Jeremiah 37
COMMENTARY:
: 2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah. (8085 “hearken” [shama] means obey, publish, understand, diligently, or pay close attention to.)
DEVOTION: We have been warned throughout the Bible that the end times were going to be bad. Some don’t believe we are in the end times. I had a problem with the end times as I have said before back in the 70’s when I started in ministry. I didn’t understand how people could be marked with the mark of the beast. The Bible informs us in the book of Revelation that there would be no buying and selling without the mark of the beast on the forehead or hand.
Now we know that there are computer chips that have been put in the hands of individuals who receive government help with the payment for their lunches. They just scan the hand of the individuals who go through line to see if they are paying with money or the government is paying the bill. No one knows which is true except the office.
Now there is new chips being put in our computers and animals. There might be even chips in humans that we don’t know about. We have to realize that the Bible is informing us of what is going to happen in the future today just like the LORD was informing Judah about their future.
Some people will listen while others will just want to kill the messenger. Jeremiah found himself in that circumstance because he was telling those in authority what was going to happen because God said so. The Bible is God’s Word and HE has given us enough information for us to realize that all the circumstances are lining up better today than ever before for the start of the end times.
CHALLENGE: Are we going to listen or just think that either the Bible isn’t the Word of God to us today or think that we have a lot of time to witness to our friends and relatives about the LORD?
: 10 For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. (1856 “wounded” [daqar] means thrust through, pierced, stricken, riddled, or be very hungry.)
DEVOTION: Numbers mean nothing to God. HE can use a large army or a small army. HE can use 300 men to defeat an army of 185,000 trained soldiers. HE can use a young lad to defeat a warrior giant.
Strength means nothing to HIM. HE used one man to defeat the Philistines. HE used one man to preach a sermon to save a city of over two hundred thousand. Here HE states that HE can use dying soldiers to defeat the city of Jerusalem and burn it to the ground.
Too often we count on numbers to succeed. One person who has given his life wholly to the LORD can win a multitude of sinners. The Holy Spirit wants us to count on HIM to help us against any army against us.
Judah thought that because the Egyptian army was coming to help them against the Babylonians they didn’t have anything to worry about. They were sadly mistaken. God had spoken and HIS word was final. They were going to go into captivity for seventy years.
The king thought if he put the messenger in prison there would be peace. Jeremiah in prison was still the LORD’S prophet. He still told the king that he was going to go into captivity.
Our world should never revolve around numbers. If we count on our bank account to get us through a crisis, we would be wrong. If we count on our talent to get us through a crisis, we would be wrong. If we count on human beings to get us through a crisis, we would be wrong. The true of the matter is that we need to count on the LORD alone and HE can deliver us from any crisis. Can HE use money? YES!! Can HE use our talent? YES!!! Can HE use other humans? YES!!
CHALLENGE: Our confidence has to be in the LORD alone. If we continually put this into practice, we can give a proper example to those around us.
: 18 Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, What have I offended against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? (2398 “offended” [chata] means to violate a divine law, to wrong, to err from the mark, to sin, harm, trespass, miss the mark, miss the goal or path of right and duty or to incur guilt.)
DEVOTION: Jeremiah was trying to be a faithful witness for the LORD to the people of Israel. He was trying to convey to them what the LORD told him to say. He was being honest with them and not sugarcoating what the LORD was doing to them because of their sin against the LORD.
The children of Judah didn’t want the LORD to judge them for their sins. They really didn’t think they did anything that bad against the LORD. Why should HE want to send the army of Babylon against them.
The problem is that we don’t understand that the LORD wants us to live a life that is pleasing to HIM, just like, HE wanted the children of Israel to live a life that was pleasing to HIM.
Our thoughts are not HIS thoughts. We can only receive HIS thoughts if we meditate on what HE says to us in the Word of God and through the Holy Spirit. The children of Judah had the Word of God that Jeremiah shared with them but they didn’t want to obey it.
They seemed to think that if they put the prophet in prison the judgment of the LORD would go away. It was wrong thinking on their part and on our part even today that we think that we don’t have to change.
CHALLENGE: The only way that we can avoid judgment from the LORD is to be obedient. If we are not obedient than we have to confess our sins and HE will be faithful and just to forgive them and cleanse us. It doesn’t mean that there will be no consequences but they might be lighter.
: 20 Therefore hear now, I pray you, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray you, be accepted before you; that you cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. (8467 “supplication” [t@chinnah] means favor, grace, plea, petition, request, asking for mercy or showing of kindness to someone.)
DEVOTION: Zedekiah didn’t listen to the LORD. His servants did not listen to the LORD. However, he wanted Jeremiah to pray for him. He was trying to cover all the bases even if he didn’t really believe in the LORD or HIS prophecies.
Pharaoh came from Egypt to help the people of Judah. The army of Nebuchadrezzar went out to meet them. Zedekiah thought that they were going to be safe. He wanted Jeremiah to talk with the LORD regarding their future.
The LORD told Jeremiah that even if all the soldiers of Nebuchadrezzar were wounded, they would still burn Jerusalem.
Jeremiah had left the city of Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his inheritance but was stopped by the captain of the ward. He was asked questions – to which – he gave a truthful answer but was taken to the princes and beaten and put in prison. He stayed there many days. He was falsely accused but still spent time in prison.
The king secretly sent for him to ask him questions regarding the LORD’S answer to pray. Jeremiah asked the king not to send him back to prison. The king gave him his request and also daily bread to eat.
Our KING is greater than Zedekiah. HE answers our conversation with HIM (prayer) on a daily basis by giving us our daily bread. HE is a great provider. Are we communicating with HIM? What are we praying for today? Is our need as real as Jeremiah’s need?
CHALLENGE: Remember that even when we are telling the truth, we might not be believed. The LORD knows the truth and our actions. HE knows our hearts.
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