My two-year old attends a sweet little church preschool a few days a week. This Christmas season, she brought home a nativity craft which met the fate of most crafts in our home: tossed aside, buried under mail, and found a few days later. My five-year-old daughter, who had discovered it as I was making dinner one evening, yelled from across the kitchen table:
“MOM!” she giggled. “Is baby Jesus a potato?”
I continued stirring the soup, and without even looking up, I chastised her immediately. “That’s not very nice! Baby Jesus is NOT a potato.”
“But, MOM, look!”
Then she appeared next to me, holding a small Yukon Gold potato, wrapped in tissue, with a drawn-on smiley face. Huh. Well, what do you know? In this scenario, baby Jesus was, indeed, a potato. I hadn’t even looked up, so how could I have known? How could I have expected a potato masquerading as the King of kings?
The priests, prophets, and all the people in Jeremiah 26 were a bit like me, stirring soup and not even looking up, jumping to an instant conclusion. Now sure, “You must die!” is a bit more extreme of a response than, “That’s not very nice.” Still, I know how many times I’ve heard something I just don’t want to hear, let alone deal with, and instead of listening, I react instantly, disproportionately, given the context. Honestly, this happens almost daily. As for Jeremiah, he had prophesied that the temple would become like Shiloh, a city north of Jerusalem that had been utterly destroyed by the Philistines. Psalm 78 recounts the tale:
“But they rebelliously tested the Most High God, for they did not keep his decrees…
God heard and became furious; he completely rejected Israel.
He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
the tent where he resided among mankind” (vv.56,59–60).
No one, especially not the priests and people in power, wanted to hear that their city and temple would be destroyed because of their actions. Defensiveness reigned, and instead of hearing the word of the Lord and obeying, they tried to (literally) kill the messenger. But the Lord’s providence protected Jeremiah. A few officials stood up and spoke for him, reminding the rest of the group that the prophet Micah had made a similar prophecy (Micah 3:12), and when the people did turn and repent, the Lord relented.
In this story we see again, as we have so many times before in Jeremiah, a testament to the unwavering character of God. He does what He says He will do. Jeremiah believed it, and staked his life on it. He took God at His word; if the people would “correct [their] ways and deeds, and obey the LORD [their] God,” He would relent (Jeremiah 26:13).
As I read about Jeremiah standing there in the city center and proclaiming the unpopular, death-threatening message from the Lord, I’m reminded of Acts 17, when Paul stands in the areopagus in Athens and gives a similar message: “God now commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
There are others in Scripture who faced a similar situation: Stephen died while proclaiming the history of God’s unfailing covenant (Acts 7). Peter was arrested for standing in the middle of Solomon’s Colonnade in Jerusalem and shouting the truth (Acts 3). Jeremiah, Paul, Stephen, Peter, and countless more before and after, risked their lives to tell the truth. In today’s reading, we see a few leaders who stood up and risked everything to hear it. Truth-telling and truth-hearing are two sides of the same coin, and we are called to do both as followers of the Author of Truth.
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54 thoughts on "Jeremiah’s Defense"
No matter what political affiliation you are with. President Trump called for yesterday to be a National Day of Prayer. He acknowledged that this was done in the past. God is the only reason we prevail. Pastor Greg Laurie had his message online yesterday called: What to do when you don’t know what to do. Here is a link: https://harvest.org/resources/webcast/what-to-do-when-you-dont-know-what-to-do-2020/
I thought I’d post in case anyone wanted to listen.
Katherine- I have found apologizing to my kids to be a very meaningful thing to the kid as well as myself. It is such a wonderful example to them! I think by apologizing, we can set a good example through our failures. Praying for both of us today (I have a 4 and a 7 year old and I’m working from home due to the virus) that we can have patience during hard times
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine.
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst from my sight.
Angels descending, bring from above, echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior, all the day long.
God is still God, Almighty, All-knowing, in control.
Use this all for good Father.
And, thank you, praise God for the blessed assurance that is ours.
Jeremiah’s “defense” was undeniable obedience.
May it be so for us also Lord.
Amen!
Thank you for posting this. Just beautiful!
Beautiful hymn thank you for sharing!!
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Amen!
