Day 57 & 58: You Can Run...

Bone Texture: Photo by Atif Gulzar

Jeremiah 38:17-19

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the Babylonian officers, you and your family will live, and the city will not be burned down. ¹⁸ But if you refuse to surrender, you will not escape! This city will be handed over to the Babylonians, and they will burn it to the ground.’”
¹⁹ “But I am afraid to surrender,” the king said, “for the Babylonians may hand me over to the Judeans who have defected to them. And who knows what they will do to me!”

***

Zedekiah was a wishy-washy kind of guy. Every time the wind blew, he changed his mind, and it ended up not only being his own downfall, but the downfall of Jerusalem, and all of Judah, as well. He was the last king of Judah. 

I know all these kings have been hard to keep straight, at least for me, so I'm going to review just a little bit. Zedekiah was the son of Josiah, the king who had discovered the scrolls containing the laws given to Moses and who had brought revival to the land. Josiah was killed by Egypt's king, Pharaoh Neco, who then appointed one of Zedekiah's brothers to be king after their dad. But it didn't take long for Neco to decide he'd made a mistake putting Jehoahaz in that position, so he threw him in prison and appointed Jehoiakim, another of his brothers, as the new king. That wasn't Jehoiakim's real name, by the way. Egyptians were really fond of giving Jews new names. Jehoiakim's real name was Eliakim. Anyway, in order to appease Neco over in Egypt who was really pulling all the strings, Jehoiakim had to pay tribute, which he got by taxing the people in his own kingdom. He was a bad guy, but he kept Neco happy, and stayed on the throne for 11 years. Then he died, and his teenage son, Jehoiachin, became king for a whopping three months before he and his entire army surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Neb needed someone to rule over Judah for him though, so he picked someone.

And that's how Zedekiah became king. The 21 year old spineless wimp was Jehoiachin's uncle, so he was the logical choice for King Neb of Babylon to put in charge. It was an arrangement that lasted 11 years, which is kind of surprising, because this kid really was an idiot. 

At the beginning of his rein, the prophet Jeremiah was in hiding because he'd written down all of God's prophecies and promises of doom and read them to Jehoiakim as a warning. The former king didn't like what he heard, so he ordered his men to shoot the messenger. Jeremiah and his secretary fled, but while they were in hiding, they re-wrote the scroll. So now that Zed was in charge, he sent someone to find Jeremiah, begging him to pray. Over in Egypt, Neco had been succeeded by Hophra, who had sauntered on over to Jerusalem, temporarily scaring off the Babylonians. So Jeremiah prayed, and then he informed King Zed that the Babylonians would be back, worse than ever, and would burn the city to the ground. Then Jeremiah started to leave, so he could go take care of some family business in another city.

There was a sentry on duty by the gate through which he was leaving, and as luck would have it, the sentry just happened to be the grandson of Hananiah, the false prophet who had died shortly after a confrontation with Jeremiah. So the sentry, whose name was Irijah, had a bit of a score to settle, and arrested Jeremiah on some trumped up charges, claiming he was defecting to the Babylonians. Irijah was particularly hateful, and had Jeremiah flogged before imprisoning him in a dungeon.

Zedekiah wanted answers though, so he had someone sneak Jeremiah out and take him to the palace. It was all so secretive! In hushed tones, he asked if Jeremiah had a message from God. That's when Jeremiah showed the timid king what a backbone looked like.

Of course I have a message for you from God! Babylon is going to squash you like a bug. Now why the heck do you have me locked up in that dungeon? What have I done to you or anyone else that deserves that? And where are the prophets that promised you King Neb wouldn't attack you or this land? You must have finally realized they were full of hot air or you wouldn't have snuck me here for this little chat. So listen, Zed, I think you owe me a favor, so I'm begging you, don't send me back to the dungeon to die.

So he didn't. Zedekiah had Jeremiah transferred from the dungeon to the palace courtyard. He was still a prisoner, but it was a much nicer cell. He even ordered the guards to make sure that Jeremiah got a fresh loaf of bread every day as long as there was any.

But then the wind shifted directions. There were other officials who had heard Jeremiah's prophecies. Jeremiah had been saying that anyone who stayed in Jerusalem would die from war, famine, or disease, but that God would spare the life of anyone who surrendered to Babylon. They didn't like what they heard, so they went to King Zed and said "hey, this guy needs to die! he's messing with the troops morale and everyone else! He's a traitor, let us kill him!"

And Zed said "ok".

So the bad guys took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him into an empty cistern in the prison yard. I say empty, but only of water. The floor of the cistern was covered about hip-deep in mud, and Jeremiah sunk right into it.

And then the wind shifted again. An Ethiopian named Ebed-melech who was one of the court officials went running in to talk King Zedekiah out of letting the bad guys kill Jeremiah. So Zed changed his mind again, and told Ebed-melech to take thirty men with him and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern. So they lowered a rope and a bunch of old rags (to protect his armpits from getting rope-burns) and lifted Jeremiah out, and returned him to his cell in the palace prison.

