Pastoral responsibilities
Jeremiah 23: You’ve scattered my sheep…you haven’t kept your eye on them.
This passage is clergy oriented so pastor types like me need to sit up and take notice. The Lord’s displeased with the spiritual leaders of Jeremiah’s day. He pictures them as shepherds who are given the responsibility of caring for the Lord’s flock. These leaders are entrusted with the spiritual welfare of God’s flock but they’re betraying that confidence. Instead of loving the flock, leading and caring for it, they’re taking advantage of things for personal gain. In some cases they’re actually harming those they’re supposed to protect. Otherwise, they’re neglecting them or even driving them away. God’s disappointed in these leaders and is angry with them. Sometimes I think that church people are too pastor oriented, giving way too much authority to the pastor, including letting the pastor do their thinking for them (or, standing on the sidelines and cheering as the pastor works him/herself to death – but that’s a subject for another day!). Today, I’m reminded that there’s a strong biblical foundation that supports some having spiritual leadership. The Lord has wired us in such a way that we look to some as “shepherds” acting as God’s representatives. These leaders are to be servants who put the interests of those entrusted to their care before their own needs. In this passage Jeremiah reminds me that as a pastor I’ve been honored with the position of leadership, but with that position has come accountability, not just to the congregation I serve, but to the Lord, himself.
Take Away: Church leaders are to be good shepherds of the flock of the Lord.
Author: GR 'Scott' Cundiff
Devotional on Jeremiah
Quality leadership
Jeremiah 23: This is the name they’ll give him: “God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.”
The religious leaders are a disappointment to God. They could have done a better job; treated people the way good and dedicated shepherds treat the sheep under their care. They haven’t done that and the Lord’s not only angry with them but he has another approach in mind. This plan will provide quality leadership to his people. David is considered the prototype king for Israel and the coming Leader will be cut from the same cloth as was David. He’ll be a descendant of David. He’ll also be strong, wise, and dedicated to God. That kind of man will take care of God’s people. In Jeremiah’s future and in my past that Leader makes his appearance. He does everything Jeremiah says he will. He’s a righteous man of justice and he goes to work fixing all that sin has broken. He’s worthy of the name Jeremiah gives him: “God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.” The process started by this Leader isn’t yet complete, but we already see that everything he touches is changed for the better. Well, better put, “everyone he touches.” In fact, I can say that I not only believe in this Leader’s ability to transform lives — my own life is an example of his work. I’m not all I’m going to be, but by his grace, I’m not what I would have been.
Take Away: In Christ we find restoration and transformation.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Which church would you attend?
Jeremiah 23: They preach…their “Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You” sermon.
Jeremiah isn’t the only preacher of his generation. In fact, he has plenty of competition from preachers who enjoy large followings and enthusiastic support. Folks love their positive, uplifting, and encouraging sermons. No doubt, these preachers find some really good texts that proclaim God’s love for and protection of his people. The problem is that their sermons are, in Jeremiah’s words, just so much “hot air.” The people in their congregations need to repent and return to God. The truth is that everything’s not going to turn out fine and bad things are coming, whether or not these preachers will admit it. Can’t you imagine a family getting ready to go to worship services? “Where are we going to church today, dear?” the wife asks. “I don’t know. Jeremiah’s preaching nearby, but you know he specializes in telling it like it is. I hear that the ‘Things are Great and Getting Better’ church has big things planned for today and they have a terrific praise band. Shall we go there?” So, where would I go to church? How entertainment oriented am I when it comes to worship? I’m not suggesting that “gloom and doom” is always God’s message while “happiness and security” is always just hot air. Still, I see here a reminder that there’s more to worship than a main course of an entertaining sermon with large helping of great music on the side.
Take Away: Sometimes God-directed preaching isn’t all that fun to hear.
Devotional on Jeremiah
On fire
Jeremiah 23: Isn’t my Message like fire?