Starting to get convicted over the many times the people are told to turn away, obey and be blessed by God. Why is obedience so hard? My kids struggle with it…I struggle with it… I’m just moved and humbled and thankful that we have a Relentless God who doesn’t give up on us
We want to hear what we want to hear and we don’t want to be told what to do (surely Covid-19 isn’t that bad. It’s just a kind of flu. Most people will be fine. Do we really need all these restrictions? This is all so inconvenient). We like to think we are independent, self-sufficient and correct in our assessment of any given situation. Our opinions are presented as fact. In God’s economy however, we would be called fools. We are wise to listen to the medical professionals and more so, we are wise to heed Gods commands. God desires for us to be dependent on Him, reliant on His promises and trusting in His Word above all else. Our opinions do not matter. God’s Word does. The people of Israel didn’t like what Jeremiah had to say and so they sought to permanently silence him. They could not fathom that they had sinned and needed to repent to avoid God’s judgment. How dare Jeremiah say such a thing! But Truth cannot be silenced. The Word of the Lord will always stand. Jeremiah lived to continue to boldly speak, to challenge the people to rend their hearts and repent. Alas, they did not listen and so destruction, captivity and exile became their future.
Let us not be foolish. Let’s follow the guidelines to restrain this virus. More so, let us heed the Word of the Lord. Let us esteem it for what it is – God’s true and loving expression of His mercy and grace. Let’s search our hearts and repent of any sin, personally and nationally, just as Jeremiah had pleaded with Israel to do. God’s Word is powerful, healing balm for such a time as this. Our acceptance of Him secures our future. And that’s the Truth.
Were the Jews in nazi Germany wise to obey their rulers?
I believe that there are no laws against helping people, bringing them joy and sharing the gospel.
We have a federal right that supersedes local authority, and that is the right to gather peaceably.
We have the right to protest what our leaders are saying.
It’s government officials who are insisting that we social distance ourselves and not gather.
Medical officials say to use caution, wash hands, and stay home if you have symptoms.
Medical officials say that the most vulnerable populations are people who are older and have compromised immune systems.
Do you fall into those categories? Why are you acting if you are?
Who is your healer? Medical officials or Jesus?
Who is your defender? Masks and hand sanitizer or Jesus?
Who is your provider? Your employer or Jesus?
Where is your faith? In the government or in Jesus?
Amen
Amen
Well said. Amen!
Lord help me to be a person hears the truth and tells the truth about You and Your Son. To spread the Word of “the Author of Truth.” I praise You and rejoice that You have allowed my son to get the home of his dreams. A home that will be big enough when the whole family comes to town to celebrate Your Son’s birth they can stay with him. A home he and his future wife will grow old in and they have said I can come to stay with them in. Father in Heaven I praise You for all the good things You have given me in my life. Please remind me in the bad times and the hard times of these good times. Amen.
Praising God for answered prayers!
Katherine, the journey of parenting is not easy… never has been!
There is no manual, But there is God..
Your story right here is an example of your love for your Josiah and Gods love for you and yours..
Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, there is truth, there is hope and there is love, always love! And the beauty of this sweet story is that that it followed the Word of the Lord perfectly..
…Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. DON’T GO TO BED ANGRY. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.
Ephesians 4:26-27 MSG
God bless you Katherine and your little people. With love and hugs wrapped in prayers for more of His presence in your home. Amen.❤
So thoughtful Tina!! Couldn’t have said it better myself! ❤️ Katherine, sounds like your littles are blessed to have you as Mommy!
Today I filled my home and heart with anxiety and anger. I was harsh with my little ones and discouraged with God. But my 4-year-old son, Josiah (ironically), showed me the way back. We were finally snuggled together in his room for bed, and he began to apologize for something he had done earlier. I quickly followed suit and asked him to forgive me for my harsh attitude and angry words, and his forgiveness was quick and wholehearted. ❤ I’m so thankful or God’s swift and complete forgiveness tonight. I’m praying that God makes me a worthy steward of these little plants in his vineyard.
I love it! I love those little hearts. They are quick to forgive. Enjoy them mama. They grow up so quickly. I too, remember those times.
Thanks for sharing, Katherine. In the trenches with the littles and practicing asking for their forgiveness too when I’ve done similarly. Joining you in praying to be a worthy steward of my little vines! ❤️
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