(Jeremiah 27:1-22)
In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying— 2 this is what the Lord has said to me: “Make for yourself restraints and yokes and put them on your neck, 3 and send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon by the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Order them to go to their masters, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 ‘I have made the earth, mankind, and the animals which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. 6 And now I have handed all these lands over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have also given him the animals of the field to serve him. 7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.
8 ‘And it will be that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with plague,’ declares the Lord, ‘until I have eliminated it by his hand. 9 And as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who talk to you, saying, “You will not serve the king of Babylon.” 10 For they are prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you away and you will perish. 11 But the nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let remain on its land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and they will cultivate it and live in it.’”’”12 I spoke words like all these to Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live! 13 Why should you die, you and your people, by the sword, famine, and plague, as the Lord has spoken to the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 So do not listen to the words of the prophets who talk to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying a lie to you; 15 for I have not sent them,” declares the Lord, “but they are prophesying falsely in My name, so that I will drive you away and that you will perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they are prophesying a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a place of ruins? 18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, have them now plead with the Lord of armies that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord and the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem do not go to Babylon. 19 For this is what the Lord of armies says concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the kettle stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he led into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 Yes, this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22 “They will be brought to Babylon and will be there until the day I visit them,” declares the Lord. “Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.”’”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
"You're fine. What you are doing is not a sin. There are different ways you can interpret that verse. God won't punish you for that. He will still bless you."
These are words we can hear in our society today. But God does not say one thing, and then say another. And He is very clear on all the things that we need to know, therefore there is no trick to interpreting something. So when we hear any kind of doctrinal proclamation, we do need to see if it aligns with the Bible, which is God's infallible word, truth, and our final authority...
Therefore, we should keep everything in context! And the truth found in this passage is that God will not bless sin. If there is sin in a person's life, there will be eternal punishment, unless a person turns to God and becomes a believer. As for Christians, when we sin, there will be consequences (here on earth). God will discipline us to get our attention to turn back to Him.
Therefore, another truth found in this passage is that God loves us and wants to deliver us all from sin. And when we live in obedience, He will bless us. Notice how the Lord gave the Israelites a choice, to listen to Him and go into captivity where they would remain safe, or they could try to survive elsewhere on their own and die. God knows the future, and knew that eventually another king would take over and help Israel rebuild.
Even if the Lord had told the Jews every little detail, some of them would still have disobeyed, because some people just don't want to trust God and His word. But for us believers... for those who know that God cares for us, and for those who do trust Him and His word, the decision should be a no-brainer then for us to strive to obey. Even when we are doing the right things, God will still sometimes allow us to go through hardships. But in these things, no matter what we are going through, when we look to the Lord, we will mature and grow in our faith in Him. As well, we will be a testimony to others! Otherwise, how could we ever say, "The Lord is always there for us, to work things out for us" if we never go through anything?
Understand that there are many different types of "captivities". The first big one is that we are all born into sin. We are captive for all eternity and slaves to sin, unless and until we accept salvation through Jesus. In His forgiveness, we are then free from sin! Now we have daily decisions as to whether or not we want to be "slaves" for God! This is a very excellent thing!
Just like with marriage, if one remains in their sinful state, or if as a believer we choose to put ourselves into some sort of sinful pattern (a sinful captivity of our own making)... this would be like getting stuck in a very bad and miserable marriage. But when we embrace a close relationship with the Lord Jesus... this would be like the greatest marriage in the world for all eternity! As a husband and wife are one flesh, and we are to work together as a team, to the glory of God... we are one with Christ, working together to His glory. The difference is that God is perfect. Everything He suggests that we should do will work, and we can trust and rely on Him, 100%! In doing so, we will see, and others will see, how the Lord cares for us, provides for us, and works in us, through us, and for us.
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