The prophet is still thinking about the “peace and prosperity” preachers who feed their congregations a diet of “cake and ice cream” sermons. People enjoy these pleasant sermons, but what they’re hearing lacks God’s authority. Jeremiah calls such preaching “silly” and compares it to “straw” and not messages with real substance to them. The Almighty reminds Jeremiah that when the message he preaches comes from the Lord that his words are like fire and “like a sledgehammer busting a rock.” Two things come to mind here. First, the Lord’s displeased with preachers who focus on preaching entertaining, “what they want to hear” kinds of sermons. Second, there’s a great need for sermons with the fire of God’s Word in them. The first kind of sermon may get the preacher some compliments, but the second kind changes lives even as a sledgehammer changes a rock. I thank God for preachers who have ministered God’s Word to me by bringing sermons that were God-inspired and God-empowered. As a preacher myself, I don’t want to waste my ministry preaching “that’s nice, ho-hum” sermons. Life is too short and opportunities are too few as it is. Lord, let your fire ignite me, my sermons, and my listeners.
Take Away: There’s a great need for sermons with the fire of the word of the Lord in them.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Heart transplant
Jeremiah 24: I’ll give them a heart to know me, God.
In a vision Jeremiah sees two baskets of figs. One basket has good fruit and the other has bad fruit. The Lord tells Jeremiah that the good figs represent people who’ll obey God’s call to surrender to the Babylonians and be relocated to other lands by them. The bad figs represent the leaders and others who are ignoring God’s demand that they surrender and accept the Lord’s judgment on the nation. Even the “good fig” population, though, is in need of a divine heart transplant. God says he’s going to do just that. Those who trust and obey him, placing their lives in his hands, aren’t considered complete until the Lord makes some basic changes in their hearts. I think this illustrates the work of the Lord in our individual lives. On one hand, I surrender my life to the Lord, committing myself to live for him, no matter what might come. On the other hand, God does in me what I can’t do for myself. He changes my very heart, enabling me to love him with all my being. It is then, Jeremiah tells me, that I’m one of God’s people, and he is Lord of my life.
Take Away: The Lord does in me what I can’t do for myself.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Playing the “God card”
Jeremiah 23: Quit the “God told me this, God told me that” kind of talk.
Jeremiah’s not the only preacher in the nation. As he proclaims God’s message there are others with a very different message, contradicting Jeremiah all the way. Jeremiah preaches saying, “This is God’s message,” and these other preachers come along right behind him saying, “No, THIS is God’s message.” These preachers with their alternate sermons have gotten the attention of the people. They’ve also gotten the attention of God. The Lord tells them, “Only the person I authorize speaks for me.” He says he doesn’t want to hear any more “God told me” preaching from the others. The Lord isn’t against them discussing Jeremiah’s sermons. He says, “Ask questions of one another, such as ‘how do we understand God in this?'” I’ve been in some discussions with people who played what I’ve heard called the “God card.” That is, they declared that “God told them” what was right. Once that’s said it’s pretty much the end of the discussion. After all, who wants to argue with God? This can be a big problem when someone with a differing view plays their “God card” too. Now what are we going to do? God is giving conflicting messages to different people! In this passage I’m reminded that the Lord’s paying attention to my words. I’d better tread lightly when I presume to speak for him. I’m not saying the Lord never directs, after all, this is all about Jeremiah’s message, and he HAD heard directly from God. Most of the time I’d better do more listening than “declaring.” The Lord isn’t opposed to them discussing Jeremiah’s messages, but he’s very much against them presuming to speak in his name.
Take Away: Most of the time it’s better to “listen” than it is to “declare.”
Devotional on Jeremiah
Knowing the future
Jeremiah 25: Once the seventy years is up, I’ll punish the king of Babylon.
