Jeremiah 26:12 says, Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Jeremiah said that God had sent him to prophesy against the house, or temple, and the city. Jeremiah said that it was God's word that he spoke. We as follower of Christ should always make sure that it is God's word that we speak, especially when we say that we are speaking for Him. Verse thirteen adds, Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. Jeremiah called on the people to mend their ways and to return to God. We must do likewise if we ae out of the will of God. Verse fourteen declares, As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. Jeremiah said that he was in their hand and to do with him as they thought good, but God's word was still God's word. They were ready to kill Jeremiah, and he told them to do so if the must. We need that same kind of faith today. Verse fifteen adds, But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears. Jeremiah also warned them that if the killed him that they would have innocent blood on their hands, because he had only spoken the truth of God as God had commanded him to. Verse sixteen states, Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God. The princes and the people told the priests and prophets who claimed to represent God that Jeremiah had done nothing to deserve to be put to death. They said that he had only spoken to them in the name of God. We are not called on to put anyone to death who speaks in God's name if we do not agree with what they are saying. We instead need to point out why we disagree with them under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Verse seventeen declares, Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, Then verse eighteen adds, Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. Certain of the elders reminded the people of another man, Micah, who had spoken against the people in God's name during the reign of Hezekiah, saying that Jerusalem would be destroyed. Verse nineteen asks, Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls. They asked if Hezekiah put this Micah to death or listened to him and repented, and asked God's forgiveness. If a man of God speaks out against something we are doing today and calls on us to repent, when he is truly speaking the word of God, we do not need to be angry with him. We simply need to repent of our sins and ask God to forgive us. Verse twenty adds, And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: These elders reminded the priests and prophets of another man, Urijah, who did the same thing. Jeremiah was not the first prophet to prophesy that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed if the people did not repent. Verse twenty-one says, And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; These elders said that when Jehoiakim and the elders heard the words of Urijah that they sought to kill him, but that he fled to Egypt. Urijah failed to stand by his faith in God. Even if we are put to death for our faith, we cannot afford to falter in it. Verse twenty-two adds, And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. Verse twenty-three continues, And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt to bring Urijah back and killed him. Jehoiakim may have silenced God's prophet, but he did not alter God's word. Verse twenty-four concludes, Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. Jeremiah stood firm in his commitment to God, and he was delivered from being put to death. If we stand firm in our fait to God, we are already delivered from spiritual death and into everlasting life with God. no matter what happens to us in this life.
No comments:
Post a Comment