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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

Friday, March 14, 2008

Jeremiah 43

Where do you run for safety when your house is burning down? Is there any sense in running into your neighbor’s house, if the flames have already made their way to his property? If Israel was facing the power of the Babylonian empire, and God has announced that Egypt will face that same power and will not be able to stand, what point is there in seeking refuge with the Egyptians?

Unfortunately, after the murder of Gedaliah, Johanan and the other leaders with him were intent on pursuing this course of action. Even though they claimed to want to follow the Lord’s Word through Jeremiah, and even though the message of God through His prophet was abundantly clear that they would only face disaster if they pursued their plans to leave the land, there seemed to be nothing that could change their minds on this point. They would go to Egypt, though God had expressly commanded them not to do this thing.

When these men heard the word from Jeremiah, they came to the familiar conclusion that this unwanted message was sign of some defect in the messenger. They concluded that Jeremiah was lying. Jeremiah had shown himself to be honorable and courageous in his dealings with his countrymen, and yet he was consistently labeled by others as a traitor of one kind or another. The fault was entirely upon those who refused to listen to his words, but they were quite sure that the problem was entirely his. To be fair, they were willing to see Jeremiah share the blame with his scribe Baruch who had faced difficulty because of his association with Jeremiah and with God’s message. The real person that these rebellious people would have liked to get their hands on was God, but they had to settle on Jeremiah and Baruch. Both of these men were consistently accused of being secretly in league with the Babylonians. This seemed plausible to some because they had not given adequate consideration to the fact that God had announced that he would use the Babylonians as agents of his judgment at that time.

Was Jeremiah a secret Babylonian spy? If so he should have readily gone to be with the king in Babylon, since he was invited to do so. Instead he chose to remain with the poor who would suffer in the land. Furthermore, if we read further in this book of prophecy we see that the Babylonians would receive a message of judgment from God delivered by none other than Jeremiah. Johanan and the others with him were simply running away from the obvious truth because they did not like God’s instruction to them.

There is such a thing as digging yourself into a pit that gets so deep that you no longer know how to get out of it. If you get enough people talking about why it is such a good idea to get the help of Egypt it can take on a life of its own, and it may seem impossible to move away from a bad decision. Not too long before this point, Zedekiah could not fathom how he could change his mind and give in to the Babylonians in accord with the word of Jeremiah. Now his sons were dead and his eyes had been removed. No doubt his thoughts on that situation were different now, though it was too late to make a better choice. There is a point at which it becomes too late to change certain things. Jerusalem had been destroyed and there was nothing anyone could do about that. Johanan and others were so intent on going to Egypt that they were digging their own graves.

This can certainly happen to people today who play around with a dangerous way of thinking or living. Gradually it may begin to seem like there is simply no way out. There may yet be a way out. Just as blind Zedekiah may have been able to finally admit that there was a better way, it is important to reach that sanity while there is still time. We need to turn away from what is false or immoral, and turn toward Christ.

Johanan’s bad choice was not only for him. Many others have to come along with him, including Jeremiah and Baruch. God knows how to rescue the righteous in a day of judgment, but everyone else will surely face destruction.

There is something ugly about the people of God heading back to Egypt. This is the place from which they were rescued through powerful miracles. God brought about a mighty exodus from that land of slavery so many centuries before. Something feels wrong when they head back that way again.

We should have more sense than to do such things. How strange, then, when those who have been rescued from the bondage of sin by the powerful redemption of our Savior determine that they want to return to their old ways. The Word of God is clear for us. We have been set free from sin and death. The way of peace came through the righteousness of another. We have been granted our good standing as sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Yet some would be intent on returning to the old bondage.

It is hard to believe the word of the Lord to us that assures us that we are safe. We cannot patiently wait for Him when we dream that our security is in our own resourcefulness. The Lord has rescued us. He will keep us free. Let us not become enslaved again to any system of righteousness that would come through law. Our hope is secure in Christ, who assures us that He will be with all those who call upon His Name. There is no safety for us if we run back to false gods, moralism, or some self-help plan of positive thinking. Those houses are already on fire. Christ alone is our safe refuge.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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