It’s pretty clear to me that the prophets like Jeremiah are mostly involved in proclaiming God’s message to their contemporaries. However, once in a while they do what we often associate with the ministry of the prophets: telling the future. This prophecy doesn’t contain hidden terms and double meanings. Instead, it’s a clear statement about the future. God is angry, Jeremiah says, and the new king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, is going to be used to bring judgment on the people of Israel. That judgment will last for seventy years. After that Babylon itself will be judged. In this message Jeremiah’s naming names and setting dates. Some people say this is an example of God seeing the future, but I think it’s better understood as God telling what he’s going to do in the future. After all, if the Almighty says he’s going to do something I can take it to the bank. I think there’s much about the future that hasn’t been foretold because God hasn’t set a specific agenda for it. Mainly, he wants me to trust him and believe that no matter what happens he’ll see me through. I also think that the big themes are already decided; some very specifically and some in more general terms. For instance I believe that Jesus is coming back, the dead will be raised, Judgment day is sure, and everyone will spend forever somewhere as a result of that Judgment. I don’t need to sweat the details any more than Jeremiah has to detail every single event leading up to the judgment of Babylon, over seventy years in the future. He’s given an outline of the future and that’s what he tells. I also have an outline of the future, though it’s not as specific as was Jeremiah’s. My responsibility is to prepare for that future, and to live through the unknown details of every day with an eye toward the known “big day.”
Take Away: We don’t know all the details of the future but we do know about the big stuff – and it’s the big stuff that we’d better get ready for.
Devotional on Jeremiah
A big two-letter word: IF
Jeremiah 26: If you refuse to listen to me and live by my teaching….
On one side of the coin Jeremiah tells what’s coming, and it isn’t good. Soon his nation will fall to Babylon and with that fall terrible things will happen. Later on, Babylon itself will be judged. Even as Jeremiah preaches this message the flow of events has begun, bringing it all to pass. On the other side of the coin is God’s hope that Jeremiah’s message will cause people to consider their ways and repent. The message of the Almighty contains the powerful word “if.” What a huge word it is. It indicates a fork in the road; an opportunity to decide. It’s also a word of mercy, hope, and grace. So here we have it all before us. God intends to bring disaster but IF they listen and IF they repent he will, even at this late stage, relent. Frankly, he doesn’t expect it to happen. The Lord says, “You’ve never listened! Why would you start now?” The Lord doesn’t expect things to change, but he offers them a different path. Two thousand years ago the Lord personally came to this world to offer all humans a choice. He didn’t come to condemn, we’re already condemned even as were those people of Jeremiah’s day. Through Jesus we’re offered hope. Once again “if” becomes the operative word. He says: “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” (John 8:51)
Take Away: The little word “if” becomes a big offer of hope, mercy, and grace when the Lord speaks it.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Three cheers for Ahikam
Jeremiah 26: Ahikam son of Shaphan stepped forward and took his side.
All’s not well at the Temple. God’s man, Jeremiah, already has a reputation for preaching gloom and doom messages and he’s at it again. This time he disrupts events at the Temple by telling the worshipers there that the Lord’s going to destroy both the Temple and them. It’s an understatement to say that they don’t like it. Jeremiah finds himself the center of a riot. Soon officials show up and they conduct court right on the spot. Simply put, Jeremiah’s life isn’t worth a nickel. It’s then that a respected man, Ahikam son of Shaphan, steps up. He reminds the people of another gloom and doom prophet, Micah, who during the reign of Hezekiah preached such messages. He also had many enemies but he wasn’t killed. It’s not that they’re above that sort of thing. Another prophet, Uriah, was hunted down and murdered because people didn’t like his message. On this day, though, Ahikam’s defense wins Jeremiah his freedom. Ahikam is an important man and on this day he brings his considerable weight to bear to save Jeremiah’s life. His stepping in isn’t likely the prudent thing to do, after all this is a mob we’re talking about. However, he has power and he uses it to do the right thing whether or not it’s popular to do so. Sometimes we have to spend some of our leadership simply because it’s the right thing to do. Position and authority are just fine, but only if they’re used for the right purposes. I’m not an important person like Ahikam, but I do have some influence in some limited circumstances. Am I spending it on things that really matter?
