June 1st, 2011
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

On God's Side

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Opening Prayer

Lord God, You are wise, strong, patient, and loving. Pour Your wisdom, strength, patience, and love into me today.

Read JEREMIAH 27:1-22

[1] Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] This is what the LORD said to me: “Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. [3] Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. [4] Give them a message for their masters and say, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: [5] With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. [6] Now I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. [7] All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him. [8] “‘”If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I destroy it by his hand. [9] So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ [10] They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. [11] But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there, declares the LORD.”‘” [12] I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, “Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live. [13] Why will you and your people die by the sword, famine and plague with which the LORD has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? [14] Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying lies to you. [15] ‘I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD. ‘They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.'” [16] Then I said to the priests and all these people, “This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the LORD’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. [17] Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this city become a ruin? [18] If they are prophets and have the word of the LORD, let them plead with the LORD Almighty that the furnishings remaining in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon. [19] For this is what the LORD Almighty says about the pillars, the Sea, the movable stands and the other furnishings that are left in this city, [20] which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem- [21] yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: [22] ‘They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,’ declares the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.'”

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:29,30).

Think Further

Today’s series of messages around the visual aid of an agricultural yoke comes about ten years after the events in ch. 26. Jeremiah speaks in the reign of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar’s puppet, during which there was a lively debate over what to do about Babylon: rebel with the help of Egypt, or acquiesce? Zedekiah himself was inclined to rebel. Even after national humiliation (20), though, Jeremiah still hears the message that Nebuchadnezzar is God’s servant. He still has his eye on the endgame, the ongoing life of the people (17). The people of God were more significant to him (and to God) than the corrupt kingdom of Judah. The life of the people of God is still more important than the flawed institutions within which we express that life.

As befits a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah preaches the same message of servitude to Judah’s neighbors (3). By reporting that he has done so, he reminds his own people that God’s attention to them is part of a much wider concern for all peoples. God is not uniquely on their side—and it is just possible that God may not always be on our side either.

In another sense, God never stops being on the side of Israel, and on our side. The hurt caused by Nebuchadnezzar’s theft of the temple treasures runs deeply through the text like a running sore on the Israelite psyche (see v. 16). In promising that they will one day be returned (22), God reassures his people of his ongoing interest in them. When Ezra was allowed by Cyrus to take the treasures back with him to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:7) it was a moment of joy. It symbolized God’s care and his ongoing permission for human expressions of knowing God, imperfect though they be.

Apply

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Prov. 27:17). Think of those whom God has used, positively or negatively, to bring growth into your life.

Closing prayer

Lord, preserve me from throwing off the yoke of Christ in the name of false hopes.

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