Our Old Testament reading for this week comes from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. First let’s take a moment to get a little bit of a background as to what is happening, both with Jeremiah, and also with the country at this time. Jeremiah was a prophet who ministered and preached exclusively to the southern Kingdom of Judah, starting sometime around 627 BC, and going into the 570’s BC or later. He particularly preached to the people prior to and during the years that the Kingdom of Babylon besieged and overran the Kingdom of Judah, which occurred over a period of about 20 years from 605 BC - 681 BC. The people went into captivity for approximately 70 years.
Jeremiah was not a popular figure during the years that he brought God’s message to the people. He spoke the truth of what God wanted the people to know, which was that their nation was going to be overrun by the Babylonians because of their sins. The people had strayed from their faithfulness to Yahweh, and were actively worshipping other false gods. They were not keeping the laws of God that He had given them, either. They were faithless, and God was going to punish them, just as He had done approximately 100 years earlier to the northern Kingdom of Israel with their Assyrian captivity.
Just prior to this passage both the religious and political leaders of the country had apprehended Jeremiah. They didn’t like the messages he was preaching to the people, so they took him into custody, beating him up and putting him into stocks. Throughout all the years of his ministry Jeremiah would suffer abuse at the hands of both the religious leaders and political ones, including being thrown into a pit filled with muck mire to his chest. They wanted someone who would preach messages that they liked to hear, positive ones, that everything was going to be fine, God would never punish them, and they were His favorite children. They didn’t want to hear that they were sinners and God was going to send punishment on the country.
As Jeremiah is bent over in the stocks, having been beaten up, he prays to God in our passage. He felt let down by God due to the abuse he was suffering because of the message the Lord gave him to tell the people (vs. 7 - 8). Jeremiah decided that it would be best for himself if he just kept his mouth shut, refrain from speaking God’s Word, and not speak anything (vs. 9). God’s Word burns in his heart, though, if he didn’t speak it out to the people. He must preach the Word of God!
Jeremiah’s enemies watch him, hoping, believing that he will fall (vs. 10). He knows, though, that the Lord is with him, and his enemies will be the ones who will fall because of their sin (vs. 11-12). Jeremiah concludes the passage with praise to the Lord God (vs. 13).
It is easy to get discouraged from speaking forth the Word of God when persecution comes. In many countries that persecution might just be ridicule, mocking, or the loss of a friend. In other countries the persecution might be more severe, such as losing one’s job, beatings, imprisonment, or even death. So we might think it safe to keep quiet. Jeremiah tried that, but God’s Word just burned in his heart until he knew he couldn’t keep quiet any longer. No matter what happened to him, though he suffered terribly, Jeremiah did not stop speaking what God told him to.
Today there are some who will only preach popular messages that please their audiences, only messages of God’s love, their prosperity, only messages that will make them feel good. They scoff, mock, and publicly ridicule any preacher who speaks the whole truth of God and calls sin what it is, sin. They did the same to Jeremiah, and he stayed true to Yahweh, though it cost him terrible abuse. He did not alter his message to please his audience. We need to follow Jeremiah’s example and stay true to God and His Word, no matter the cost.
Amen!
ReplyDeleteMarsha, Bangs TX