Monday, January 16, 2023

How difficult is your Circumstance?

 Read Jeremiah 32.

Who buys real estate when the nation is about to be completely taken over by a foreign power?  But that is exactly what God asked Jeremiah to do. 

The prophet was imprisoned for speaking the truth of God's word.  King Zedekiah only wanted to hear happy-talk about success.  He considered the message from the LORD to be equivalent to treason.  Never mind the Babylonian army had Jerusalem under full siege at the time.  Jeremiah was confused about the request God made of him to purchase land.  Yet, he was fully obedient, even though it made no sense.  He asked his assistant, Baruch, to put away the deed so that years later there would proof of ownership.

This bewilderment prompted his prayer.  In it he acknowledged that the LORD created all things and, therefore, is free to do as He wishes.  Since God has that kind of power, "nothing is too hard for you" (v.17).  He continued by acknowledging God's love and His justice.  It is at the end, in verse 25, where he expressed his confusion as to what God was doing and why.

The LORD responded by saying that now His judgment would fall on Judah.  The purchase of the land was to be a sign of hope.  God will bring all the Jews back to the land.  With the impending loss of everything, restoration seemed to be an impossible happening, except it was God who said it.  In the third portion of the chapter, the LORD continued to lay out His plan for Israel's future.

Most people believe in a god that is too small to help them.  The God of the Bible is uniquely all-powerful.  If God can call into existence the heavens and earth out of nothing, if He can raise one nation and put down another in His own timing, what can God do in our daily circumstances of life?  The LORD challenged Jeremiah’s faith, "Is anything too hard for me?" (v.27)

 

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