Keep Your Eye on the Ball – Part 2
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness [Lamentations 3:21-23].
We left off yesterday by noting how Jeremiah had to endure the most raucous belligerence from the Israelites. He was the Lord’s prophet to them during a time of utter apostasy, and they hated him with a vengeance for proclaiming the Lord’s judgment on them. Jeremiah was daily beleaguered by his fellow Israelites.
That much in and of itself sufficed to make Jeremiah’s ministry unenviable. But then there came the cherry on top. After the Lord dispersed the Israelites into Babylonian exile, the remnant of the people kidnapped Jeremiah and forced him to hie off to Egypt with them.
This was in direct violation to the Lord’s express command to them to remain in the land of Israel and not go to Egypt. Consequently the Israelites were continuing in their rebellion against the Lord. This could only result in the Lord’s curses alighting on them…and Jeremiah was with them! Ergo, Jeremiah had to suffer God’s wrath right along with them.
Jeremiah is often referred to as “the weeping prophet”. He had to endure the sight of his people suffering the Lord’s vengeance for their outright apostasy. The people were conquered by the Babylonians and taken as slaves to Babylon. The city of Jerusalem was leveled and the temple ransacked and burned. Jewish women were raped in public, and Jewish babies were seized by the feet and their heads dashed against the rocks. Nothing was left of the Lord’s witness in Israel.
If anyone deserved to wallow in self-pity, Jeremiah qualified! But it wasn’t Jeremiah’s style. He was a true man of God, a prophet of the Lord who fearlessly proclaimed the true Word of God to his people, regardless of the consequences. Jeremiah succeeded at this without losing heart and becoming demoralized because of one thing: he didn’t walk by sight but by faith. He believed the Word of God which cannot fail, rather than eyesight which usually does fail.
Read the words quoted at the start of this study. Jeremiah didn’t look at how bad everything was and resign himself to helpless, hopeless defeat. He looked at the Lord and took Him at His Word. He knew the defeat was temporary. The Lord promised him that the Babylonian exile would last for seventy years and no longer. Then the Lord would return Israel to the land and rebuild the temple and city.
All around Jeremiah the temple was aflame and the city of Jerusalem a smoldering ruins. It didn’t deter Jeremiah. He looked away from the temporality of the world and turned his gaze to the Lord to see eternal reality. He ejaculated, “I have hope! The Lord never leaves me or forsakes me. He is faithful, even when I am not. His mercies never fail. They are new every morning.”
I learned a lot from Jeremiah, and I’m much the better for it. Permit me to encourage you to open your heart to the Word of the Lord through Jeremiah. You too will be better equipped to face life’s ordeals.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We left off yesterday by noting how Jeremiah had to endure the most raucous belligerence from the Israelites. He was the Lord’s prophet to them during a time of utter apostasy, and they hated him with a vengeance for proclaiming the Lord’s judgment on them. Jeremiah was daily beleaguered by his fellow Israelites.
That much in and of itself sufficed to make Jeremiah’s ministry unenviable. But then there came the cherry on top. After the Lord dispersed the Israelites into Babylonian exile, the remnant of the people kidnapped Jeremiah and forced him to hie off to Egypt with them.
This was in direct violation to the Lord’s express command to them to remain in the land of Israel and not go to Egypt. Consequently the Israelites were continuing in their rebellion against the Lord. This could only result in the Lord’s curses alighting on them…and Jeremiah was with them! Ergo, Jeremiah had to suffer God’s wrath right along with them.
Jeremiah is often referred to as “the weeping prophet”. He had to endure the sight of his people suffering the Lord’s vengeance for their outright apostasy. The people were conquered by the Babylonians and taken as slaves to Babylon. The city of Jerusalem was leveled and the temple ransacked and burned. Jewish women were raped in public, and Jewish babies were seized by the feet and their heads dashed against the rocks. Nothing was left of the Lord’s witness in Israel.
If anyone deserved to wallow in self-pity, Jeremiah qualified! But it wasn’t Jeremiah’s style. He was a true man of God, a prophet of the Lord who fearlessly proclaimed the true Word of God to his people, regardless of the consequences. Jeremiah succeeded at this without losing heart and becoming demoralized because of one thing: he didn’t walk by sight but by faith. He believed the Word of God which cannot fail, rather than eyesight which usually does fail.
Read the words quoted at the start of this study. Jeremiah didn’t look at how bad everything was and resign himself to helpless, hopeless defeat. He looked at the Lord and took Him at His Word. He knew the defeat was temporary. The Lord promised him that the Babylonian exile would last for seventy years and no longer. Then the Lord would return Israel to the land and rebuild the temple and city.
All around Jeremiah the temple was aflame and the city of Jerusalem a smoldering ruins. It didn’t deter Jeremiah. He looked away from the temporality of the world and turned his gaze to the Lord to see eternal reality. He ejaculated, “I have hope! The Lord never leaves me or forsakes me. He is faithful, even when I am not. His mercies never fail. They are new every morning.”
I learned a lot from Jeremiah, and I’m much the better for it. Permit me to encourage you to open your heart to the Word of the Lord through Jeremiah. You too will be better equipped to face life’s ordeals.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
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