Thursday: Jeremiah’s Escape
As we saw yesterday, whatever his fears, whatever his own emotions, Jeremiah stood firm, fully aware of the potential death that his stance could bring him. He warned the princes and the people very clearly in Jeremiah 26:15 (know for certain
[NKJV], he said) that if they killed him they would face punishment for spilling innocent blood.
Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com
Jeremiah knew that he was not guilty of the charges against him.
Read Jeremiah 26:16-24. How did Jeremiah escape death?
How fascinating that the priests and the prophets, the ones who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders, had to be rebuked and challenged by mere elders
and regular people
who came forward in defense of Jeremiah. They brought up the memory of Micah, who had lived a century before Jeremiah, in Israel. The king then did not hurt Micah but listened to his advice, the whole nation repented, and disaster was averted, at least for a time. Now these people, in Jeremiah’s day, were wiser than their leaders, wanted to spare the nation from making a big mistake by putting a prophet of God to death.
The acquittal emphasized that Jeremiah was not guilty of those things he was accused of. However, the priests’ and prophets’ hatred became stronger. Anger and the desire for revenge rose in them, so that at another time they would pounce on Jeremiah with their full fury. His release meant only a moment of ease for the prophet. He was not completely out of danger.
What we can see here is an example of how some people learned lessons from history while others, knowing the same history, refused to learn the same lessons. We can see something similar centuries later, with the Pharisee Gamaliel and his caution to other leaders concerning how to handle the followers of Jesus.
Read Acts 5:34-41. What parallels exist here and with what happened to Jeremiah? More important, what lesson can we ourselves learn from history and from the mistakes of those who have come before us?
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Read Acts 5:34-41. What parallels exist here and with what happened to Jeremiah?
1). They are similar for it concerns the message of warning by both the prophets and apostles from God to Israel so they are for the same people, Israelite.
a). So both Jeremiah and the Apostles are threatened by the Church leaders of Israel, the Pharisees who sought their silence and if need be their imprisonment then finally their death as it finally occurred with Saint Peter & Paul.
b). But they were both saved; Jeremiah by the people or the church but the Apostles by Gamaliel who was Saint Paul's Rabbi (Acts 21:40-Acts 22:5).
2). The content is similar for it calls for repentance by the people but the only twist is the emphasis on their acceptance of Jesus Christ the Son of God/Man.
a). Just like Jeremiah who was saved by the people or church members so will be it in our case we will be saved when we stand up to proclaim the message, for God will somehow come up with a deliverer just like Gamaliel.
b) We have not reached the Universal Sunday Law or Death Decree where God's Surety of our safety would be guarantee. For the moment we can be persecuted and suffer death but not during those two periods for no one will be put to death as SOP stated but forgot the book and page number but i have come across it.
c). Just like the Waldensian and Huguenots who were faithful Ambassadors of God's Gospel Commission that none perished in their hour of death decree as promulgated by the Roman church in the dark ages (538 AD to 1798 AD).
Therefore we should not worry about our safety and God's deliverance during our persecution, as advised by Moses and SOP in my own paraphrase "Why should we worry about the future lest we forget how the Good Lord has led the church and even individual church members in the past. May this encourage and convict us to carry the Gospel today and for the rest of our lives with joy and perseverance.
More important, what lesson can we ourselves learn from history and from the mistakes of those who have come before us?
Good old saying: Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
What have I learned? Don't follow the majority! Think for yourself!
Follow the Son of Man!
Mat 7:13-14 Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it. (14) Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
this further proves the point Mrs White mentioned in the testimonies that we have more to fear from within than from without. It calls for every individual to examine themselves working out our own salvation with fear and trembling that we do not fall prey to the same temptations the same way the priests and prophets in the time of Jeremiah and the Apostles. For none will invent a new sin but that which was in the past will be in our time Ecclesiastes 1 vs 9. God bless you
God's movement cannot be stayed by any force known to men or the devil. The TRUTH is marching on. Let us all join the march name TRUTH.
It's only wisdom that allows you to see or learn from the past and its only God who gives such wisdom and the holy spirit reminds as of things we need to remember.lets all look in the past and see the danger we are in today.
"...So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God" (Jer 26:16).
So how did Jeremiah escape death?
God, on that day, used as His agency the princes and all the common people. They all stood in defiance against the church, and protected Jeremiah. It was like a beast had, for a little while, turned against its rider.
2 corinthians 13:8
For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.
acts 5:38
38 And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”
so whether we heed to Gods voice or not he will always overcome for his ways are above our ways just like the heavens are above the earth and he is the porter and we are the clay.
Lets not repeat the same mistakes and be doomed but heed to God voice for Christs coming is sooner than we first believed. Amen.
Variety, the spice of life. Just as we are all different, God leads us all personally and individually. Our experience may be shared and copied but until we actually step out in faith believing that He is and that He rewards our searching out for Him, we won't find Him. I empathize with God, since He has such a large group of us who will not be easily led. Though He is not wearied as we men are, He does desire all of us to come into His good will for us. His yolk is easy and His burden is light. Trust Him for He is worthy!
I believe the greater lesson is found in WHY Jeremiah was saved. His faith.
He did not turn back from God's leading though it placed him in temporal danger. Still, what is that anyway? Isn't everlasting life with God the goal? Is another few days on this (sinful) world worth it when we follow unbelief? There is no escape from eternity and the final judgment (typified in the destruction of Jerusalem), which God's word has made clear to all who will study it to show themselves approved unto Him. LIFE is not here, but THERE, where God dwells in the purest of light, where the faithful will be presented faultless in the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
Faith must look past this transient life and see with surety the life to come. With this heavenly view, the servants of God will be fearless in the face of the foe and faithful in their obedience to the leading of God who seeks to save the lost that can still be found among us. If yoked with Jesus, we will work as He did for others, forgetting Himself. Jeremiah was such a servant through faith.