Jeremiah 29:24-32 – God’s dealings will include tough times

Jeremiah’s messages to the exiles in this chapter were in letters that he wrote to them. He was not taken to Babylon, so the messages were written from Judah. The first message in Jeremiah 29:10-14 was written to encourage and enlighten the priests, the prophets, and the people in exile. He told them to get on with life in Babylon, to seek the welfare of their captors, and not listen to the lies of the false prophets. This message included telling them they were still in God’s heart and that a great destiny awaited them.

In Jeremiah 29:15-23, his message addressed the false prophets in Babylon. Also, it announced the outcome for the people and the king who replaced Jehoiachin in Judah who were not taken to Babylon. Here Jeremiah specifically named the two false prophets, Ahab and Zedekiah, and foretold their death.

In verses 24-32, we see Jeremiah’s response to a letter written by Shemaiah a false prophet. Shemaiah wrote from Babylon to Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the priest in charge, the priests serving with him, and the people who remained there. In verses 26-28, Shemaiah questioned Zephaniah and the priests for not doing their rightful duties. He took issue with Jeremiah for saying that the captivity in Babylon would be for a while (70 years). He wondered why Zephaniah, who was put in charge in Jerusalem did not rebuke or apprehend Jeremiah. Accusing Jeremiah of being crazy, all because his prophecy contradicted the claim of the false that the exiled Jews would be released within two years.

After Zephaniah had read the content of Shemaiah’s letter to Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to the latter. So he was instructed to send a message to the exiles concerning Shemaiah. Firstly, he revealed that Shemaiah was a deceiver who made the people believe his lies. Secondly, he pronounced that neither Shemaiah nor his offspring would live to experience the fulfillment of God’s promise to return the Jews to their homeland.

Ever wonder why people cannot accept tough circumstances as part of God’s program for their lives? Man’s propensity is to choose the path of least resistance because it is always easier to run downhill than climb uphill. Yet like bodybuilding, we need resistance to build. And God will allow us to experience tough times to build our faith and trust in Him. People, even Christians are so acclimatized to prosperity and good time that it is difficult for them to stomach a little adversity and hardship. So when God speaks of hard times, we suspect His intention. We would rather hear a soothing message than a hard but faith-building message. We need to learn not to focus on the pain of the process so that we forget the gold we will become at the end of the process. Remember purified gold comes through intense fire and heat. Be assured that God’s plan will include some tunnel experiences and there will always be light at the other end. He never leads us into a cave where there is absolutely no light. Choose to listen wisely. The message may be tough, but it will bring us to our expected end of a great hope and future.

Jeremiah 29:21-23 – What we do never escape God’s sight

In Jeremiah 29:21-23, God addressed two prophets belonging to the category of Hananiah.  Their names were Ahab and Zedekiah. Three charges were levied against them by the Lord. Firstly, they were living foolishly in Israel. Secondly, they were living immorally by committing adultery with their neighbor’s wives. And thirdly, they were spewing out falsehood and lies in the Lord’s name. What they did, though went undetected by the people was not hidden from God who clearly saw through their wickedness.

How could such prophets be credible? Yet gullibly there were those in the exile that were hoodwinked by them. God not only addressed their sins but would also deal with them severely. Two calamities would befall them. Firstly, God would deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar who would execute them by roasting them to death by fire. Secondly would become a disgrace to the people. Because of the infamy, their names would become a public reminder of the severe consequences of living wickedly.   

  

Hebrews 4:13 reminds us that “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” What happened to these two false prophets affirms that nothing in our lives is ever hidden from the sight of God. The wrong we commit and think is hidden from the eyes of people is never concealed before the all-seeing God. What we do has an influencing effect on others. This passage can be seen as God's call for us  to be careful what we do even when no one is looking. Just remember that the mark of a truly godly and mature person is not in what one does, but in what one does when no one is looking.

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Jeremiah 29:15-20 – Obey God’s Word even in uncertain times.

Here are some contexts to help us make sense of Jeremiah 29:15-20. Describing the second siege of Jerusalem, 2 Kings 24:10-17 said that Nebuchadnezzar personally came to the city. Verse 12 said that “Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.” Verses 15-16 then enumerated the number of people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile in Babylon. Besides, Jehoiachin the king, the list included his mother, his wives and officials, the leading men of the best of the land, 7,000 men of valor, 1,000 craftsmen and smiths, and 1,000 strong men, who were fit for war. Verse 17 then said Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah king in the place of his nephew Jehoiachin. He even changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.  

Jeremiah, we learned, had told those taken into exile to submit to God, be good citizens, live life as normally as possible, seek the welfare of Babylon, pray for the king, and don’t listen to the words of the false prophets. However, these exiles were still concerned about what was happening back home because of their attachment to their homeland. So Jeremiah 29:15-20 told them what would be happening to the people who remained back home.

