“Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.”
~ Jeremiah 37:2
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever been punished by your dad and/or ma or by your teacher for something that you know that you did not do? Your grandpaa knows what it feels like to be accused of saying something that he did not say or doing something that he did not do. When your grandmaa was a kid, your grandmaa would sometimes be accused of doing something that your dad’s Uncle Drake or Aunt Jill did. If something happened that would have your grandmaa’s dad and/or ma feel that they needed to punish one of their kids, your dad’s Uncle Drake – your grandmaa’s big bro, or your dad’s Aunt Jill – your grandmaa’s little sis, would tell their dad and/or ma that it was your grandmaa’s fault for what happened or for what was happening that . . . your grandpaa’s dad thought that he heard your grandpaa say one night a bad word during a softball game in which your grandpaa was playing. Your grandpaa knew that he had not said a bad word but . . . your grandpaa during the softball game as he was sliding across home plate after hitting a homerun had yelled really loud. When your grandpaa’s dad heard your grandpaa yell, your dad’s grandpa thought that your grandpaa had said a bad word. Your grandpaa’s dad did not punish your grandpaa when he thought that your grandpaa had said a bad word but . . . it still felt like a punishment to your grandpaa that your grandpaa’s dad thought that your grandpaa had said a bad word. How do you feel when you think that your Heavenly Father is punishing you for something that you do not know what you did? What sometimes feels like your Heavenly Father is punishing you for something may be instead your Heavenly Father teaching you a life lesson on patience or trust or faith or . . . your earthly dad will sometimes goof up and punish you for something that you did not do. Your Heavenly Father never goofs up. Your Heavenly Father knows that you will not live your lives for Him if He does not teach you through life lessons and if He does not punish you when you need to be punished. God’s life lessons and punishments are teaching you to run from life impeding dangers into His secure arms of grace, hope and love.
Jeremiah was one of God’s prophet spokesmen. Jeremiah witnessed the moral decline of God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Jerusalem. The lives of God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Jerusalem had plummeted into such a horrific sinful state that the only recourse left for God was to give His specially chosen guys and gals a wakeup call. God had many of His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Jerusalem captured and taken to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar and a contingent of his army. Before he returned to Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar assigned Zedekiah to be the acting king over God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids who he did not take with him. Zedekiah after several years decided that he would ask an Egyptian Pharaoh for his help to help him rid Jerusalem of the Babylonian army contingent that Nebuchadnezzar when he returned to Babylonia had left in Jerusalem. Jeremiah – in Jeremiah 37, recounts Zedekiah’s foolish misstep of asking for help from an Egypt Pharaoh instead of accepting that Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army had conquered and was ruling over him and all of God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were still living in Jerusalem. Even though Zedekiah would send some of his guys to ask Jeremiah for his input as to what he should do, verse 2 says, “Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.” When the contingent of Babylonian soldiers who Nebuchadnezzar left in Jerusalem found out that an Egyptian Pharaoh was heading their way with his army, the Babylonian army contingent left Jerusalem. When Jehucal and Zephaniah were sent by Zedekiah to meet with Jeremiah – to ask Jeremiah to pray for him and for what he was doing in aligning with the Egyptian Pharaoh instead of . . ., Jeremiah told the priest and the prophet who Zedekiah sent to meet with him that no matter how many Babylonian soldiers the Egyptian army killed that he and God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were still living in Jerusalem would one day be taken away by the Babylonian army to Babylonia. What Jeremiah said did not make Zedekiah happy but . . .
After the Babylonian army contingent vacated Jerusalem because an Egyptian army was headed their way, the guys, gals and kids who were still living in Jerusalem were able to walk Jerusalem’s streets again without problems. After the Babylonian army vacated Jerusalem, Jeremiah decided that it was a good time to head for the Benjamin tribal clan territory to do the paperwork that he needed to do on land that he had inherited. Jeremiah’s hometown in the Benjamin tribal clan territory was Anathoth. As Jeremiah was leaving Jerusalem through the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard – Irijah, arrested Jeremiah. Irijah claimed that he thought that Jeremiah was trying to escape or that Jeremiah was deserting the guys and gals who were living in Jerusalem. Jeremiah could not convince Irijah that he was just going to Anathoth to settle on some land. Irijah took Jeremiah to the Jerusalem officials who were still bent out of shape with Jeremiah for not praying for the Egyptian Pharaoh’s help to help them remove the Babylonian army contingent. The Jerusalem officials beat up Jeremiah and put him in a cell in a dungeon that was in the city’s secretary’s house. Jeremiah ended up staying for a long time in the cell. Even though he had done and had said what God had told him to do and say, Jeremiah still ended up having to spend a long time in a dungeon. Do you think that Jeremiah was happy that God had allowed some guys who did not listen to God leave him in a cell in a dungeon? No matter what happened to him Jeremiah stayed faithful to God – which your grandpaa prays that you will always do.
Jeremiah 37 (311)