This chapter contains prophesy giving Judah and their neighbors the option of serving Babylon / King Nebuchadnezzar, or perishing.
“Thus the Lord said to me: ‘Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. Send word to the king[s] of Edom… Moab… sons of Ammon… Tyre, and… Sidon… who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. Give them this charge for their masters: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel… ‘It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him.’ ” ‘ ” (v2-6 abr)
Where do we start? There’s so much depth here it’s impossible to cover it all:
– Jeremiah is commanded to make and wear an actual yoke as a visual aid
– All nations in the area, including Judah, who were contemplating allying against Babylon, are told to serve King Nebuchadnezzar (or God Himself will destroy them)
– God calls King Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world, ‘His servant’ (this is pretty condescending because it’s the equivalent of a King speaking about the lowest level of society [serf, vassal, etc.] under their command).
– The passage warns about more false prophets who are saying the opposite of God / Jeremiah
My takeaway is this: we may not always appreciate or agree with how God chooses to operate (for example who He allows into roles of authority), however, we really should submit to God’s authority. God is the Creator and Sovereign Lord, so if He allows someone into power over us who we “didn’t vote for” or don’t agree with, that’s not a good enough reason for us to slander or disobey these leaders. We should only disobey such human authorities if they ask us to sin against God and / or our neighbors.
In my life I have yet to vote for the ‘winning’ politician (I seem to [quite biblically] go against the majority of the world). Despite voting for “underdogs”, I try very hard not to speak ill of those who are elected, and strive to love and pray for them, as God commands me to.
Let’s fully submit to God’s authority, including those who extend God’s authority, whenever that submission doesn’t cause us to sin against God or our neighbor. We may not agree with the person / people, but we can still remain Christlike in how we speak about them, obey them, love them, and pray for them (no matter how impossible this seems some days).
Father God, our Sovereign and Most High Lord, we humbly ask Your forgiveness for our lack of submission to Your authority. Not only have we sinned against You, we have sinned against those You allow to extend Your authority. Please help us to love everyone, especially those in leadership, and pray for them often. We pray that all in leadership may fulfill Your will and lead in a Christlike manner. Help us to please obey even when we disagree, as long as that obedience does not lead to sin. In the name of Jesus who has been given all authority on Earth and in Heaven we praise You, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training