He prophesied that a greater disaster was coming upon Zedekiah and the people who were not carried into exile. They would be experiencing a greater disaster.  God’s words to them in Jeremiah 28:17-18 said, “I am sending upon them the sword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a horror and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them….”

In other words, they would not go unpunished. Many would die in the hands of the enemies and many others would be taken to join them in their Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah then followed up with an admonition to those already in exile that they should pay attention to the message, listen, and obey God. Jeremiah was calling on them in Babylon to chart a new course. They were encouraged to listen to God’s message through His faithful and genuine prophets.

Like those Jews in exile, we should know that being concerned with what’s happening in our world is helpful. But the more important matter is for us to discern and identify and know what God is saying through what's happening. We need to identify and recognize His message to us and be obedient to what He is saying to us through them.

  

 

 

Jeremiah 29:10-14 – God has a great destiny for us

In his letter to the exile, Jeremiah encouraged the Jews to do three things. Firstly they were told to live their lives in exile normally and continue to grow as a people, qualitatively and quantitatively. Verse 6 said, they ought to “Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.” Secondly, verse 7 said that they must seek the welfare of Babylon and pray for the nation. And thirdly verse 8 said that they ought to stop listening to the false prophets who claimed to speak on God’s behalf but were spewing out lies. God added that he did not send them.     

Continuing his letter, Jeremiah 29:10-14, the prophet Jeremiah gave them a message of hope. He first reiterated that their captivity was scheduled for 70 years. After that duration, He would visit them and fulfill His promise to them. He would bring them back to Jerusalem. Why was there a need for God to re-assure the exile?

God just told them that they would be in captivity for 70 years. Interestingly Moses in Psalm 90 said that generally, that is the length of a person’s life. We can guess that many listening to Jeremiah then would have wondered what would happen to them and the nation by then, let alone returning to Jerusalem. The assurance of God to them was that while they could not see their future, God could. He said He knew exactly what His plan for them was in verse 11. It was a plan of hope and great destiny and not a plan of calamity. This verse had often been taken by Christians to apply them individually and personally. But in context, this promise was meant for Judah as the nation. God was talking about their future as a whole unit.  He promised them a great future with better conditions.

Verses 12-13 establish the purpose for why they would have a great future. Know it or not, God wanted to hear their prayers and have them enjoy fellowship with Him.  The plan for the great future was so that they  could call upon Him and draw near to pray to Him. His promise was that He would listen to them. And when they seek Him with their whole heart, they would find Him for He would reveal Himself to them.  God promised to restore them to their homeland.

The lessons: Whatever, we are experiencing the purpose of God is to get us to return to the destiny He has planned for us. His desire is for us to have a connected and healthy relationship with Him. And such a relationship is cultivated through constant and consistent fellowship. We need to spend time seeking Him, availing ourselves to Him in prayer. In good times remember to give thanks, in hard times remember to  pray to Him, and at all times we must praise Him. Remember God is not through with us yet.

 

If God’s plans are for our future destiny, we must not complain if we need to endure hard times now. For we know that in every circumstance, congenial or not congenial, positive or negative, God is working out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Hence,  James 1:2 urged us to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  

        

Jeremiah 29:1-9 – Be exemplary witnesses of God

The inevitable had happened. As God had warned, Nebuchadnezzar took the priest the prophets, and the people into captivity in Babylon. And there they were in exile. In the previous chapter, we saw how Hananiah the false prophet prophesied that within two years they would be released. His message contradicted that of Jeremiah, and he was proven to be false. So he died in the same year and Judah was still in exile. 

A mixture of people was to be expected among the captives. There were priests, prophets, and even some false prophets like Hananiah who continued to propagate lies. Then there were the ordinary Jews, some were still hopeful and a whole of others despairing hopelessly. It was in a time when the people needed to be enlightened and encouraged. So we see Jeremiah writing to them with those purposes to keep their hope in the Lord alive. 

The letter was written shortly “after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.” The two people who carried the letter were Elasah and Gemariah. They delivered it to Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon to be read to the people.

The letter he wrote began by reminding them that it was the Lord who had sent them into exile. Hence, they were encouraged in verses to accept their present situation. They were advised firstly to live life as normal as possible.  Firstly, they were to “Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.” They were urged to continue to grow their population even though they were in captivity and not to allow their number to dwindle. They must build toward a strong future.

Secondly, they were to seek the welfare of Babylon, be peacemakers and not trouble-makers. Jeremiah urged that they remember to pray to the Lord for them.  The well-being of Babylon would also be beneficial for them. Babylon’s welfare was also their welfare.  And thirdly, they were told not to listen to the false prophets and diviners who were prophesying lies in the Lord’s name. God assured them that He did not send or speak through them.