Do you feel the wind blowing? It must have been a good breeze not long after that, because Zed had Jeremiah brought to him again. They had a conversation that went something like this:

King Zedekiah: Jeremiah, I want to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me. Don't hold back, just lay all the cards on the table and tell me the ugly truth.

Jeremiah: Yeah, and if I do that, you're going to have me killed. And for what? It's not like you'd listen to me anyway!

King Zedekiah: I swear to God, I won't kill you, and I won't hand you over to the guys that want you dead. 

Jeremiah: Fine. This is what God says. If you surrender to Babylon, you and your family will live, and the city will remain intact. If you don't surrender, Babylon is going to get the city anyway, only they'll burn it down. And as for you and your family, you can run, but you can't hide!

King Zedekiah: But, but, but, I'm scared! What if I surrender and the Babylonians turn me over to the Judeans who have defected to them already? There's no telling what they will do to me!

Jeremiah: You have a reason to be scared, but you're scared of the wrong thing! You ought to be worried about what God will do to you, not about what the Babylonians or the Judeans will do. I'm telling you, if you do what God is saying, you won't be handed over to them. God will spare your life and you'll be fine! But God has revealed to me that if you refuse to surrender, all the women left in your palace will be given to the officers of the Babylonian army. And then the women will be taunting you about your stupidity. You won't escape, either. Neb's army is going to hunt you down, and the city of Jerusalem will be burned to the ground. There won't be anything left but a big pile of ashes.

King Zedekiah: Ok, ok, I get it! Now go back to your cell, but keep this conversation between us. If anyone finds out what you've told me, they'll kill you. So this will be our little secret.

So how do you think the story ends? Well, Jeremiah went back to his cell, and King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army came to attack Jerusalem. They laid siege for two and a half years before they finally broke down the wall of the city. And when the wall came tumbling down, Zed and all his soldiers took off. They waited til it was dark, then slipped out and ran for the hills. Well not really. They ran toward the Jordan Valley. Not that the general direction mattered. Just as Jeremiah had warned, he could run but he'd never be able to hide. He was captured, and King Neb of Babylon made King Zed of Judah watch while his family and his nobles were slaughtered. Then they gouged out his eyes, chained him up, and led him to Babylon while the city of Jerusalem burned in the background.

But Jeremiah was safe. I'm not sure why King Neb had a soft spot for the Jewish prophet, but he did. He was given his freedom, and was given anything he wanted. What he wanted most was to be among his own people, even though there weren't many left in Judah. So Jeremiah was given a place to live in the home of Gedaliah, the new governor that Neb had put in charge, and he got to remain in his own ravaged country with whatever friends and family were still there.

Day 56: Just Deal With It!

Snail On A Watering Can by Ellie Crane

Jeremiah 29:4-7

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴ This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: ⁵ “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. ⁶ Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! ⁷ And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”

***

The book of Jeremiah can sometimes be a bit heavy for me, with all the doom and gloom that is foretold within its pages. As I read today, Jeremiah was under such attack, and even under the threat of death, because he kept telling people what they didn't want to hear. It didn't matter that every word was given to him directly from God. In fact, that really made it worse, because when people are living life by the seat of their pants, they don't want to hear about the mess they are making in their britches. People get really angry at  whoever dares to express judgment on them, even though the judgment is from God. They don't want to hear that what they're doing is wrong. They just want to shoot the messenger.

That's kinda what was going on during this time frame. He had been given the unenviable task of telling all the Israelites that God was so angry with them that they were going to stay in captivity to Babylon for seventy years! He'd even gone around wearing an ox yoke around his neck to demonstrate how the Jews would be under the rule of their captors. The yoke was broken during a confrontation with Hananiah, a false prophet who promised that God would release them from captivity within 2 years. The people wanted to believe the quack and disregard the real deal, so Jeremiah told Hananiah that the people would end up under an even heavier yoke, one of iron. I guess that's kinda like being ruled with an iron fist. Not fun. In any case, Hananiah died because he'd opened his big mouth and told such a whopping lie, saying it was from God.

So time has moved on a bit, and Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets and everyone else who had been exiled. You already read the letter in the passage I quoted, so now I'm going to retell it with my own unique flare, as I'm so fond of doing. 

To whom it may concern, and it better concern everybody;
I had a little chat with God last night, and He has some things He wants me to tell you. You brought your circumstances on yourselves. I tried warning you about what would happen if you didn't straighten up and fly right, but you didn't want to hear it, did you? No surprise, I'm used to it by now. You always think you know better than I what's good for you, and then when you get yourself in a jam, you whine and complain about it.

Well, it's too little, too late. You're stuck in Babylon now, and you will be for a long, long time. I know it's not fun, but that's the way it is. I would suggest you accept your circumstances, and live your lives where you are. Build homes for yourselves! Plant a garden and eat what you grow. Settle down and get married! Don't think this is the worst time to bring a new child into the world, either. Raise a big family and enjoy them while you can! Trust me, you're going to be in this place long enough to see your own children grow up and have kids of their own, so don't let life pass you by. 

