Life as a prophet of God is not easy, as evidenced by Jeremiah’s life. He endured imprisonment, was accused of treason and beaten, and was thrown in a muddy cistern to die. And, maybe even more difficult to endure, he delivered a message from God that was continually rejected by the people.
This week’s section starts out, “While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard …” Although limited in his ability to move about freely and talk with people, God allowed him to see what no one else could – the future. He tried to warn the nation, but one king (Zedekiah) ignored his counsel, another king (Jehoiakim) burned his letter, and the common people responded no better.
Disaster did finally come to the nation. Jeremiah and a small remnant remained in the land. When a neighboring nation killed Babylon’s appointed ruler of the remnant, they feared for their lives. The remnant asked Jeremiah to find out from God what he advised, and they promised to obey God, no matter what he said. However, when Jeremiah delivered God’s message to the people, they refused to believe and follow.
Unfortunately, I can relate to that remnant.
What is it that keeps me from listening to God and taking him at his word? Often, it is one or more of the following misconceptions:
· Pride: “I don’t need God”
· Shame: “God can never love me or forgive me”
· Unbelief: “God can’t help”
· Distortion of God’s character: “God won’t help, or doesn’t care”
· Distraction: “Other things are more important”
· Inconvenience: “God might want me to do something I don’t want to”
The more we get to know God, the more we understand that we can trust him. The book of Jeremiah reveals God’s character and helps us to know his heart. I found the following passages helpful.
· 9:24-25 “But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
· 31:3 “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”
· 32:27 “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?”
· 29:11-14 “ ’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,’ says the Lord.”
· 31:33-34 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
May you delight in the Lord as you grow in knowing him. As in 33:11, we can join those who sing,
“Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, for the Lord is good. His faithful love endures forever!”