It's always better to obey the Word of God

Jeremiah 37-38 teaches us the following lessons:

Beware of a 'false hope'

The temporary withdrawal of the Babylonian army from besieging Jerusalem, when the Egyptian army came out of Egypt, did not mean that Jerusalem was safe because the Word of the Lord was that the Babylonian army would return and the destruction of the city was a fixed certainty (Jer. 37:1-10)

Don't think that the servants of God will always have a 'first class' life experience

The prophet of God did not have an easy life. For his faithful declaration of the Word of God, Jeremiah got falsely accused and imprisoned and even cast into an empty, muddy cistern (Jer. 37:11-38:6)

It's always better to obey the Word of God

Even at the very end, while the Babylonians were besieging Jerusalem, God gave the people an opportunity to be spared and for the city to not get destroyed, if they would choose to obey the Word of God (Jer. 38:17-18, 20).

Application: It is ALWAYS better to obey the Word of God!

So, we don't want to cling to false hopes that all our problems will just go away, and we don't expect to be spared all the pains of this life, but we know that it is always best to follow the Word of God and generally if we choose to "obey now the voice of the Lord ....it shall be well with you" (Jer. 38:20).

Proverbs 25:28 ESV says:

"A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls."

Lord God of hosts, please give us the "self-control" to obey your Word and not give way to fear. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Don't try to burn the written Word of God

Jeremiah 35-36 are about how people respond to the written Word of God, and the message is, obey God's Word and be forgiven (Jer. 36:1-3), try to 'burn' (or destroy it) and be 'burnt' (or destroyed) (Jer. 36:30-31). 

Sadly we live in an age in which the written Word of God is being 'burnt' in many places as people attempt to silence what the written Word of God says about the idolatries of our days.

Here are some questions from Jeremiah 35-36:

• Do we obey the Word of God as consistently as the Rechabites obeyed the instruction of their father? (Jer. 35)

• Do we think we can somehow nullify the challenge of God's written Word ? (Like the Judean king Jehoiakim who burnt the scrolls of Jeremiah - Jer. 36:22-26)

• Do we realize that God will not allow His written Word to be forever destroyed or silenced? (See how despite all opposition Jeremiah ensures that God's Word is in written form and when burnt, it gets rewritten - Jer. 36:4, 18, 32)

• And are we willing to be a part of the persistent witness to the written Word of God despite opposition? (See how persistently Jeremiah gets Baruch to go and read the Word in the Temple even when Jeremiah had been banned from going to the Temple - Jer. 36:5-10)

With God the future is bright even if the present is bleak

My reading today, Jeremiah 33-34 can be summed up as 'With God the future is bright even if the present is bleak'.

In Jeremiah 33, a bright future is prophesied because of the righteous Branch, the Messiah. He is to be King of prosperity (Jer. 33:6), Priest of pardon (Jer. 33:8) and Prophet of purity (Jer. 34).

In Jeremiah 34, a bleak present is announced (at the time of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem) because of sin against God.

Application to us? Believers in the Jesus (the Lord or Righteousness, Jer. 33:16) are proclaimers of the bright hope and of the bleak consequences of sin against God.

Sin is mad and bad and dangerous to our health but God is merciful in our Lord Jesus Christ, our only hope!

Proverbs 25:25 ESV - "Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country."

We are people of the thirst quenching, life refreshing and restoring GOOD NEWS of the Lord Jesus Christ who came from the far country of heaven as the Lord our Righteousness, King of prosperity, Priest of pardon and Prophet of purity.

Help me to proclaim Jesus in deed and word today!