I find time and time again that Jeremiah comes to us as one of the greatest examples of obedience in the Bible. God sent Jeremiah with a hard word. To a nation subjected to God’s coming judgment, Jeremiah spoke truth. He told them of the surety of captivity if they wouldn’t turn back to Yahweh. He told them how God was establishing Nebuchadnezzar and how he was His servant. Imagine being the guy that was entrusted to deliver that message! The people would’ve wanted a message of hope, of deliverance, that God would deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar as He’d delivered them from Sennacherib, King of Assyria. Perhaps they’d look back at God’s mighty acts in bringing His people out of slavery in Egypt and have hope. Yet, at this point in time, God’s actions came not as deliverance, but as discipline. Truly, this was a message that was hard to deliver.
Jeremiah spoke this message, despite its unpopularity. He faced persecution for it. The officials of the city gathered together to try and punish Jeremiah, with some saying he was deserving of death! (26:16). Thankfully, the officials went back and forth on the decision remembering how prophets were treated in the past and they determined to allow Jeremiah to live (26:17-24). During this time also, many prophets were speaking falsely of God’s deliverance and that Judah wouldn’t serve Babylon (27:14). So, not only does Jeremiah have to deal with the task of delivering a hard message of truth, but he’s in competition with false prophets who delivered the opposite message that surely would’ve been what the people wanted to hear! Even following this we see Hananiah, a false prophet, speaking of God’s deliverance from the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 28, the exact opposite message of Jeremiah. Jeremiah confronts him and he dies within a year according to the word of the Lord from Jeremiah (28:16-17).
Jeremiah is an example to us of standing bold for truth, even when it’s unpopular. He’s an example of obedience, saying what God says, even when the entire nation around him didn’t want to hear it and many openly disagreed. In a world today that tries to conform us into its mold, will we be faithful to God’s truth, no matter the consequences? If there are countless “Christians” who speak things that aren’t true or falsely represent God, will we be faithful to stand on the truth of His inspired Word, no matter how unpopular it might make us? Jeremiah is an example of faithful obedience, during the hardest time in Judah. May God find us faithful in an increasingly divisive and hostile world today to represent Him accurately.
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