While you are there, don't gripe about the king that rules over you. Don't complain about the slave labor you're under. Whatever you do, do it to glorify ME. That means that no matter how much you hate doing what you're doing, you work hard and do a good job. Work to bring peace and prosperity to the city where I sent you. Pray for it, too. Because your welfare is dependent on the city's welfare. If it does well, you will too. But I'm not going to bless a slacker, so if you do a crummy job, you're going to be miserable the entire time.
You'd do well to remember that I don't plan to leave you where you are forever. At the end of 70 years, I'm going to come to your rescue and do all the good things that I promised you before. But that's a long time from now, so you'd better make the best of the situation you're in now.

Do you ever feel like that? Like you're stuck in a dead end job, or you're trapped in a living arrangement that you can't find a way out of? Grumbling about it only makes things worse, doesn't it? But if you'll quit feeling sorry for yourself long enough to start thanking God for something, you'll feel less crabby all the time. God can use you wherever you are. Look how many times He used people who were thrown in prison for no good reason! If He can use their circumstances, He can use yours. But only if you allow it.

Whatever you set out to do, even if you don't want to, do it to bring glory to Him. Be an example to other people. You may be the only Bible they ever read! (I know, another tired cliche, right?) Make sure that your pages are worth reading. For all you know, that may be the exact reason God has put you where you are.

Day 55: The Biggest Liar

Photo by Alex Bruda, via www.sxc.hu

Jeremiah 17:5-6

New Living Translation (NLT)

Wisdom from the Lord

⁵ This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
    who rely on human strength
    and turn their hearts away from the Lord.
⁶ They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
    with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salty land.

***

Do you know what the most often repeated piece of terrible advice is? "Follow your heart!" That is by far the worst thing you could ever do. Why would anyone think it's a good idea to let their emotions be their guide when they keep getting hurt? Maybe it's just a human condition that we like to live on a roller-coaster. We tend to want what we want because it makes us feel good.

Or does it?

What happens when we fall in love? We put all our trust in the other person. We experience this high of infatuation that we think will last forever. That person becomes the center of our entire world. Our life revolves around pleasing our newest love. We anticipate that person meeting our needs, protecting our hearts, and encouraging us in personal growth.

But what inevitably happens is that our new love is incapable of meeting all our needs. We have put them on a pedestal, expecting them to fill the role that only God should have in our lives. As time drags on, and we grow as individuals, we often grow in separate directions. Our lover may forget to express enthusiasm; Or worse, may resent how we've changed. In the end, and there is always an end when we put our faith in another person, we're going to end up an emotional basket case. When we finally pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, we realize how much time we've wasted.  Maybe we want to forget and move on. But we aren't going to forget. Our experience may have crumpled us, but it's still a part of us, and we have to rebuild our life. But how?

By letting God reshape us.

The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,  “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.”  So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.  

Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. (Jeremiah 18:1-6 NLT)

Have you ever watched a potter at work? It's really beautiful, and fascinating. He starts with a lump of clay. Maybe it's a new piece, maybe it's a piece that has been used and discarded and is now being reworked. Either way, it's a bit of a rough start. The clay, which has already been pressed and squished and flattened and finally shaped into a wedge, gets thrown down onto a wheel. Then a little water is poured on it (we've all experienced rain in our lives) and the potter smashes the cone shaped wedge flat. Then he pours more water on, and surrounds it with his hands, pushing and pulling as the wheel spins, to center the clay. The centering isn't always easy, but it's critical to the process, because otherwise, the clay would wobble so much during shaping that it would never become what it could be.

Once the rough stuff is over, the potter then uses the most delicate of touch to guide the shape of the vessel that is forming. It is such a beautiful and artistic process that it doesn't even appear that there is any undue pressure involved! No force! The clay seems to grow almost entirely on its own from a lump of mud into a vase, or bowl, or pitcher. But it's not doing it alone. Without the gentle touch, an almost imperceptible pressure from a palm or fingertip, the mud would just sit their spinning in circles, never becoming anything.

This is how it is with us. If we stay on the spinning wheel of life without allowing God to shape our lives, we're never going to become the beautiful creation that He desires us to be! Our only hope is to learn to trust God to provide for us, encourage us, and protect us, instead of the lover who will inevitably let us down and break our heart.

But where's the high in that, right? It feels so good to fall in love. What's so wrong with depending on someone else for our happiness?

What's wrong with it is that it's all a lie. We can't trust our heart to do what is best for us because it can only see what it wants to see. God, on the other hand, can see the mud-pie that you were, the malformed, misshapen dirty mess that you are, and know exactly how to fix it. Only He can see what a gorgeous piece of work you can become. And only He can match us with the perfect companion to enhance our existence. Our emotions can't do that. Our heart will always lead us astray, because it has blinders on. 

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
and desperately wicked.
Who really knows how bad it is?
But I, the Lord, search all hearts
and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve.” (Jer 17:9-10)

I don't usually embed videos into my blog, but I know my words didn't do justice to the description of a potter forming his clay. You really have to see it to appreciate how gentle the process is. So humor me. Watch the video.