August 17: Jeremiah 35-37

August 17, Jeremiah 35-37

Jeremiah 35 Here we have a brief story about the obedience of the Rechabites, who were a nomadic people. God tested them and wanted to illustrate through them what obedience looked like. God told Jeremiah to go to them and bring them wine to drink. Jeremiah set it all up and they refused to drink because their father had told them not to. In addition, they were told to not really do anything but live in tents in order for them to live many days wherever they travel. This was a great teaching opportunity for the people of Judah, so God told Jeremiah to go and use them as an illustration of obedience. “ I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.” The people would not listen, which is why God was going to bring judgment on them. The people preferred their sin, but not the Rechabites. Therefore, God said “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.” In other words - they will be blessed for their obedience. Not a difficult concept to understand but sometimes a difficult concept to apply.

Jeremiah 36 God told Jeremiah to take a scroll and write on it the Words that God would tell him. God still wanted Judah to repent and turn from their evil and wants to forgive them. Jeremiah called Baruch to write the scroll and read it in the towns in an attempt to get them to repent. Jeremiah was not allowed in the House of the Lord, so Baruch had to do it. Baruch obeyed. Baruch read it and Micaiah heard it and wanted Baruch to read it to some others. They warned Baruch to go and hide (with Jeremiah). 

Micaiah went to the King, having put the scroll in the chamber for safe keeping, and told the King about it. The King had one of his servants read it, and the King would cut off the parts that he read and burned them in the fire until the entire thing was burned. They were not remorseful about their future or saddened or repentant.

After the king burned the scroll, God told Jeremiah to write another one and to add this, “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.” Even though God gave them strict warnings, they would still not listen…

Jeremiah 37 Nobody listened to the Words of God in Judah. King Zedekiah of Judah sent word to Jeremiah asking for prayer for them. God’s response for Jeremiah to tell him: “Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.” Summary - it was not a bright future for the people of Judah. 

Shortly thereafter, someone accused Jeremiah of lying and threw him in prison after beating him. It was a horrible and unhealthy prison. The king then secretly questioned Jeremiah to see if God had said anything. “Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” Love that guy - yeah the Word of God is that you are gonna loose… Jeremiah was not done yet - “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’?” Jeremiah was a true prophet and everything he said would happen was happening. He warned them against false prophets. Here he was falsely accused and in prison and he was not guilty. He made a simple plea to be moved to another prison and they put him in another prison and gave him a loaf of bread a day (that was the standard war or famine ration). They did this until the bread of the city was gone…

To sum it all up: 

• Have you ever notice the obedience of others, even though it may be misguided? Take for example the mormons… They are knocking on doors and riding their bikes through the streets of many towns and looking for opportunities to tell about what they believe to be right. Their understanding of God is incorrect, as they have added to God’s Word man-made concepts and illustrious visions from their leader, but they are dedicated and obedient. We can take a page out of their book and apply it in our own culture. We have become a lazy people when it comes to obedience. 
• Don’t get me wrong, I am not endorsing the Mormons, rather looking at their tenacity vs our idleness. 
• Baruch obeyed God! He was asked to do something crazy and he obeyed God. Simply put - that is awesome. 
• Destruction was warned about and nobody listened. God was not wasting His or their time by warning them, but loving them. Do you know God? Do you trust Him and obey Him? Right now is your chance to make it right and repent and come to Him. The exile that they were facing is nothing in comparison to not being with God eternally and enjoying Him while on earth…!