October 24, 2011
For the last week I have lived in these chapters reading them over and over again. It's been a week of conflicting emotions. On one hand, it has been an incredibly wonderful week. Our family (all ten of us) spent five days in Brown County State Park together. It was such a fun, relaxing time having the kids and grand-kids all together. So much fun hiking, swimming, hayrides, trick or treat trail, laughing, talking, playing, eating, shopping, etc. Mom stayed with Dozer at our house. So, on one hand it was a wonderful week.
On the other hand, I have been living in these three chapters of Jeremiah—and God's patience is wearing out. The captivity of His people is about to happen. The Bible, almost from the beginning, has been leading up to this point. God has warned His people to change their hearts and minds but they keep refusing. They instead "love to wander from me" and refuse to repent and obey. God has been faithful on ALL He has promised, but His people have been unfaithful to Him. They continually break the first commandment: No other gods. They are ruled by their pride and stubborn refusal to submit to God's authority.
Over and over God pleads with them to return to Him. He sends prophets. He disciplines. He warns. He reminds them of His faithfulness. He does everything in His power and yet they still refuse, and now God's patience is gone. He is ready to turn them over to captivity. Their worst fears are about to be realized. Their "self-reign" is about to come to an end. Their main number one desire has been to be in control of their own lives, actions, future, etc. But soon, they will have no control because they are going to be led away into captivity. But even that is going to require submission to God's will.
Heavy, heavy stuff to contemplate.
Nebuchadnezzar was attacking Judah. King Zedekiah sends messengers to Jeremiah to find out what the outcome would be. Zedekiah wanted to know if "maybe the LORD will do miracles for us as he did in the past so Nebuchadnezzar will stop attacking us and leave." Incredible. Zedekiah spent his time as king doing the very things God hated. (See II Kings 24:18 - 25:21 and II Chronicles 36:11-23) The people of Judah were already in deep trouble. They were already in partial bondage. But still they didn't "get it." They were still stubborn, refusing to follow God, and insisting on being their own god. Why on earth would Zedekiah, who had spent his life doing the very things God hated, now think that "maybe the LORD will do miracles for us as he did in the past..." If he knew about the miracles of the past, and understood God's power could save him in the future, then why not trust God in the here and now? In his daily walk and trials, why not trust God then? He, like most of us, relied on his own self-sufficiency until the situation was over his head then he turned to God, but it was too late.
God told Jeremiah to tell him that the weapons of war he intended to defend himself with would become useless. God himself would make them useless. Not only would the weapons be useless, but God said, "In my anger, my very great anger, I myself will fight against you with my great power and strength." What an awful thought. God, the All-mighty, the creator of the universe, fighting against you! The hopelessness. The finality. The mistaken notion of being in control—verses—the reality of having no control and the understanding that God Himself was fighting against you.
God tells Jeremiah to tell the people of Jerusalem, "This is what the LORD says: I will let you choose to live or die." The judgment had already been decided. They were going into captivity. If they fought God's will and tried to avoid the captivity they would be destroyed, and they would be choosing to die. IF they accepted their consequences and surrendered to God's will (captivity) they would be choosing to live.
Not everyone chose to surrender. Some people went down fighting and refusing to accept God's will to the very end—their end. "I will let you choose to live or die." Obedience is our choice, always our choice. God will not force us to obey Him. He can and will do everything in His power to get us to surrender to Him, but He will not force us. He blinded Saul to get his attention, but it was still Saul's choice to become Paul.
Even up to the very point of captivity, God was still trying to get His people to change their hearts and minds and follow His ways. "Do what is fair and right." Don't mistreat or hurt others. Judge fairly. Save those who are robbed from their attackers. Don't falsely accuse, harm, hurt, or kill innocent people. Carefully follow all of God's commands. If you do these things then all will go well with you. If you don't follow my commands, "I swear by my own name that this king's palace will become a ruin." IF—we refuse to surrender our will to HIS will, THEN—punishment and destruction happens as a direct result of our choices and our refusal to change our hearts and lives.
Jeremiah said people will pass by the ruined city and ask why the destruction happened. The answer is: because they chose to quit following the LORD.
Our life choices DO matter!!
