Monday, April 01,
2013, 5:11 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Awaken the Dawn” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant
is listening. I read Jeremiah 45
(NIV):
When Baruch son of
Neriah wrote on a scroll the words Jeremiah the prophet dictated in the fourth
year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah said this to Baruch:
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: You said, ‘Woe to
me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find
no rest.’ But the Lord has told me to say to you, ‘This is what the Lord says:
I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout
the earth. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them.
For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go
I will let you escape with your life.’”
The Scroll
In Jeremiah 36 we read that God told Jeremiah to take a
scroll and to write on it all the words God had spoken to him concerning
Israel, Judah and all the other nations. The writings were to cover a specified
period of time (see http://originalworks.info/new-beginnings/).
God then said that, perhaps, when the people heard it read to them that they
would turn from their wicked ways, and he would forgive them. So, Jeremiah did
as the Lord instructed. He dictated the words to his scribe, Baruch, who then
wrote the words on the scroll. Then, Jeremiah asked Baruch to take the scroll
to the temple on a day of fasting and to read it to the people there, because
Jeremiah was under some restriction and could not do it himself. So, Baruch did
everything Jeremiah told him to do.
Someone who heard the scroll read then asked Baruch to read
it to the officials, and eventually it was read to the king by someone named
Jehudi. The king, after the reading of three or four columns, cut off the
portion of the scroll that had been read, and he threw it in the fire. The
whole scroll was burned up. The king showed no fear of God. The king then
ordered the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah, but the Lord hid them. Then, the
Lord told Jeremiah to take another scroll and to write on it all the words that
were on the first scroll that had been burned in the fire. So, Jeremiah did as
the Lord instructed, and once again he dictated all the words of the Lord to
Baruch, and Baruch wrote all the words on the scroll.
Jeremiah
Following this account of the burning of the scroll and the
re-writing of the words that were contained on the burned scroll onto a new
scroll, we read where Jeremiah warned the people to flee Jerusalem and Judah,
and to surrender to the Babylonians in order to spare their lives, and not to
think, just because there seemed to be a lull in the advancement of forces that
it meant the enemy was not coming back. They were coming back, and they planned
to burn the city down. Then we read of Jeremiah’s arrest, of him beaten and
thrown into prison, and then of him released from that prison to be placed in
the courtyard of the guard. Then we read how Jeremiah continued to preach that
the people must flee the city and surrender to the Babylonians if they want to
live. The officials did not like that, so they threw him into a cistern and he
sunk down in the mud. Someone appealed to the king on behalf of Jeremiah and
the king had Jeremiah pulled out of the cistern, and Jeremiah was once again
placed in the courtyard of the guard. Wow!
Jerusalem
Then, we have the account of Jerusalem being taken by the
king of Babylon. The king of Babylon gave orders to spare Jeremiah’s life.
Jeremiah was then set free for a time. Some battles took place between some
groups of people. The people inquired of Jeremiah as to what they should do.
The people promised to obey the Lord. The people were the remnant which
survived the onslaught of the king of Babylon, and they were now in a safe
place. Jeremiah told them to stay put, for the Lord would take care of them,
and he would protect them, but if they fled to Egypt, they were to know that
the king of Babylon would attack Egypt and they would lose their lives. The
people, who had just said they would obey God, no matter the message, responded
to Jeremiah by calling him a liar. So, the people disobeyed God and they fled
to Egypt. It appears they took Baruch and Jeremiah with them. The officers led away
the entire remnant to Egypt.
In Egypt, God spoke to the people through Jeremiah
concerning their idolatry, but the people responded by saying they would not
listen to the message God spoke to them through Jeremiah, and that they would
continue their practice of worshiping the “Queen of Heaven,” as had been practiced
by their ancestors. Culture and tradition are very strong forces (see http://originalworks.info/the-queen-of-heaven/).
So, Jeremiah told them to go ahead and do what they had determined to do, but
they were to know that disaster would strike and that there would be great loss
of life.
Baruch
Then we have this small chapter 45 which is addressed to
Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe. If we try to put ourselves in the place of Baruch, I
think we can get a feel for what Baruch was feeling, and why he felt as though
God had added sorrow to his pain, and why he was worn out with groaning and
felt as though he had no rest. Just having to write all those messages of
judgment must have been depressing enough, let alone to have to read them to
the people, then to have his life threatened, then to take on the task of
rewriting what he had written before, as was dictated to him by Jeremiah, then
witnessing the fall of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem, then to be forced to
flee to Egypt with the remnant of Judah, and then to have the people to
continue to reject the words, to continue in their idolatry and disobedience,
and to know that was only going to mean more judgment to come. Wow!