The message: Be good and exemplary citizens even though our world is by and large secular in orientation. We must live lives in such a way that would make our set-apart community strong. As God’s redemptive agents and must keep witnessing and bearing to the Good News of Jesus Christ and expand the Kingdom of God. Put Paul's urging in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 into action. “First of all,  (let)… entreaties and prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We must intercede for our government and our nation. And as we do our best to be exemplary citizens, don’t be influenced by false teaching and indulge in their errors. Stay faithful to God all the way.

 

Jeremiah 28:10-17 –Knowing the truth well is critical

Jeremiah verses 10-11 tells us that Jeremiah did not confront Hananiah immediately when the latter removed the yoke that he was wearing over his neck. Instead of being embroiled in his aggression, he just went away. Of course, the error that Hananiah did had to be dealt with. It must be an opportune time. So in verses 12-14 of Jeremiah 28, the opportune time came. God directed him to confront Hananiah.  Jeremiah was told to  “Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron.”  The message for the false prophet was that instead of a yoke of wood, he had made the people of Judah a w yoke of iron instead. In other words, there suffering the nation had under Babylon would be intensified. They would have to undergo greater distress and despair than they had thus far experienced.

 

Jeremiah then gave a word to the false prophet Hananiah in verses 15-16 saying, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made these people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’” So as Jeremiah had prophesied, verse 17 said that Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year. God had vindicated His servant. For the words of a true prophet always come to pass but the words of a false prophet will not.  

 

Whether we are aware or not, false teachings abound in the contemporary church world. No matter how sincere false teachings may sound, they are always lethal. The problem is that those who propagate them are often friendly and respectable but misguided people. We must remember Matthew 7:22-23 when we hear any message claimed to be from God. Jesus said  that ^“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ It’s shocking to hear Jesus labeling people who claim to prophesy in His name as lawless people and workers of iniquity. It pays for us to be well-versed with Biblical truth so that we will not be hoodwinked by false teachings and end up being misled into a disaster. 

 

Jeremiah 28:10-11 – Don’t be embroiled in a needless argument

Let’s do a recap. Jeremiah was instructed to wear a yoke over his neck. God wanted the nations to know that they must all submit to Babylon’s dominion.   Prior to this, he had made known that Judah would be in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. But then a prophet from Gibeon by the name of Hananiah was misleading the people with a lie. He falsely claimed that the Babylonian yoke would be broken in two years. He even said that the king of Judah, the people, and the temple’s treasure taken by Nebuchadnezzar would also be returned within two years. All that he had said contradicted Jeremiah’s prophecy who then checked him. Jeremiah pointed out that the best authentication of a true prophet would be when what he had prophesied comes to pass.

Apparently, Hananiah took offense to Jeremiah. So in Jeremiah 28:10-11, he aggressively removed the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck and broke it, and continued to mislead the people. He then went on to emphasize by proclaiming again saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Even so will I break within two full years the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’”  The last line of verse 11 says Jeremiah went away. Here we venture a guess for the reason he did not want to engage Hananiah. Perhaps it was because he did want to make a scene and created needless commotion before the people. anyway, it is pointless to engage a person who is openly looking for a fight. 

Here we learn how to deal with an unreasonable person. It is always wiser to walk away and wait for a more opportune time to correct him. When one is insistent in persisting in his or her error, correcting openly would only lead to more aggression from that person.  Besides, in life, it is pointless to discuss with someone who obviously refused to accept the truth. Continuing the conversation to correct such a person would be an exercise in futility. It takes a lot of energy and accomplish nothing. Paul’s counsel in 2 Timothy 2:23 is to “refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.”  The lesson in a situation like this is to just walk away and seek a more appropriate time to correct that person.  

 

 

Jeremiah 28:1-9 – What would you rather hear?

Remember that Jeremiah had been wearing the yoke that God told him to make over his neck. He was parading around the temple court signaling God’s message that all nations must come under Babylon’s dominion. For several months now and he was still wearing the yoke. In Jeremiah 25:11, we learned that he had proclaimed a 70-year duration of Judah’s captivity in Babylon. But now in Jeremiah 28:1, a prophet from Gibeon named Hananiah appeared to publicly prophesy in the Lord’s name contradicting Jeremiah’s message. He proclaimed to the priests and the people that God was breaking the dominion of Babylon. He insisted that within two years the vessels from the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had taken would be returned. He even said that God was “going to bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon. (Jeremiah 28:4).

Notice that Hananiah was explicitly said to be from Gibeon. This already hinted that what he said could not be trusted. We learned how deceptive the Gibeonites were from the book of Joshua. They had deceptively duped Joshua into an alliance with them, by telling a lie that they came from a distant land. Therefore, how could one from the line of deceitful people be bearing the truth? If their history was anything to go by, this man could not be trusted.

Jeremiah’s response could be seen in verses 5-6. He wished that whatever Hananiah had said was true and that God would bring the people and the temple vessels that the Babylonians had taken back within two years.  He then pointed out that just by merely prophesying without authentication would not necessarily come a prophecy true. Jeremiah argued that whether a prophet and his prophecy came from God could only be determined when what had been prophesied happened. For the true test of a prophet and his prophecy would only be authenticated when what that prophet had said come to pass.  

