August 5
Jeremiah 25:15-38, 36:1-32, 45:1-46:28
After all of these years of following God, I still, at times, miss what it's really all about. Back in 1992, James Carville launched the slogan for Bill Clinton, "It's the economy, stupid". Though I disagree with this, it was meant to keep their focus on what mattered. To us who are in Jesus Christ, it has been and it should be, "It's about eternity". We often miss this or simply allow ourselves to get absorbed into the world and in the process forget what it means to be ambassadors of God, and citizens in heaven. It is easy to become dismayed, personally, when things don't go according to plans for our earthly existence. It is easy to forget when it comes to others who don't know God, that it is not how they respond to the gospel message, but whether or not they respond. God, forgive me when I lose sight of this.
Jeremiah did not lose sight of this, though in those days salvation mostly referred to living peacefully on earth under God's sovereign and loving hands. His scribe, Baruch, also did not forget this as he placed himself in danger as he publicly disseminated Jeremiah's unpopular prophecies. We read in Jeremiah 36:1-3, "During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king in Judah, the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: “Get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every message, right up to the present time. Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings.”" Since he was in prison at the time, he had his friend and his scribe, Baruch write down the prophecies that God had given him over the past 22 years. Then he asked Baruch to go to the temple and publicly pronounce them. Eventually the scrolls got to the godless king, Jehoiakim, where we see his response in 36:23-24, "Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up. Neither the king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard." This was brazen and demonstrative, but we should not miss the fact that the masses who gathered to hear the reading did the same thing as the king, but quietly. The results are the same, lack of repentance, and judgment. For Baruch, for standing up courageously, God did not give him earthly riches, He rewarded him with his life, as we read in 45:4-5, " “Baruch, this is what the Lord says: ‘I will destroy this nation that I built. I will uproot what I planted. Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don’t do it! I will bring great disaster upon all these people; but I will give you your life as a reward wherever you go. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
Though Jeremiah heard directly from God, Baruch did not, he simply and faithfully delivered God's message to a people who did not want to receive it. Likewise, though, God can and will move us in a fresh way, we have His authoritative Word, completed over 1900 years ago, in which to deliver God's truth to those around us. This is what we have been called to do. In the Old Testament they had an incomplete comprehension of eternity, but the New Testament has revealed the reality of it. Like Baruch, we will be rewarded with life, eternal life. This should be enough. Our disappointments, for the Christian, usually result when we forget this simple fact. It is about eternity. When we present this gospel truth to others, it is not how they respond, but if they respond, we must also not forget this. May we praise our God, who knows the beginning and the end, and who has the power to offer eternal life.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: