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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then the officials and all the
people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man should not be sentenced
to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”
Some of the elders of the land
stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people, “Micah of Moresheth
prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of
Judah, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says:’
“‘Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with
thickets.’”
“Did Hezekiah king of Judah or
anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the Lord and seek
his favor? And did not the Lord relent, so that He did not bring the disaster He
pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on
ourselves!”
Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan
supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to
death.
Jeremiah 26:16-19, 24
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
As the story unfolds in Jeremiah, chapter 26, there are
major acts in play.
In Act 1, God chooses to offer His people an opportunity to change
and avoid His judgment, sending His prophet Jeremiah to all the people of the
towns of Judah who had come to worship in the house of the Lord. The message
was simple. If the people would just listen to God and turn away from their evil
ways, then He would relent from His plan to bring disaster upon them for the
evil they had done.
This led us into Act 2 as Jeremiah spoke the words that God
had commanded Him to deliver to the priests, the prophets, and all the people. This
created the tension and drama in our story because the scriptures tell us that
Jeremiah was seized and threatened with death because of the prophecy he
delivered. But Jeremiah would not be deterred and while staring down his
accusers, he again demanded that they reform their ways and return to being
obedience to the Lord in order to avoid certain judgment that the Lord would
bring. Additionally, he warned them that if they murdered him, they would have
his innocent blood on their hands. Not that this would deter those who wished
to do Jeremiah harm because they went after another prophet by the name of
Uriah who tried to flee to Egypt to avoid being killed but was captured there,
brought back to Judah, and was promptly executed.
Would the same fate come upon Jeremiah?
Well, as Act 3 opens, we see the people of God reconsidering
their threats as evident in the remaining verses in this chapter. As we look at
them again, we see how it took Jeremiah’s appeal to them to get them all to
come to their senses:
Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the
prophets, “This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in
the name of the Lord our God.”
Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire
assembly of people, “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king
of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty
says:’
“‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of
rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’”
“Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death?
Did not Hezekiah fear the Lord and seek his favor? And did not the Lord relent,
so that He did not bring the disaster He pronounced against them? We are about
to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!”
Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was
not handed over to the people to be put to death. Jeremiah 26:16-19, 24
Note that no sooner did Jeremiah remind God’s people that
the Lord had sent him to deliver the message he gave them that the officials
and all of the people woke up and abruptly changed their mind regarding the
death penalty they were calling for Jeremiah. For the prophet was simply
speaking to them in the name of the Lord and so if they executed Jeremiah, it
was as if they were attacking God Himself as the prophet was just an extension
of his Master.
To reinforce this call to cancel the killing of Jeremiah,
several of the elders reminded everyone that this was not the first time that a
prophet had brought a message of pending destruction and desolation to the
people of God. For Micah, a forerunner of Jeremiah had brought a message
against Zion and Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah but there was no
threat of death to Micah. Rather, King Hezekiah listened to what the prophet
had to say, feared the Lord for what was prophesied to happen, and took
proactive measures to seek the Lord’s favor. As a result, God relented and did
not bring disaster on them.
As all the people came to their senses, they realized that
if they failed to listen to the message of Jeremiah, the very message of the
Lord, then they would only bring terrible disaster on themselves.
In other words, they would have no one else to blame but
themselves.
And so, the story had a happy ending. Jeremiah was spared
and not put to death. He would be able to continue to serve as God’s obedient
messenger.
But what is in this for us? What can we take away from this
three act story that will impact our Christian walk with the Lord?
Well, I think the overall message is simple.
We are all being called to come to our senses.
Some of us already think we are already there but the truth
of the matter is that we all are works in progress. No one perfectly follows
the Lord and so we all have room to grow and improve. And so with that, the
three acts in Jeremiah 26 speak to distinct stages we will go through in our
faith walk:
1. Stage One
God calls all of us to listen to Him and turn from our evil
ways. He can do so through His holy word and He can talk to us through any
number of messengers who may speak or write His messages to share with His
people.
2. Stage Two
We entertain rejecting God’s call by rejecting His message
through whatever means He is bringing it to us. We may even persecute or
threaten the messenger who is only trying to share what the Lord has given Him
to say.
3. Stage Three
In the midst of deciding whether we will accept or reject
the Lord’s message, we come to our senses and opt to listen and be obedient to
His calling. This might involve accepting a message from one of the Lord’s
spokespeople that we may have rejected or rebutted prior.
With all this, what stage are you in today?
The answer will speak volumes as to where you are in your
spiritual growth and relationship with the Lord in your life.
Amen.
Let us pray.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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