Whose message was more believable? Hananiah’s or Jeremiah’s? One promises a time of pleasantry and the other, a time of hardship, struggles, and suffering.  The former tells what everyone desires to hear. It is assertive, edifying, and even patriotic. The latter, on the other hand, is depressing, gloomy, and doom and not the least bit palatable to the ears. One message is popular but false. The other is hard to stomach but true. If both Hananiah and Jeremiah were pastors in our world today, whose church would you rather attend? True pastors Jesus indicates are more like John the Baptist. This is what the Lord said of him in Matthew 11. He was more than a prophet. He was prophecy fulfilled. He did not just preach the word. He lived the word. His message is worth listening to. 

Jeremiah 27:16-22 – In God our hope is sure

In Jeremiah 27:16-22 God turned to address the priests of Jerusalem. They were listening to the self-proclaimed prophets who prophesied lies saying that the treasure that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the house of the Lord would be returned to them shortly. These treasures were made for the temple during the reign of Solomon. Second Kings 24:13 reveals that when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem during the reign of Jehoiachin, he did not only take him, his family, and official to Babylon, but he also took treasures from the Lord’s house back with him. What the false prophets were essentially saying was that Babylon would be overthrown and the treasures would be returned to Jerusalem shortly. So here Jeremiah called off their bluff and exposed their lies.

Here God through Jeremiah instructed the priests to stop listening to those prophets’ lies. They should instead counsel the people to submit and serve Nebuchadnezzar to avoid needless bloodshed and destruction of the city. He even taunted the false prophets saying if they were genuine, they should entreat the Lord to prevent Nebuchadnezzar from taking the remaining articles from Jerusalem to Babylon. Here God was referring to the bronze pillars, bronze seas, and all the bronze stands Solomon had made (these were described in 1 Kings 7). These were the articles that Nebuchadnezzar did not take with him during his siege.  God then made known that He was going to let the Babylonians carry these articles to Babylon. And they would remain there until the distant future when God visit them again. These articles would then be returned home and restored to Jerusalem.   

The passage here clearly shows us that even in wrath, God still shows mercy. Even in discipline God still talks about His visitation to restore the people in the future.  When the yoke we are experiencing is God’s yoke, our suffering won’t be long. Psalm 30:5 assures us that “His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” In Matthew 10:28-30 Jesus asked us to come to Him if we are heavy with burden. He invites us to His yoke upon ourselves and learns from Him. For He is gentle and humble in heart, and we will find rest to our souls. The yoke of Jesus is easy and His burden is light. He is our surest hope in life.

 

   

Jeremiah 27:8-15 – Be careful who we listen to

God had ordained that Babylon should be the dominant power at that time. He told all the emissaries of the Edom, Moab, Ammon Tyre, and Sidon who had been gathered in Jerusalem to form an alliance to go against Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. God told them that it was pointless to resist as this was His plan. 

In Jeremiah 27:8-11, the message from God was for them and all nations also to serve Nebuchadnezzar. Whoever would not acknowledge the power of Babylon, God would punish. Sword, famine, and pestilence meaning would be sent upon the nation that would not submit to Babylon as her overlord.  He guaranteed that the fierce conflict, famine, and disasters would not stop till that nation had been destroyed. Those who were inclined to accept the pronouncement of the self-acclaimed prophets, diviners, dreamers, soothsayers, or sorcerers, God told them not to listen or believe in their false proclamation. If they continue to resist and would not yield to Babylon, they were only courting disaster and devastation.

Turning to King Zedekiah in Jeremiah 27:12-15, God warned him and Judah of the same thing he said to the other nations. He told him not to pin his hopes on the lies prophesied by the false prophets that he had surrounded himself with. They were goading him not to give in to Babylon something that did not come from God. He did not send those false prophets; hence their words were all lies. They had prophesied falsely in the Lord’s name. God then guaranteed Zedekiah that by heeding those lies, he together with the false prophets would be driven from the land.

It is important who we listen to in life. We court needless trouble by not discerning the people we should go to for counsel. One false step will take us years to correct and realign and adjust.  Many people end up in misery and had to go to great lengths to undo the result of their missteps and errors. Wisdom dictates that we seek always to do and act right in our walk with God. If not, we will need the time to do it again. Thus, listening to the right counsel matters. The incident in Numbers 13 leaves us with an example of always listening to the right counsel. The people of Israel then, ended up meandering in the wilderness for another 40 years till they all died there. All because they chose to listen to the ungodly counsel of the ten spies and refused to listen to the godly counsel of Joshua and Caleb. We must be careful who we listen to in life!      

