Tag Archives: Obedience

Day 150: God’s Desire to Forgive

Jeremiah 36:1-7

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I intend to do to them, that they may each return from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all Yahweh’s words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book. Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted. I can’t go into Yahweh’s house. Therefore you go, and read from the scroll which you have written from my mouth, Yahweh’s words, in the ears of the people in Yahweh’s house on the fast day. Also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities. It may be they will present their supplication before Yahweh, and will each return from his evil way; for Yahweh has pronounced great anger and wrath against this people.”

This passage exposes the heart of God for everyone to see. After all of these pronouncements of His coming judgment on Judah, He still has the desire to see if anyone would be willing to repent. Isn’t it obvious that God hates to do bring punishment? God would do anything to get His people to repent and turn back to Him and even after all that Jeremiah has spoken, He is still trying to get them to repent so that He wouldn’t have to punish them.

So God had Jeremiah write a book that contained everything God told him. I am pretty sure that this required a supernatural memory. It could also be that men were smarter back then. It would make sense that people today are not as smart after so many years of genetic degradation. I think that the reason we think we are smarter, other than mere arrogance, is that our culture has influenced us to think in an evolutionary way. We automatically think that we are getting smarter when the scientific facts would suggest the exact opposite. It’s true that we have built on the documented knowledge of others, but that doesn’t mean that the average man is smarter today. In any case, Jeremiah was able to do the job.

Another encouraging thing is that Jeremiah found a brave man willing to write it down and then proceed to go out to read it to others. Baruch could see that Jeremiah’s words had already caused him to be restricted, but was willing to be obedient to God’s desire. It’s encouraging to know that Jeremiah wasn’t completely alone. It is possible that we may be called to suffer alone for a time, but often, God gives us friends who are willing to to go through hard times with us.

Day 149: The Remnant Again

Jeremiah 35:1-19

The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, “Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into Yahweh’s house, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.”

Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, with his brothers, all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; and I brought them into Yahweh’s house, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!”

But they said, “We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither you nor your children, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, or have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land in which you live as nomads.’ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters; and not to build houses for ourselves to dwell in. We have no vineyard, field, or seed; but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, ‘Come! Let’s go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we will dwell at Jerusalem.’ ”

Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words?” says Yahweh. “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father’s commandment; but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not listened to me. I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Every one of you must return now from his evil way, amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers;’ but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me. The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me.” ’

“Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.’ ”

Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you,’ therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to stand before me forever.’ ”

Once again, God used Jeremiah to create a physical illustration. This time God used a special Israeli family called the Rechabites. God told Jeremiah to go to this family of nomads and bring them right into a room of the temple in front of everyone and offer them wine to drink. God knew that they would not do it because they had been under strict obedience to their father’s wishes that they not drink wine or even grow grapes. Because of their father they even subjected themselves to a nomadic life. It would appear that they believed that this was God’s will for their family. We see here that it was.

God then had Jeremiah announce that this family was willing to obey their father, but Israel has been repeatedly unwilling to obey God. Then God blesses the Rechabites in front of everyone right in the temple, saying that they will always have a man to stand before Him forever. Israelis today believe that this means that the family of Rechab must always have a job to do before God in the temple. To those Rechabites, it would be obvious that King Nebuchadnezzar would not be allowed to destroy their family.

It’s important for us to see how serious God takes obedience to parents. When a parent is following God, God will use that parent to distribute His will. It’s also important to see that God separated this obedient family out from the rest of Israel. God appears to always do this during times of judgment. We usually call these people God’s remnant. I’m not sure if these nomads were allowed to stay in the land of Israel during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if God allowed that too. When we are obedient to God, we can expect special treatment, even during times of wrath.

Day 110: A Survey of Jeremiah’s Experience

Jeremiah 25:1-6

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (this was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, Yahweh’s word has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.

Yahweh has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear), saying, “Return now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even forever more. Don’t go after other gods to serve them or worship them, and don’t provoke me to anger with the work of your hands; then I will do you no harm.”

Here we learn that for 23 years Jeremiah got up early and spoke the word of God to the people. Not only that, Jeremiah reminds us that God had sent all of the prophets for many more years than that. It’s wonderful to learn that the message of all the prophets was the same. They told the people to stop doing evil and to stop worshiping other gods and to live in the land that God had given them. We even saw the same behavior in the last prophet we call John the Baptist. What can we learn from this?

I think that two of the big things we learn are these: We learn what God is like, and we learn what mankind is like. What we learn about God is that He is very, very patient. God tried to tell Israel what was wrong and what they needed to do, for a very long time. We can’t accuse God of not providing enough time to change. We also see that God is a good communicator. God sent many prophets and what we learn here is that He made them get up early to do their job! God maximized the time spent communicating with the people, so we can’t accuse God of not communicating clearly.