Next Entry: Jeremiah 21:1 – 23:40 (Continued)
For the last week I have lived in these chapters reading them over and over again. It's been a week of conflicting emotions. On one hand, it has been an incredibly wonderful week. Our family (all ten of us) spent five days in Brown County State Park together. It was such a fun, relaxing time having the kids and grand-kids all together. So much fun hiking, swimming, hayrides, trick or treat trail, laughing, talking, playing, eating, shopping, etc. Mom stayed with Dozer at our house. So, on one hand it was a wonderful week.
On the other hand, I have been living in these three chapters of Jeremiah—and God's patience is wearing out. The captivity of His people is about to happen. The Bible, almost from the beginning, has been leading up to this point. God has warned His people to change their hearts and minds but they keep refusing. They instead "love to wander from me" and refuse to repent and obey. God has been faithful on ALL He has promised, but His people have been unfaithful to Him. They continually break the first commandment: No other gods. They are ruled by their pride and stubborn refusal to submit to God's authority.
Over and over God pleads with them to return to Him. He sends prophets. He disciplines. He warns. He reminds them of His faithfulness. He does everything in His power and yet they still refuse, and now God's patience is gone. He is ready to turn them over to captivity. Their worst fears are about to be realized. Their "self-reign" is about to come to an end. Their main number one desire has been to be in control of their own lives, actions, future, etc. But soon, they will have no control because they are going to be led away into captivity. But even that is going to require submission to God's will.
Heavy, heavy stuff to contemplate.
Nebuchadnezzar was attacking Judah. King Zedekiah sends messengers to Jeremiah to find out what the outcome would be. Zedekiah wanted to know if "maybe the LORD will do miracles for us as he did in the past so Nebuchadnezzar will stop attacking us and leave." Incredible. Zedekiah spent his time as king doing the very things God hated. (See II Kings 24:18 - 25:21 and II Chronicles 36:11-23) The people of Judah were already in deep trouble. They were already in partial bondage. But still they didn't "get it." They were still stubborn, refusing to follow God, and insisting on being their own god. Why on earth would Zedekiah, who had spent his life doing the very things God hated, now think that "maybe the LORD will do miracles for us as he did in the past..." If he knew about the miracles of the past, and understood God's power could save him in the future, then why not trust God in the here and now? In his daily walk and trials, why not trust God then? He, like most of us, relied on his own self-sufficiency until the situation was over his head then he turned to God, but it was too late.
God told Jeremiah to tell him that the weapons of war he intended to defend himself with would become useless. God himself would make them useless. Not only would the weapons be useless, but God said, "In my anger, my very great anger, I myself will fight against you with my great power and strength." What an awful thought. God, the All-mighty, the creator of the universe, fighting against you! The hopelessness. The finality. The mistaken notion of being in control—verses—the reality of having no control and the understanding that God Himself was fighting against you.
God tells Jeremiah to tell the people of Jerusalem, "This is what the LORD says: I will let you choose to live or die." The judgment had already been decided. They were going into captivity. If they fought God's will and tried to avoid the captivity they would be destroyed, and they would be choosing to die. IF they accepted their consequences and surrendered to God's will (captivity) they would be choosing to live.
Not everyone chose to surrender. Some people went down fighting and refusing to accept God's will to the very end—their end. "I will let you choose to live or die." Obedience is our choice, always our choice. God will not force us to obey Him. He can and will do everything in His power to get us to surrender to Him, but He will not force us. He blinded Saul to get his attention, but it was still Saul's choice to become Paul.
Even up to the very point of captivity, God was still trying to get His people to change their hearts and minds and follow His ways. "Do what is fair and right." Don't mistreat or hurt others. Judge fairly. Save those who are robbed from their attackers. Don't falsely accuse, harm, hurt, or kill innocent people. Carefully follow all of God's commands. If you do these things then all will go well with you. If you don't follow my commands, "I swear by my own name that this king's palace will become a ruin." IF—we refuse to surrender our will to HIS will, THEN—punishment and destruction happens as a direct result of our choices and our refusal to change our hearts and lives.
Jeremiah said people will pass by the ruined city and ask why the destruction happened. The answer is: because they chose to quit following the LORD.
Our life choices DO matter!!
Next Entry: Jeremiah 21:1 – 23:40 (Continued)
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