Jeremiah 27:1-7 – Nothing can happen to us without God’s permission

King Zedekiah, the son of Josiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar. This Babylonian king had Zedekiah’s nephew Jehoiachin deposed and taken captive to Babylon. It was also he who had his name changed to Zedekiah from Mattaniah. However, early in Zedekiah’s reign, he did something that was tantamount to treasonous. He sought to form a coalition with Edom, Moab. Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon to come against Babylon. So here in Jeremiah 27:1-7, the prophet Jeremiah was sent by God with a message to the emissaries of those kings whom Zedekiah was seeking to form an alliance with. They were told to take the message home to their kings.  

The message God had for them came through an illustrated sermon. Jeremiah was instructed to make a yoke and put it around his neck. A yoke, as we know, was an implement that was used to put around the necks of two oxen to pair them together so that they could move in tandem with each other. Obviously, God was not for this alliance. He was making known that whatever Nebuchadnezzar was ordained to do was part of His plan. He was and still is the only one who would sovereignly determine the destiny of nations and men. No one, whether man or beast, could or would be in any position where He had not ordained. And no one now or ever could change the course of His plan. But at this juncture in history,  God had ordained that every nation both people and beasts would come under the control of Babylon. Hence no one would be able to take her down till the time God her regime ended.  

Clearly, God wants us to know that He is in sovereign control. Our lives are in His hand.  Nothing can ever happen to us outside of His will and plan. Everything, positive or negative, can only happen to us by His permission. Hence, we must learn to accept them while seeking the lessons He wants to teach us through them. We must practice what Paul exhorts us to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22,  ^“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully: hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

   

Jeremiah 26:20-24 – God will see us through.

Jeremiah 26:16-19 tells us how the king's officials intervene and prevent Jeremiah from being executed. He cited how Micah said something similar to Jeremiah concerning Jerusalem’s destruction and as spared. King Hezekiah in that instance  chose to heed his message and Micah was spared.  

Jeremiah 26:20-23 look like another case that the priests and the prophets who had seized Jeremiah brought to counter the call of the king’s official to spare Jeremiah.  It was apparent that they were bent on  executing him. So they brought up this other incident where a man named Uriah was executed for prophesying for the Lord. He then fled to Egypt because his life was threatened by Jehoiakim. But the king pursued him. He sent men led by Elnathan to Egypt and had Uriah extradited and executed with a sword. The body of Uriah was then buried among the common people.

Verse 24 indicates that Jeremiah was safe yet by another unexpected source. God used a man named Ahikam,  the son of Shaphan. His presence with Jeremiah prevented the people from apprehending him. According to 2 Kings 22:11-13, Ahikam was one of those people whom King Josiah had commissioned to inquire of the Lord when the “book of the Law” was found while repairing the temple. It was this Ahikam whose presence with Jeremiah prevented his execution.

As perilous as serving the Lord may be, He will always have people He would use to ensure His servant’s safety in their times of peril. The Bible is replete with stories of how God’s servants had been provided with unexpected sources of help in their time of need, Moses had the princess of Pharoah, David had his motley crew, Nehemiah had Artaxerxes, Esther had Ahasuerus, etc. Once again we turn to another of Annie Johnson Flint’s poems for encouragement as we conclude. She said these words in his poem "God Hath Not Promised." 

God hath not promised skies always blue,

Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;

God hath not promised sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

 

God hath not promised we shall not know

Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;

He hath not told us we shall not bear

Many a burden, many a care.

 

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,

Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;

Never a mountain, rocky and steep,

Never a river, turbid and deep.

 

But God hath promised strength for the day,

Rest for the labor, light for the way,

Grace for the trials, help form above,

Unfailing sympathy, undying love.  

 

 

Jeremiah 26:16-19 – Why we need to know God’s Word.

In Jeremiah 26:14-15, we saw how Jeremiah dared his captors to do whatever they intended to do since he was in their hands. With no fear, he told them to go ahead with what they intended but say to them “Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Those officials who came from the king then intervened and prevented Jeremiah from being executed. Firmly, they told the priests and prophets that there should be no life sentence for him. They insisted that Jeremiah had spoken to them in the name of the Lord, their God. Some of the elders then cited an incident of how the Prophet Micah was spared in the time of King Hezekiah. He was almost put to death for prophesying something similar concerning Jerusalem (Micah 3:12). What Micah said then prevented the judgment of God from falling on Jerusalem because Hezekiah heeded the word. The reason for citing Micah’s incident was obvious. Like Hezekiah and the people who heeded Micah's word and repented so also must they heed Jeremiah's word and repent and turn to be saved.     

If anyone should know the Scriptures better, it would be those priests and the prophets who wanted to execute Jeremiah. They were the leaders entrusted to handle and teach the Word of God, yet they showed how unaccustomed they were to the Scriptures. They were workmen who did not their tools. What a shame! It was the king’s officials that help them to recall what they should have known. 