Take Away: Position and authority and leadership skills are to be used in positive ways – not just to get our own way about things.
Devotional on Jeremiah
A broken yoke (and I’m not talking about eggs here)
Jeremiah 28: You’ve talked the whole country into believing a pack of lies.
The Lord instructs Jeremiah to make a wooden yoke for himself. We don’t see many yokes in our part of the world but they’re still common in many places. A yoke is a device used to harness an animal for the work of pulling something. Jeremiah follows the Lord’s direction and makes a yoke for himself. It’s used as an illustration for his sermons, calling for people to yield to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and accept his authority. Those who do that will be allowed to live in their own land, although they’ll be under the dominion of Babylon. A competing prophet, Hananiah, has a very different message. “Everything’s going to work out just fine,” he says, “God’s going to rescue us.” When Jeremiah comes around wearing his yoke, Hananiah takes it off of Jeremiah and breaks it to pieces, saying that this symbolizes what’s going to happen to Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion of the region. This, of course, is the message many people want to hear. They want to believe that in spite of their sin and rebellion against the Lord they’re still his favorites. They believe they have the “trump card” of God’s promises to their ancestors Abraham and Moses and David and everything will be okay. Soon Jeremiah returns with a new message. “If you can shrug off a wooden yoke the Lord’s replacing it with an iron one. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.” It’s not smart to mess with God’s symbols.
Take Away: We might be able to shrug off unpleasant messages from the Lord, but doing so will ultimately just make things worse.
Devotional on Jeremiah
God’s good plans for us
Jeremiah 29: I have it all planned out — plans to take care of you…to give you the future you hope for.
This may be the most quoted portion of Jeremiah’s prophecy. We like thinking about God’s plans to prosper us and bless us. We pull this verse out and rejoice in it because it’s such a wonderful promise. Of course, we’re using it out of context. At issue is the fall of Judah, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile of God’s people. The promise being made here won’t even kick in for seventy years. The people hearing this sermon from Jeremiah will be dead and gone when its promise is fulfilled. The “you” in the passage isn’t individuals, but the entire body of exiles, especially their descendants. The actual message here is that they aren’t supposed to sit around thinking about “pie in the sky by and by.” The Lord says that they’re to settle down in the new land they’ve been moved to. They’re to build houses, have families, and make themselves at home. They’re to be good citizens of their new land and pray for its leaders because they’re going to be there the rest of their lives. However, (and here’s the big part) they must never forget that they are, before all else, God’s people. The day of their exile is going to end and they (meaning their descendants) will return home where God will pour his blessing out upon them. Really, if I’m going to apply this passage to my life, I need to avoid using it to tell me how the Lord’s going to prosper me. The “prospering” part for Christians is heaven. Meanwhile, we need to live our lives here and now as a people of God, giving our best to today without forgetting the promise of a better day coming for all God’s people.
Take Away: We need to live our lives here and now as the people of the Lord.
Devotional on Jeremiah
The Lord looking at things in the long view
Jeremiah 29: When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.
This is another of those messages from Jeremiah that’s addressed, not to his contemporaries, but to their children and grandchildren. Destruction is coming and exile is a sure thing. However, the Lord looks beyond the current generation to the next and to the one after that. His plan is a grand plan. Things have been gradually disintegrating for many years now as the nation God picked as his own has turned away from him. Through the coming hard times the Lord intends to rectify that. The current generation might not want to know him but the Lord’s putting events into motion that will impact future generations in such a way that they’ll return to the faith of their ancestors. His promise is a wonderful example of the grace of God. Even as he warns them of some soon coming radical surgery he promises them that he hasn’t permanently written them off. When the nation has been humbled and is ready to seek God it will find that he’s been there all along. I’m tempted here to respond to this passage from my Western point of view. That is, to personalize this and apply it as an example how God deals with individuals. However, I can’t help but think of the original cultural setting of this passage. I wonder if the Lord intends to humble my nation, not for the sake of the current generation but for those that follow. I’m not Jeremiah and I’m not a gloom and doom prophet. Still, I find it disturbing to be reminded that sometimes God’s so committed to a nation that he allows a generation to go through terrible times in an effort to reach the next one.
