May the mumbling commence!
Oppression was rampant in Jeremiah’s day. Those who were vulnerable were in great peril. People would rob, steal, murder, commit adultery and perjury, and follow other gods. They would do all these things then run unto the Temple of the Lord and think they were safe (Jeremiah 7:1-10). And the Lord spoke through His prophet Jeremiah these words which were quoted by Jesus at the cleansing of the Temple:
Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord. (7:11)
The people of Judah thought they were playing some kind of game! There is no place safe to hide from the wrath of the Lord when we do evil in His eyes. How much less would the very House where God had placed His Name provide protection? It is near impossible not to get sullied when living with such a people. The evil is a tangled web to live in.
We, too, live in a tangled and sticky web of evil. To maintain our high standard of living (in comparison to the majority of the rest of the world) we crush others – many times unknowingly. We want high paying jobs, but we do not realize what these high paying jobs cost those most vulnerable. We want quality goods at bargain prices, but we do not see the sweat shops that make these affordable goods possible. The high cost of low prices, indeed!
Jeremiah was no different in his day. In Chapter fifteen of his book, Jeremiah rues the day he was born. The Lord was afflicting him. Listen to the Lord’s answer to Jeremiah’s pleas for rescue:
"If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. (19b)
When our webs of sin and deceit become so intricate, the Lord sometimes uses a people who are not His people to show the meaning of faithfulness. The Lord did just this with the Recabite family in Jeremiah Chapter 35. Read about it below:
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: "Go to the Recabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink."
So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons-- the whole family of the Recabites… Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the men of the Recabite family and said to them, "Drink some wine."
But they replied, "We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command: 'Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine… We have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine…
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, 'Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?' declares the Lord. 'Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather's command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me. Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, "Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers." But you have not paid attention or listened to me. The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.'
Therefore, this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.'"
Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Recabites, "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.' Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'Jonadab son of Recab will never fail to have a man to serve me.'"
God will punish His own when they err, and God will reward those who have not accepted His call to be His own when they do right.
O Lord, help us to see the way we live as you do. Help us to untangle ourselves from the evil around us so that we may speak worthy words and return to you.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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