These verses underscore for us why it is important to know the Scriptures. It will help us to stay true to the Lord even when messengers of God stray from the word. Knowing the Scriptures can help us from errors propagated by those who claimed to champion it. Let’s be committed to knowing the Bible, which Paul insists in 2 Timothy 3:15 are “the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Why? ^“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16).” The Word of God gives us the full counsel of God. Be well-versed with it!           

Jeremiah 26:10-15 – Stay committed to God no matter what happens.

In earlier verses, we saw how the priests, the other prophets, and the people seized Jeremiah for the prophecy of the outcome of Jerusalem. He told them that God was about to destroy it as He did to Shiloh and remove its inhabitants. Jeremiah 26:10-11  reveal that when the officials of the city learned of it, they quickly went to intervene. They came and sat at the entrance of the new gate in the temple and waited. Then the priests and the other prophets came out to them and in front of the people said, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing. They were bent on putting Jeremiah to death.  

In verses 12-15, we see Jeremiah’s defense. He did not shrink from proclaiming the truth. He took the opportunity and reiterated what He had said. He told the officials that came from the king’s house that  it was the Lord who had sent him to speak. What he was proclaiming came from God. Then he quickly followed up by calling for them to repent saying, “Now, therefore, amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you.”

Jeremiah stood firmly behind what he said for he knew he was speaking God’s message. He declared his commitment to the truth he had delivered and stood by it. He was prepared to take what they intended to do to him, even if it meant death. Jeremiah was so firm in his stand. He told his accusers that if they put him to death, they would be guilty of shedding innocent blood. Besides the guilt for the destruction of the city would also rest on them.      

Like Jeremiah to the people at his time, we are God’s redemptive agents in the world today. Like him, we too will face opposition for speaking the truth.  People are often offended by the truth because their flaws are being exposed by the truth. As we share the Good News of Jesus be aware that we run the risk of offending our listeners and may have to face their hostility.  Despite this, we must stand firm and stay committed to the Lord. Take the example of John Elliot who said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” 

 

Jeremiah 26:7-9 – Speak truth not falsehood

In the first six verses of Jeremiah 26, we saw how Jeremiah obediently stood at the court of the temple and faithfully proclaimed the prophecy God had given him. Remember a prophecy always has two parts – a message of judgment as well as the message of hope. It is for the people to whom the message was sent to respond rightly. The message of judgment would provide a hopeful way to which one could do to avert the judgment. There would always be two kinds of responders. Those who hardened their hearts and with malicious intention, harm the prophet and those who would hear with a receptive heart, repent and rightly respond to God.

In  Jeremiah 26:7-15 we are introduced to the group that took offense with his prophecy and set out to harm Jeremiah.  Verse 7 reveals that they were the priest and the “so-called” prophets and the people in the crowd. When Jeremiah had finished prophesying, they all seized him and told him he must die.  These people could not accept the truth. So when they heard that ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant”, they took offense and became aggressive. They would rather believe their delusional notion that they could continue to find security in Shiloh despite the warning.  So all of them gathered around Jeremiah in the temple of the Lord and ready to lynch him.

It behooves us to rightly discern the word of God. Faithful servants of God always speak the word without compromise. They are in the ministry to please God and not men. Such servants are not afraid for their own lives. They are willing to pay a price because they know their calling. People who go for the grandeur of the ministry are hireling. They would not speak truthfully when they know that what they said would be offensive and may jeopardize their position and ministry. Remember if there’s a choice, it is better to be divided by truth than to be united by error. Truths may hurt but they always heal, lies will comfort but they always kill.  

 

 

Jeremiah 26:1-6 – Right attitude towards God’s Word

Jeremiah was told by the Lord to stand in the court of the temple to prophesy to the people from the different cities of Judah who would go to worship there (Jeremiah 26:2). He was told not to skip or omit a word that he was instructed to tell the people.

When did this happen? According to Jeremiah 26:1, this took place at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign who was made the king of Judah in the place of his brother Jehoahaz by Pharoah Neco of Egypt. Second Kings 23:34 tells us that Pharoah Neco also changed his name from Eliakim to Jehoiakim. As a puppet king, he was made to pay tribute to Egypt which he did so by taxing the people. According to Jeremiah 22:13-14, Jehoiakim also exploited the people by using the people to build his luxurious palace without paying for the services they rendered.   

What was God’s purpose for doing this? Verse 3-6 showed that He wanted the people to turn from their evil ways, repent, and walk upright. He wanted them to obey the law as well as to pay attention to the things He was telling them through Jeremiah, His true prophet. God’s intention was clear, He was warning them of the severity of the impending calamity. But it could still be averted if they repent and change. But if they refused, the temple would be destroyed like what was done to Shiloh. Besides, Jerusalem the city become a symbol of God’s curse to all the nations of the earth.  

Though the subject of Jeremiah’s message in these verses was the impending judgment of God and what could be done to avoid it, we cannot get away from the importance of hearing and obeying God’s Word. Leaders who share His Word must not omit or skip what they are told to share. People who listen must take heed of the Word and obey. Both those who share God’s Word and those who listen have responsibility. The former must accurately and completely share the truth and the other must attentively listen, faithfully obey and carefully live out the Word.  

