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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Monday, March 10, 2008

Jeremiah 39

What will it be like for those who have ignored the Word of the Lord when the Day of Judgment finally comes? What will it feel like for those who have habitually disregarded the plain truth of the Scriptures, and have thought of themselves as a cut above the simple Christians who believed God’s Word? Many follow false prophets and lying teachers who claim that there will be no judgment to come. They willingly ignore what the Word of God clearly says in any number of areas of behavior and life, and then assume a moral superiority when they say, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” What will they say when the trumpet sounds? What will be their defense concerning the way that they have misrepresented Christ and His Kingdom?

We have something of a glimpse of that day in the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. Zedekiah had more than ample warning of the danger that was coming. He was unwilling to hear the words of the prophet with a heart that was ready to obey them. As the years went by his fears seemed to grow, but he could find no way out as he considered his options. There was a way out. He needed to do as God had instructed. He needed to surrender to the Babylonians as an expression of His submission to God. This was the only way out, and this seemed impossible.

Even after one and a half years of a siege against Jerusalem, even after the city walls had been breached and key Babylonian officials had taken their seats in the place of power, Zedekiah and his army attempted to escape by night. They were pursued, and frightful punishments were brought against them with swift and unwavering determination. It is horrible to lose a child. What can be worse for a king, than to see his sons killed before his very eyes. Not only does he face the grief of any parent, but he also sees the end of his hope for a descendant to sit as king. The murder of his sons was essentially the last thing that his eyes ever saw on this earth, for his own eyes were put out on that horrible day. Through all of this he had the extra horror of knowing that God had warned him about another way that could have been, a way that he had rejected.

In addition to the loss of the sons of Zedekiah, the nobles of Judah were put to death, the wall was broken down, and the king’s house was destroyed. Anyone of any use to the Babylonians was taken into exile, and the rest were left in the land. This was a horrible day of destruction when it seemed that all was lost. Anyone who was left standing on such a day was filled with profound regret, convinced that nothing more could possibly remain in their lives that could at all be called good.

In contrast to this violent assault, the king of Babylon gave a special instruction regarding Jeremiah. He was to be cared for. No one was to do any harm to him. The prophet had been in confinement in the court of the guard for some time. Interestingly, he ended up staying with the poor and the weak who remained in the land after the destruction of the city.

Another man that was treated well was the Ethiopian servant of the king who had earlier pleaded with Zedekiah for the rescue of Jeremiah from a muddy well, where he would have starved to death. The chapter ends with a flashback of a message from the Lord through Jeremiah for this man. God would deliver him from the fate of the nation on the day of Babylonian victory. Whether in the case of Jeremiah or this Ethiopian servant of the king, we are reminded that God is well able to deliver particular individuals from death or harm even in a day of general destruction.

Normally, when we think of the way that the Lord is able to save the righteous, we have reason to think about the honor and integrity of one person as opposed to another, and the reward that the Lord gives to the righteous which is of course connected to their righteousness. What if the city had been spared from trouble and only two men had to suffer from the Babylonians? What if the Day of Judgment came, and the most righteous man was blinded, and everyone else was given protection?

This seems incomprehensible to us. It makes sense to us that Zedekiah faces one outcome, and Jeremiah another. We cannot conceive of their ends being traded, so that the righteous one suffers for the wicked, and the wicked one is rewarded as if he were righteous. Nonetheless, in the coming of the one that Jeremiah had announced by the title “The Lord is our righteousness,” we have exactly this situation, and we call it good news.

What was it that uniquely qualified Christ for the cross? It was His unparalleled righteousness. If He had sinned, He would have been disqualified from serving as our atoning sacrifice. If He had sinned, there would be no meaning to the cross. This would seem horribly wrong, were it not for the fact that the cross was not the end of the story in terms of the good news of God. Christ has risen indeed. He has not only satisfied God’s holy demands of perfect righteousness, He has not only carried the full weight of the eternal debt of our guilt before God, He has done these things in such a way that He rose far above them. In His life, we see life. He identified with us, the poor and the weak, and He has stayed with us, though is cost Him everything.

There are still many occasions when the sentence of punishment seems to fit the crime of the person, but the gospel is not one of those occasions, for the sinless One has taken our hell and we have been granted His heaven. Let us flee today from all unrighteousness. Let us get the point of the destruction of Jerusalem and hate the prospect of falling into the hands of a God who would bring upon us a punishment we well deserve. Let us rejoice in the sure hope we have of eternal protection in the bountiful righteousness of the life and death of Christ for sinners.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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