Kim and I are reading the book of Jeremiah together one chapter every day. We thought it would give us a chance to digest the message a little better while we talked about the daily verses.
My initial reaction was to see Jeremiah as a wailing prophet, warning wrongdoers of impending doom. There are about a million examples.
‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” Jeremiah 18:11
I’ve never seen myself as an evildoer so the Books of the Prophets haven’t interested me as much as the really cool stories about David, Gideon, or Elisha.
Eventually, one of the stories broke through to me.
In Jeremiah 34, God told Jeremiah to command the people to free the servants they had held beyond the 7 years allowed by Mosaic law. They obeyed but then took the same people back into servitude again. Another example of evildoers, right?
I skipped through this pretty quickly until I thought about it further.
When the servants were “released”, where were they supposed to go? As long-term members of one household, what job skills did they have to find income? What money did they have for the first month’s rent or a security deposit? Their social network was made up of other servants from that house or others close by – should they abandon their roots?
So the servants reluctantly asked to be taken back into their previous positions, surrendering freedom for familiarity.
The families were faced with a tough choice. Welcoming them back as servants meant ignoring Jeremiah. Rejecting their request meant casting them into a world they weren’t prepared for.
I can imagine hearing them talk about how the High Council should put together a transition program for these people before mumbling about the politics of the day never getting much done.
You can almost hear a husband and wife arguing about how to help – one seeing the need and the other bemoaning a difficult financial year where their resources were already spread thin.
In the end, they conceded that if their servant wanted to “come home”, then they would let them. This time they would be nicer, maybe get them some new clothes, or give them an afternoon off every other week.
After all, what else would they do? Anything more would require completely upending their lives and raise a thousand questions where they didn’t know the answers.
The more I reflected over how Jeremiah 34 actually played out for the people, the more it sounded like a very practical solution I would have devised. It changed the way I viewed this wailing prophet.
Jeremiah wasn’t talking to people who didn’t care or viewed themselves as the “bad guys”. Most of these people believed they were doing the best they could in their situations. They had either drifted or were following paths they were raised on.
Jeremiah was primarily talking to people who followed most of the laws of the day – observing the Sabbath, avoiding unclean foods, and displaying mezuzahs on their doorposts.
When God judged the people, he called whole families together (Rekabites in Jer 35). Each was accountable not only for their own behavior, but also for their parents, siblings, and children. That must have been difficult to hear.
God was judging whether or not they would listen to His prophet, reflect on their lives, and blow everything up if it brought them closer to Him.
Jeremiah is pleading for me to ask myself:
Am I willing to listen to what he says and reflect on my own life, or assume he is talking to someone else and keep flipping pages? Do I want more, or am I satisfied with what I have?
I’ve recently rearranged my life to give time to contemplate a lot of things. Some questions are easy – How much should I exercise, and what diet do I want? Some questions are hard – Am I building a city on a hill, joyfully surrendering everything I have been given to expand His kingdom? Are there parts of my life I am holding back, not doing evil, but not pursuing relation with Him as my highest priority?
Jeremiah asks hard questions. He warns of punishment but also promises reconciliation.
Most of the people of his day ignored him. They had busy lives and were generally satisfied with themselves and their situation. Reflection is time-consuming and difficult.
Jeremiah challenges me:
Will you welcome me into your house, listen to me as the voice of God, and then repent?
Jimmy, when you decide to get your “feet wet” you plunge yourself, body and soul, into the waters. Then generously take us with you through your descriptive phrases. I’m asking God to open wide the Heavens above you and Kim, while you two walk with Him in the cool of His day. Be beyond blessed in these days you have set aside to seek and hear our Lord Jesus.