Jeremiah 25:34-38 – Be a responsible leader

Jeremiah 25:34-35 now brings a direct prophecy to the shepherds of Judah. By shepherds, he meant the leadership of Israel. The king., the priests, and even the prophets, especially the false ones were leading the nation to ruin. These leaders who were supposed to guide the people of God were failing them. They show examples that left much to be desired. God called on them to wail and mourn. For their day of reckoning had come.  There was no escaping for them and they too would be scattered and perish together with the people they were leading.

Verses 36-38 describe what terror they would be experiencing. The Lord would be destroying the pasture i.e. the land.   Shepherds would weep and wail in grief when they see their peaceful pasture being destroyed. So will the leaders of Judah wail grievously as they see their beloved Judah being invaded and devastated by the Babylonians. The Lord, in His anger, like a fierce lion had come out from His hiding place to show His anger with the people.  The land would become like a place of horror when the sword of the Lord through the Babylonians falls. There would be great bewilderment and great silence would fall among the people who once thrived in the land.

 

People go astray when leaders fail to discharge their roles and duties responsibly. While the Lord would deal with the followers, the fault always lies squarely on the shoulders of the leaders. Uncompromising leaders will always result in a positive impact on the people they are leading. On the other hand, when leaders are weak and compromising, the followers inevitably run the risk of leading compromising life. In civil society, the home, or in the church, strong godly leaders are needed. If we are in any leadership capacity, let us strive to be responsible and quality leaders for the glory of God.   

Jeremiah 25:30-33 – Be aligned with God’s purpose and plan

Everyone wants to avoid a judgment if it is avoidable at all. But Jeremiah 25:30-33, God guarantees us that none could escape the judgment that was coming upon the wicked of the nations. Firstly, the judgment of God would come upon His own people. Like a ferocious lion, God would attack His own fold. His voice was like the mighty roar of would come from His holy habitation. The roar of a lion is a petrifying experience. A lion roars before it pounces on its prey. Its intention is to intimate, frighten, and immobilize the prey. In the same way, God’s roar upon His people would be as petrifying, frightening, intimidating, and immobilizing as the lion’s roar. None would be able to escape His terror. 

 

Secondly, God pictures the inhabitants on earth like grapes being crushed and trampled upon. God Himself would trample on the inhabitants to destroy them. Thirdly, there would be a commotion in the nations because the Lord would be indicting its guilty inhabitants. Fourthly, The wicked would have no place they could seek refuge from the sword of God.  

 

Verses 32-33 describe how terrible would the judgment be. There would be unburied corpses left rotting under the sun with no one to gather, lament, or mourn over them. Those corpses would be left like stinking manure everywhere on the ground.  

 

Whether we know it or not, God’s judgment is a process. It begins with His assessment of us to see if we are walking in line with His purpose. When we are not, He would warn us of the dangers of not walking in line with HIi purpose and plan. If we would not change but persist in our waywardness, we will have to bear with the consequence of not being in line. This is to help us realize the pain of it and at this point, it is still not too late to realign our steps quickly with His. But when we would not listen, persist in our wrong, and refuse to change the ultimate would be unbearable. Know that God is interested in our lives profoundly. He wants us to fulfill the plan and purpose He has for us. And He keeps watch over us.       

Jeremiah 25:17-29 – Jesus drank our bitter cup

In Jeremiah 25:17, Jeremiah was seen to do what the Lord told him to do. He took the cup as instructed by God and made the nations drink. Jerusalem and all its cities and her kings and princes God would be judged. Verse 18 indicated that they would be made to drink the cup of the wine of God’s wrath. Not only did Jerusalem drink of this bitter cup, but according to verses 19-26, other nations such as Egypt which extend as far as the south, and Elam and Media located in the east would have to drink of the cup. The nations that would partake of the bitter cup were enumerated in verses 19-26. The last on the list would be the king of Shechach. “Shechach” was in fact a name cryptic name referring to Babylon.

There was no way those nations could refuse to drink the cup. There was no escaping for any of them which had been listed. They all had to drink the cup. For the sword of God’s wrath had come among them. The implication is that if God could bear to judge Jerusalem His people, the nations would not be allowed to go unpunished. So beginning from Jerusalem to the last on the list of nations enumerated in these verses, all would be punished.

Verse 27 tells us that when God’s apportion the due judgment none could refuse. For to drink of the cup was never an invitation but a command. The question we ask is: apart from Judah, what rights did Jeremiah have to speak to other nations this way. When we recall his commission to be a prophet to the nations in Jeremiah 1, he was reticent about his calling. Jeremiah 1:9-10 then explicitly said “‘Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,’

“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To pluck up and to break down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.”

