Jeremiah 32-34
None So Blind
We can see in our reading today that time is getting really short for Judah. Nebuchadnezzar is building a siege ramp against the wall of Jerusalem. The people are unable to leave the city and food is running out. Jeremiah is being held by the court guard. Things have gotten so bad that they freed their slaves so they didn’t have to feed them. The King and the leaders are relying on false hope based on the false promises made by the false prophets who were telling them that Egypt was about to march out and defeat Nebuchadnezzar. With their eyes fixed on this false hope they are blind to the reality of what is taking place on the other side of the wall.
God and the people have made a covenant after he brought them out of slavery in Egypt. He would be their God and they would be His people and serve Him by bringing the Law of God to the world. Jeremiah makes it clear that no matter what they do, He will not break that covenant. It is them who have broken the covenant and gone the way of the world.
As I have said many times, every choice we make has a set of consequences. God put before the people blessings and curses. If the people remain true to their covenant they will be blessed. But if they break the covenant and go the way of the world; well it is a dog eat dog world out there.
For some reason Nebuchadnezzar withdrew from the siege for a short time. The people thought they had what they wanted and that they could go out and plant crops again in the fields surrounding Jerusalem, but there was one problem. They had freed their slaves who would be doing the farm work. So they enslaved them again. There was a provision in the law that slaves were to be set free after serving for six years and sent out with abundant provisions. Through Jeremiah, God said they had done right by setting the slaves free but when they took them back their true motives were revealed. They had chosen to go the way of the world where consequences would ultimately be sword, pestilence, and famine.
When a person becomes a Christian, that person enters into a covenant with God through His Son Christ Jesus. The Church is the bride of Christ and represents Him in this world. When a Christian abandons that covenant and goes back to the world’s ways they, like Judah, are relying on the false hope that the world promises but never really delivers. What it does deliver is disappointment, heartache, dysfunction, enslavement, fear, and a host of other negatives including guilt and shame.
God offers freedom from the guilt and shame. He offers forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life. This does not mean that life will be perfect and blessed. What it does mean is that no matter what we face God will guide us through any difficulty. Psalm 23&73.
Christians are stuck in this world. Indeed we are God’s ambassadors to the world. We may end up like Paul as a prisoner on a ship bound for Rome. When the ship set sail they thought they had what they wanted. Paul warned them they were headed for trouble but who listens to a prisoner?
Like what always happens in the world, they started out thinking they were charting their own course but a storm came up and soon took control of their lives and destination. As a prisoner Paul also went through the storm. What was different for him was that he trusted God and spoke God’s word of hope. When the ship finally ran aground and broke apart everyone was listening to Paul. The prisoner became the leader. Through the storm Paul kept His eyes on God when everyone else had their eyes on the storm. The ship owner and the centurion made a choice. Every choice had consequences and a destination.
The Bible says God loves the world so much that He sent His Son to die for the sins of the whole world. John 3:16 & 1 John 2:2
This includes all the people that were on the ship with Paul. Even as a prisoner, Paul was God’s ambassador to the people on that ship. He didn’t walk on water like Peter did but he kept his eyes on the Lord and His promises, staying true to God and accomplishing God’s purposes. Peter, when He walked on the water took his eyes off the Lord and saw the wind and quickly sank. When Peter started to sink he cried out and Jesus lifted Peter out of the water. Jesus asked Peter what had happened to his faith. Matthew 14:22-33
We don’t like storms, trials, or other difficulties. But these are necessary to build our faith and show us when we are getting off track. It may be necessary for us to go through storms and trials to accomplish God’s work for us in this world. But the bottom line is, God loves us and the world too much to let us go our way without doing everything He can to get us to look to Him. No matter what you are going through God loves you and is with you. God has a plan and is working His plan to reach this fallen world through His covenant people.
Turn your eyes of faith on Jesus. Listen to Him and stay the course He has set for you. He knows what you need.
Pastor Dave