Take Away: It’s important to remember that the Lord will, when necessary, do radical surgery for the good of the patient.
Devotional on Jeremiah
The Lord, reaching out
Jeremiah 31: Everything in me cries out for him. Softly and tenderly I wait for him.
In this passage the tribe of Ephraim represents the people of Israel. Jeremiah imagines Israel humbly coming to the Lord, asking if it’s too late and wondering if the Lord can ever embrace her again. God’s answer is immediate and compassionate. The Lord says that that’s all he’s wanted to hear all along and that the strong medicine was administered not because he had stopped loving Israel but preciously because of his love. This great God of love has longed for his people to return to him and with great tenderness he waits to receive them back to himself. I can’t help but respond to this passage in a personal way. I’m moved by God’s compassion on, not only ancient Israel, but on the lost people of my day. When I’m in rebellion against God he longs for my return; reaching out to me, crying out in love. Today, I stand in awe of the mercy, grace, and compassion of God for a lost human race.
Take Away: God is love.
Devotional on Jeremiah
God’s Law in my heart
Jeremiah 31: I will put my law within them — write it on their hearts!
I love this statement. Jeremiah sees the sin and rebellion of his people, not as a cultural or educational or behavioral problem, but as a heart problem. Their failure isn’t the result of misunderstanding and it isn’t a mistake. They sin because they’re sinners at heart. The great need of their lives isn’t that they straighten up and act right. They need heart surgery; a change at the very foundation of their being. In this passage the Lord describes this change. On the first level, it’s a change that will take place following the Babylonian exile but on a larger scale it’s a change Jesus, the Son of God, will bring. In fact, the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews returns to this passage to describe the new spiritual reality Christ has brought into the world. God’s Law is no longer written on stone tablets. Rather, it’s written on the hearts of those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jeremiah sees the need and he has the promise from God that the need will be met, but he can’t imagine how it will all be brought about.
Take Away: We need more than to change our behavior – we need for our hearts to be transformed by the grace of the Lord.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Death sentence reprieve
Jeremiah 31: I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget that they ever sinned.
A few years ago I developed an itching rash on the lower right side of my back. I had some other stuff going on so when I went to the doctor I asked him about it. He took one look at it and said, “You’ve got shingles.” I thought, “Shingles? Old people get that!” Honestly, at the time, I didn’t worry too much about it. I could handle the itching. However, I had no idea of the journey I was about to take. The itching gave way to sleepless nights of burning pain. For days I was homebound, unable to get dressed. Now, at the beginning, I knew something was wrong but I thought it was going to be a minor inconvenience. Only in the mid-term of the illness did I grasp just how bad things were. I’ve seriously wondered if Job was given a full body version of shingles. When the Lord tells me I’m a sinner my reaction is something like what I had at the doctor’s office. It’s too bad; I’ll have to try harder to clean up my act. What I don’t realize is that I’ve just been given a death sentence. This isn’t just bad news; it’s the worst news possible. It’s only in this light that statements like the one I’m reading from Jeremiah carry the force they’re supposed to. Otherwise, we have God just helping us along in doing what we can pretty much handle for ourselves. When I realize that being a sinner is to be broken beyond repair; to be, for all intents and purposes dead already; and when I realize that God, in his mercy is willing to “wipe the slate clean” and to “forget” it all…well, it’s then that I begin to grasp the meaning of grace.
Take Away: Thank the Lord for his grace – without it, there’s no hope whatsoever.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Business, but not quite “as usual”
Jeremiah 32: I will restore everything that was lost.