This was the role Jeremiah was to accomplish. These verses suggest that all sinners whether believers or not will have to drink of the bitter cup of God’s wrath.  However, for us, Jesus Christ our Lord had taken the bitter cup on our behalf.  He drank the cup so that we who believe in Him and choose to follow Him to walk in His way will not have to drink of it. Shouldn’t we be forever grateful to our Lord? So tuck in our hearts and never forget what the Lord had done for us. The lyrics of the song “Had it Not Been" invites us to reflect on what our end would be without Jesus.  The lyrics of the song say:

 

Just suppose God searched through Heaven,
And couldn't find one willing to be,
The supreme sacrifice that was needed,
That would buy eternal life for you and me

 

Had it not been for a place called Mount Calvary,
Had it not been for the old rugged cross,
Had it not been for a man called Jesus,
Then forever my soul would be lost.

 

Well, I'm so glad He was willing to drink His bitter cup,
Although He prayed "Father let it pass from me",
And I'm so glad He never called Heaven's angels,
From these hands, Pulled the nails that torment me

Had it not been for a place called Mount Calvary,
Had it not been for the old rugged cross,
Had it not been for a man called Jesus,
Then forever my soul would be lost.

 

 

Jeremiah 25:15-16 - Make God our portion in life

What does the Bible mean when it uses the word “cup”? Understanding the Bible’s usage of the word “cup” will help us better understand Jeremiah 25:15 onwards better. In the Scriptures, the word “cup” has often been used as a metaphor to refer to the destiny of an individual or of a nation. It could be a positive or a negative destiny. Psalm 16 is an example of how the word “cup” is used to refer to positive destiny. In verse 5 the Psalmist asserted that said, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.” He determines the lot and portion of our lives.

For negative destiny, we look at how the Lord Jesus used the word. Matthew 26:39 tells us that He requested the Father for the cup to be removed from Him. We know that He was referring to His impending torture and ultimate death at Calvary. Though He made this request for that negative experience to be bypassed yet He would rather follow the will of God. Again in John 18:11, as he told Peter not to resist His arrest, He referred to the cup saying, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” Again He was referring to what was coming at His trials, torture, and eventual death on the cross.  

In Jeremiah 25:15 the cup God told the prophet to take and give it to the nation to drink was referred to as “the cup of the wine of wrath.” God was talking about the negative experiences that He was about to bring upon all nations. It is true that the end of every nation, know it or not, is determined by God. In Jeremiah 25:15 the prophet was commanded to take it from God’s hand and pass it around to the different designated nations to drink. Verse 16 tells us the negative impact of the drink on them. God said that His wrath would cause the nations to stagger and become senseless and mad like a drunkard. They would experience utter chaos because of the sword that He would bring upon them. In other words, God would cause invading army to battle them. It is hard to imagine that Jeremiah took the cup and literally went to all the different nations and made them drink. But this is possible if all that Jeremiah was describing was in a vision. However, it could well be that he went to the different foreign attaché in Jerusalem and had the ambassadors of each of those nations drink the cup.

When we consider the destiny of our lives, I am sure we would prefer to have positive ones. Even if we are to go through some negative experiences, our prayer is that our destiny will ultimately dovetail with God’s plan and purpose for us. Nothing can truly and deeply satisfy us outside of God. It is in a deep abiding relationship with Him that our destiny is sealed. A departure from God would spell misery but drawing near to Him would be life indeed.  Let’s exclaim like the Psalmist:

“Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26).           

Jeremiah 25:12-14 – God's unending grace

The duration of Judah’s captivity was stipulated. God promised them that it would be seventy years. He only wanted to discipline “the basket of good figs” Jeremiah saw in his vision. He was using the captivity to cause them to repent and turn to Him. Although Babylon was the instrument that God would use to chasten His people, she was not at liberty to do as she like. The only person that could do as He liked was God Babylon. For she too was under the control of God and was merely an instrument in His hand.

In Jeremiah 25:12-14, while assuring liberty for the Judean whom He would be sending to captivity, God also assured them that Babylon and her king would be punished. After seventy years they too would be made to pay for their iniquity. God would devastate their land and bring it to utter desolation. The Babylonians would in return be captured and enslaved by different nations. And with the advantage of more revelation, we learned that they were conquered, and overtaken by the Medes and Persians, and even the Greeks. God indeed had made them pay for their wicked deeds.

The release of Judah from captivity is a demonstration of God’s grace. Like what He did to the people of Judah, God also uses the hard times of our lives to straighten us. When we yield to Him and His purpose in trials and tribulation, He uses the process to strengthen, restore and make us stronger and more stable. Trials are never easy to endure. But the grace of God will see us through. This is God’s promise to us in 1 Peter 5:10. He said, ^“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

 

This was the discovery of Annie Johnson Flint who wrote the lyrics of the hymn - He Giveth More Grace. Be encouraged by what she said:  

 

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions, He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.