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Jeremiah 26 (ESV)
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3 It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.’”
7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord…
24 But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.
REFLECTION:
Shiloh was the place where the tabernacle was set up after the Israelites occupied Canaan, and was destroyed by the Philistines in 1050 BC. “I will make this house like Shiloh” (v6) refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. God wanted Jeremiah to “not hold back a word” (v2) and speak His words as they were. It is possible that Jeremiah was weak and thought that some words were too harsh and could cause everyone to become enemies and bring him great danger, so he wanted to cut some of the content. However, God ordered Jeremiah not to change His words to suit Jeremiah’s own wishes, the tastes of the audience, and the environment he is in. Sure enough, the priests and false prophets were furious when they heard this, because the temple is the source of their power. People respect the temple, and they are also revered. Jeremiah said that the temple would be destroyed, undoubtedly challenging and shaking their power. Therefore, a mob of rebellious and foolish people was gathered to kill Jeremiah. Of course the almighty and righteous God will protect Jeremiah from harm through human hands. Today, when we preach the truth in the Bible to unbelievers, we may also feel that some messages are too harsh and may offend others. We always want to express or omit some messages euphemistically. We should understand that God is with us and He will add to our courage and strength, and we cannot change the word of God in order to please anyone.
PRAYER:
Pray for God to give you more courage to not be afraid to offend people when preaching the truth of God, not to delete, add, or change any of God’s words, but to clearly preach all the truths that God has entrusted us to communicate. Pray that God will enable you to have more commitment, so that you can live a holy and abundant life, not only in words, but also with your own practical actions to manifest the glory of God.
HYMN:
By Faith – youtu.be/fXB8ihepUpE