When I think of parts of the Bible that were written in jail it’s the Apostle Paul and several letters of his from the New Testament that come to mind. However, many years earlier Jeremiah was locked up and continued to declare his messages from God. In this case Jeremiah is in jail for insisting that the invading Babylonian army is going to be successful. He urges everyone to surrender and take their punishment. Even as he’s proclaiming this message, the Lord tells him that he needs to conduct some family business. It must have seemed odd to his fellow prisoners to see this man who’s been saying their nation is about to fall stop to buy some land from a relative of his. If everyone’s going to be taken away as Jeremiah claims, why in the world would he take time to buy property? Jeremiah does his business and then asks that the deed and other paperwork be sealed in a jar and buried. That deed won’t be of any use for a long time but someday it’ll be dug up and still be good when God’s people return to their homeland many years hence. Even as Jeremiah proclaims coming disaster he does so with hope for a brighter future. Today, my message may, at times, be more negative than positive. My nation can’t expect to continue down the God-ignoring road it’s on and think that God won’t notice. Still, though, my message should, in general, be a positive one. What happened at Calvary brings the hope of salvation to the whole human race. Even when there’s plenty to be concerned about, that’s the really big news.
Take Away: What happened at Calvary brings the hope of salvation to the whole human race.
Devotional on Jeremiah
God’s last word
Jeremiah 33: The last word is, I will have mercy on them.
This phrase is the conclusion of another of Jeremiah’s “prison epistles.” King Zedekiah feels he can’t have Jeremiah preaching defeat even as their enemies have their city under siege so he’s thrown Jeremiah into jail. It’s interesting that the prophet’s focus turns away from “right now” to looking to a much brighter day. In the future the people of Israel and Judah will return to this land. At that time the Lord will do “marvelous and wondrous things” for them (that is, their descendants). God has made some specific promises to this nation and even though, right now, it seems that everything’s falling apart, God has never lost sight of those promises. It’ll all start with the return of the people of Israel to this land. Every promise the Lord has given them will be fulfilled. While it’s true that things are going to get worse before they get better, it is just as true that things will get better; in fact, better than they can imagine. Right now it seems that God’s anger and dismissal of them will be their epitaph, but it isn’t so. Jeremiah says that in the end, when everything’s being summed up that the conclusion to it all will be that God has had mercy on them. Getting from where they are to that wonderful conclusion isn’t going to be easy, but in the end, when all’s said and done, it’ll be clear that everything that happened was an act of divine mercy. It’s hard to see the big picture when I’m in the middle of things that aren’t going to suit me. At times like that I have to simply trust the character of God: that he’s a good and merciful God who loves me. The last word concerning God’s dealings with me will be: “mercy.”
Take Away: Thank the Lord for his unfathomable mercy.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Playing “let’s make a deal” with God
Jeremiah 34: The army of the king of Babylon has pulled back…but not for long.
One of the many acts of rebellion against God committed by Judah is that of making slaves of their fellow countrymen. God forbade this from the very beginning of their existence as a nation, even as they came up out of Egyptian slavery. Indentured servitude, yes – slavery, no. With things falling apart as Babylon’s army’s about to take the city of Jerusalem King Zedekiah frees all the salves. It appears that he’s playing “let’s make a deal” with God. In fact, the Lord seems to agree to the deal. Nebuchadnezzar withdraws his army and for the time being Jerusalem is spared. At this point Zedekiah does a stupid thing. He reneges on freeing the slaves. Those who have been set free are put back into slavery. The result is quite predictable. Once again Jeremiah comes forward with a message from the Lord. He says God’s going to set Zedekiah free in the same way: free to face war and destruction; to face the wrath of God expressed through a foreign king. Nebuchadnezzar will return to Jerusalem to finish what he started. I don’t think it’s ever wise to make deals with God. Sometimes, I think God sees us as we see a child who promises to keep his room clean the rest of his life if we let him stay up to watch a favorite TV show. We know the child can’t keep his side of the deal. In general, though, God expects us to keep our word. Zedekiah should have stayed with his move to make things right. In failing to do so, he became, not only a law-breaker once again, but a liar too.
