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.
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