Jeremiah 39

Three different characters
Three different outcomes
Dependent on the different choices they made
And the eventual action they took

Zedekiah made king
But he chose not to give heed
Neither did the people listen
To the words of God through Jeremiah

Zedekiah instructed Jeremiah to pray for them
He secretly asked for the word from the Lord -
Once, twice.
But he has his fears
He chose to hold on to them
And chose not to heed the advice
He did not put his trust on God

The Chaldeans came
They took him captive
Gouged out his eyes
Set the city on fire
According to what the Lord had said,
it has happened
Because he has not heed the word he has heard

Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian enunch
He heard about Jeremiah’s plight
He knew Jeremiah as a prophet of God
He sought the king’s permission
He rescued the prophet
And he was not forgotten

The word of the Lord came for him
The promise of the Lord
Of deliverance, and comfort,
For he has put his trust in Him

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
Many times he has spoken
In tears he pleaded
So that the people might live

Yet he was thrown into prison
He was misunderstood
He was cast into the dungeon
He sank in the mire

The Chaldeans came and besieged the city
According to the words he has spoken
According to the words God has spoken through him
Jeremiah chose to speak God’s words
And eventually was freed from prison

God remembers His people
He delivers those who seek refuge in Him

The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand (Isaiah 14:24)

Three different stories
Depending on their faith in God and their trust in His words

Beyond the fear that lies in front of you, 

What would you choose?
What would be your story?

Jeremiah 29

The unbeliever
The Lord has caused us to be taken captive to a foreign land
Into the hands of our enemy; O Why would He care?
Would it bother Him if we live or perish?
We might as well “curse God and die”,
For why should we suffer humiliation as captives,
I’d rather stay put and be merry.

The believer
We must heed His word! We must go!
The Lord has promised He will come again
We must have faith
He will gather us from all the nations
And bring us home to Him
Though seventy years is not short
It will come to pass
He has taught us how to lead our lives
And how to have peace
We must not be led astray
We must preserve ourselves
We must be multiplied!

The unbeliever
Seventy years is a long time..
Why should we suffer
when we follow God?

The believer
We have first done wrong…
and God has executed justice
Yet He has given us a way out
He will come back for us
 Are we going to stay put and
incur the wrath of the Lord
 or are we going to learn
to heed the word of the Sovereign?

 -----

It is sometimes difficult to walk on the path that God has called us to tread upon, especially when the road seemed rough, and the way not easy; especially when we find ourselves without the freedom to pursue or do what we really desire to do, it almost feel like we are in captivity.

Why have I been led to this place?
Why are we called to suffer?

We need to examine ourselves first to see if sins has crept into our lives and led us away from God. God desires to be close to each of us and sometimes it takes more than a nudge to bring us back to Him.

And even as we have acknowledged our wrongdoings, and have turned back to God, this seventy years might still feel like a long time…

However it is a period of training. God did not allow us to slacken. He said to build houses and plant gardens. He said to take wives and be married. He said to multiply, and not diminished!

During this seventy years, there might also be prophets and diviners out to deceive us but the Lord had not sent them. We need to be vigilant and hold on to God’s word.

While we are here on earth today, we need to go about our Father’s business. We have to do what is in our duty to do and multiply! For Jesus is coming soon to gather us from all over the nations, and bring us home to Him.

We must have faith in the word of God, for He has said, 

After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

I will be found by you, and I will bring you back from your captivity;

I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

Amen.