Take Away: The Lord expects us to keep our word.
Devotional on Jeremiah
A lesson on obedience
Jeremiah 35: The descendants…carried out to the letter what their ancestor commanded.
I don’t know why it is that Recab’s son Jonadab ordered his family to become something like monks, but he did. He told them to never live in permanent buildings and to drink no wine. For generations his descendants have followed his orders. Now, with the Babylonian army in the area, the Recabite community has moved into Jerusalem for safety. The Lord gives Jeremiah an unusual order; he’s to meet with the Recabites and offer them some wine to drink. As expected they refuse to drink it, politely explaining that their ancestor forbade it and through the many years since they’ve followed his orders. The Lord points out to Jeremiah that he has before him a group of people who are carefully following the commands of a mere human being, yet the nation as a whole is steadfastly refusing to follow the commands of God Almighty. It’s clear that this passage really has nothing to do with whether or not we drink wine or even whether or not we pay attention to the directions left to us by our ancestors. Obviously, we have some clear instructions in both the Old and New Testaments to pay attention to the orders of some people. For instance, children are to obey their parents and citizens are to obey those in authority over them. However the lesson here for Jeremiah and for us is that, if it’s reasonable for us to cooperate with mere human beings who have authority over us, it’s even more reasonable for us to cooperate with what God is doing in our lives.
Take Away: The only reasonable thing is to cooperate with the Lord as he works in our lives.
Devotional on Jeremiah
How inspiration works
Jeremiah 36: There were also generous additions, but the same kind of thing.
Babylon isn’t the only threat to Judah during Jeremiah’s ministry. Egypt also invades and conquers the nation. Jehoiakim is made king of Judah by the Egyptian conquerors. It’s during his years in power that the Lord tells Jeremiah to write down a recap of all the prophecies that have been made concerning Israel and Judah. Jeremiah obeys, dictating his messages to Baruch, who serves as his secretary. The prophet sends Baruch down to the Temple to read it all to the people and the message creates uproar. Before long, Baruch, scroll in hand, finds himself before king Jehoiakim. The king, though, isn’t impressed with Jeremiah’s message. As Baruch reads, the king takes a small knife and trims away each column as it’s heard. He then, in an act of rejection, throws what has been cut off into the fire. When Baruch returns to Jeremiah and tells him what’s happened, Jeremiah starts all over again, dictating another message from God, this one more elaborate than the first. Obviously, there’s a lot here, but I find myself thinking about how God brought about the Sacred Writings that make up our Bibles. In this case, God doesn’t dictate a message to Jeremiah to dictate to Baruch. Instead, the Lord just tells Jeremiah to write down a summary of all the prophecies he’s given concerning Israel and Judah. Jeremiah goes to work, dictating to Baruch who faithfully writes down what he hears. The real kicker to me is that when this process is done a second time, we’re told that Jeremiah adds some stuff to it. In other words, there isn’t just one way for this scroll to be written. The Lord wants Jeremiah to tell the story, and I have no doubt that the Lord helps Jeremiah remember many specifics. However, for the second round, Jeremiah wants to add some stuff. It isn’t that he’s making things up; he just remembers more and decides to include it. We have here a pretty neat example of how the Scriptures were given to us. The Lord doesn’t dictate word for word (that is, unless it says he did). Instead, he says, “write about this event or tell the message you received from me.” From there, the writer’s free to frame things in his own words and even from his own perspective. Because of that we hear from the Scriptures not only the “big message” of God’s intentions, but also the “little message” of how the writer views the world. If you think about it, that’s a pretty good example of how God works in this world: partnering with humanity and even accepting some of our limitations.
Take Away: The Lord wants us to partner with him in what he’s doing in the world.