up and asked him to take a field off his hands in Anathoth (where Jeremiah was from – in the tribal holdings of Benjamin – probably to the north, but not far from Jerusalem).

While your city is being besieged and the country is being trampled underfoot by a vast army is probably not the best time to try and sell property – not exactly a seller’s market. On the other hand, Jeremiah was the one who prophesied Jerusalem would be defeated while other prophets were saying it would be spared. Jeremiah would hardly be the most likely candidate to buy a piece of property… but he did.

In spite of their hard times, Jeremiah knew things were going to improve. Not right away… in fact things were going to get much worse before they got better, but things were eventually going to start looking up. He bought the field from his cousin, sealed the deed away in the 6^th century BC equivalent of a safe deposit box, as a witness that one day things would once again be good in Jerusalem.

During hard times, how can you demonstrate your faith that things are going to improve?

Day 239: Jeremiah 28, 29 and 30

Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have (Jeremiah 29:8).

After the first wave of captives was taken from Jerusalem to Babylon, there was an expectation among those exiles that their release would be speedy and they would soon return to their beloved Jerusalem. The prophets who accompanied them not only shared that expectation, but felt pressured to tell the people what they wanted to hear. They encouraged the Judean exiles that they would not be there long; that deliverance was at hand.

Jeremiah knew differently and wrote God’s people a letter from Jerusalem: Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce… Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage (vv. 5,6). He went on to warn them not to listen to those whose prophecies were influenced by the expectations of those around them. Even though they might be well meaning, they were too reluctant to give the people bad news.

The bad news: “Get comfortable; you’re going to be here awhile.” The good news: Even seventy years in Babylon cannot thwart God’s plan for you (Author’s Paraphrase, v. 10) . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (v. 11).

Is bad news every really bad news if God has your back?

Ask for strength to speak the truth this week, knowing that even bad news falls under the promise of Romans 8:28 – “In all things God works for the good…”

Day 238: Jeremiah 25, 26 and 27

The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city . . . Do with me whatever you think is good and right (Jeremiah 26:12,14).

On August 5, 1864 during the Civil War, the Union Navy sailed into Mobile Bay. The lead ship was destroyed by a tethered mine and those following faltered amid the confusion. Taking charge of the situation, Read Admiral David Farragut steered his ship around those adrift and uttered the famous charge: “Damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead!” The remaining ships followed him; there were no more losses, and the forts lining Mobile Bay surrendered.

Jeremiah’s ministry was about as welcome in Jerusalem as the Union Navy in Mobile Bay, and the potential consequences no less disastrous. But Jeremiah knew he had been sent by God and, regardless of the outcome, he must be faithful to his mission.

Jeremiah’s courage was not without consequence; he was hated, labeled a traitor, imprisoned, and eventually forcible removed to Egypt. In his declining years, however, he could lay his head on the pillow at night and know he had done everything asked of him.

A dear saint in my congregation shared with me that she committed long ago to live her life so, when the time came, she could leave this world with no regrets. Would that we all could make that same vow.

Is God prompting you that it’s time to say, “Damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead”? Ask for the strength and grace to be true to his calling.

Day 237: Jeremiah 22, 23 and 24

Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness (Jeremiah 22:13).

What condemnation for the rich and powerful of Judah, who had exploited the poor and the weak to build their fortunes. And it wasn't that the exploiters were just scratching out a meager existence, trying to feed their own families. They were driven by a lust for luxurious living and lost no sleep about bleeding the poor to maintain their own comfort.

It's probably no surprise that the throne did not make one immune to this materialism sickness: Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? (v. 15) The prophet reminded Jehoiakim that better kings before him had been content with having enough to eat and drink, and were not driven by the hunger for conspicuous consumption.

Are we any different? Does it matter to us where the clothes we wear or the toys we play with are manufactured? …and under what conditions? Does getting a shirt for a few dollars less make exploiting God's children okay? And if we don’t pay close enough attention to know for sure, can we claim plausible deniability? My kids are warm and well-fed. Am I responsible for other people's kids? But would we want them to say the same about our kids if the roles were reversed?

When I build my palace on the backs of others less fortunate than myself, woe to me.

Why is it the more we have the more we want? How much is enough? Are you your brother’s keeper?