The problem was not God at all. The problem obviously came from man, and that is the second big thing we learn. Israel’s behavior doesn’t just show us how bad Israel is. It shows us how bad mankind is. Mankind is unable to follow God’s word no matter how clear or how long his chance to do it right is. It demonstrates that humanism is a horrible idea! If humanity were able to heal itself, it should have been able to follow God’s 10 commandments, instead, what we see is that mankind cannot apply himself to anything and get it right.

There’s another big thing we learn about God as we study what happened to Israel at the time of Jeremiah, and we read more about that next.

Day 109
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Day 111

Day 109: The Remnant

Jeremiah 24:1-10

Yahweh showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs were set before Yahweh’s temple, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

Then Yahweh asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

I said, “Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so bad that can’t be eaten.”

Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Yahweh, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good. For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them, and not pull them down. I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with their whole heart.

“ ‘As the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, they are so bad,’ surely Yahweh says, ‘So I will give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them. I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.’ ”

If you have been following along on my journey through the Old Testament, you may remember that several times, I have commented about the fact that there were Israelis who left Israel to go live in foreign lands. I usually mentioned that this was wrong. God told the people that they were to trust Him and occupy the land that He had given them to occupy. When they went out to foreign countries, they would also be influenced by their idolatry and bad behavior. They would also be subject to their pagan governments. We also saw how God protected those who remained in the land and eventually helped them to prosper again. What we have here is a significant departure from the past. God was now telling the people that they should leave. Is this an inconsistency? Well, we know that it isn’t because God is never inconsistent. When I think that there’s an inconsistency with God, it’s only a matter of time until God shows me the glaring inconsistency in my interpretation of His word and actions.

It turns out that this situation illustrates God’s constancy. God always expects us to listen to His word and obey without trying to lean on our own understanding. We may think that God wants us to never do something, but when He tells us to do it, then we must change our minds and not assume God is wrong. It’s obedience and faith in God’s word that should guide us, not our understanding of how things work. In this case, as in all other cases, when the people failed to obey God’s word, they were to be punished. God had told them to surrender to Babylon and here we read the difference between those who would end up in Babylon and those who would stay in Judah.

Those who were taken captive to Babylon were going to be given a heart for God and those who stayed were to suffer intensely until they were completely destroyed. Up to this point, Jeremiah has been describing the horrible judgment of God against Jerusalem and Judah. Now we get to see a little glimpse of His plan of salvation for Israel and ultimately for the world. God was going to preserve for Himself a group of His people in Babylon. I call this a remnant. This is a pattern we see in all of God’s judgments. Remember, God decided to destroy the world with a flood, but He protected Noah and his family. Ahab and Jezebel tried to destroy all of God’s prophets and Elijah thought that he was the only one left, but God had protected a remnant of His people even under those conditions. Here we see the pattern again. God had reserved for Himself a remnant of the Jewish people who were to return to Jerusalem in the future. God had not given up on Israel and He had not given up on His plan to save mankind.

Day 108
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Day 110

Day 36: The Evangelism Diet

John 4:27-42 : At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?” So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the city, and were coming to him. In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” The disciples therefore said one to another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Here we find out more about what Jesus thinks about doing God’s will. He didn’t eat when His disciples brought food back from the city. Then He compared doing God’s will to eating food. The thing I love about this is that it shows that Jesus was not doing God’s will out of duty. He wanted to do it just like a person wants to eat when they are hungry.

Let’s look at this situation through Jesus’ eyes. He was sent from God to save a people that were desperately in need of saving. I would guess He can see the people coming toward Him from the city and, I believe, He was excited and could hardly focus on anything else. Eating food probably didn’t seem very important from His standpoint. Where the disciples may have seen a lost eating opportunity, Jesus was overjoyed at the feast of saved people that was coming His direction.

Jesus sowed the seed into the heart of the woman who immediately spread it in the city. They immediately came out to see Jesus and believed. What an effective form of evangelism! Jesus and His disciples ended up not having to worry about food or travel because for the next two days they would be staying there with people from the city.

The Bible says that when we serve God as believers we earn rewards in Heaven. We don’t earn the ability to go to Heaven, it’s just that we are rewarded for our work for God here. Jesus had sown the seed and the disciples were going to get to join in on the work of helping these Samaritans, and workers get paid.

May God help us to see the world through Jesus’ eyes and have a hunger to obey His will.

Day 35
Day 37