Yet, this chapter could have been placed in the writings of
Jeremiah out of order, because the indication is that God spoke to Baruch when
he wrote on the scroll the words dictated to him by Jeremiah, which would place
this writing prior to the fall of Jerusalem and Judah. Still, Baruch evidently
wanted relief from his suffering. That is understandable. We don’t really know
what all he said to God or what was going through his head or what “great
things” he wanted for himself, but perhaps he was lamenting the loss of
property, the future he thought he was going to have, the loss of friends and
family, and a not-so-great prospect of what was yet to face him, and perhaps he
was hoping life would return to “normal.”
Making it Personal
I’ve been there. Perhaps many of you have, too. Sometimes
life throws curve balls at us, and sometimes darts, yet God is absolutely
sovereign over all things. Nothing takes him by surprise. Nothing can touch us
but what God allows it, and he allows it for a purpose. And, if we think the
grass is greener on the other side, think again. If we think, “If I just had a
different job, or I moved to a new location, or I had a different car, or
spouse, or house, then things would be different,” then think again! We may
have some temporary relief or gratification from something new or different,
but ultimately we take ourselves with us wherever we go, and life has its ups
and downs no matter where we live or where we work, and marriage is hard no
matter what. There is no perfect anything! And, we should never look to things
of this earth to bring us peace, joy, satisfaction or to heal what ails us,
because the things of this life are temporal and are bound to disappoint us and
leave us empty and longing for more.
The Apostle Paul said he learned the art of being content no
matter what his circumstances. When we realize that God is absolutely sovereign
over all things, and that he allows circumstances in our lives for our good –
to teach, mature and purify us and to make us holy – then we realize that running
away is never the answer. “If only we had this or that, then we would be happy”
is also not the answer. And, if we try to live our lives to please people, we
will find that no matter where we go, and no matter how hard we try to do what
we think people expect of us, someone will always not like us, and the rules
will keep changing from place to place and from people to people. And, if it is
God’s purpose for you or I to go through something in our lives, he may take us
through it no matter where we end up. We can never run from God (see Psalm
139).
Yet, sometimes God says “Go! Flee! Get outa town!” That is
what he was telling the people of Jerusalem and Judah before the fall of
Jerusalem. And, if this is the timing of God’s words to Baruch, then perhaps
the message to him was for him not to hold on to the life he had before, or the
future he thought he was going to have for himself, nor to hold on to his
earthly possessions, but he was to go and to leave it all behind him, yet he
was not to expect that a change in location was necessarily going to be any
better, for God planned to judge the whole earth.
So, a move with God, upon his orders, may not bring the
promise of improvement over circumstances. Yet, we can go in the hope and
promise that God is with us, and if we are going out of obedience to God, with
the peace and blessings of knowing we are in the center of his will. The main
thing is to bring all things to God in prayer, to trust him with our
circumstances, and to not think that natural changes in environment or
circumstances is our “hope,” but to always put our trust in the Lord in all
things and to follow him wherever he leads us, even if it is into dark valleys
or on mountain tops.
Awaken the Dawn /
An Original Work / January 15, 2013
Based off Psalm 57 (NIV 1984)
O my God, have mercy
on me!
In the Lord, my soul
takes refuge.
In the shadow of Your
wings, Lord,
I find shelter till
the storms pass.
I cry out to my God
Most High.
He fulfills His
purpose for me.
He sent His Son to die
for me,
So I could be saved.
I am in the midst of
lions;
Men whose teeth are
spears and arrows;
Whose tongues are
sharp; words accusing.
They spread a net, my
feet to catch.
They dug a pit, in hopes
I’d fall.
O God, be exalted o’er
all.
Let Your glory shine
to all men,
So they may be saved.
Steadfast is my heart,
O my God;
I will sing of all
Your wonders.
Awake, my soul! Sing
praise to God!
Early I will rise and
praise Him!
I’ll praise God among the
nations;
I will sing among the
peoples.
God’s love reaches to
the heavens,
So we may be saved.
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