Our Father who Hears and Cares

 Jeremiah 15:10-14

 A promise from God to his spokesman Jeremiah and it should be of encouragement to all who are a follower of Christ.  In verse ten we had a beat-up and discouraged prophet complaining to his Master and wishing that he had never been born.  And our Father who hears and cares tells Jeremiah; “The Lord said, “Have I not set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?” We must read ahead to understand that God is talking about a wooden yoke Jeremiah was to make and wear around his neck, it's found in the 27^th chapter, verses 2-3.  And he was also to proclaim the message of Nebuchadnezzar’s control over all nations and that they were to serve him and not rebel.  You and I may have problems with God calling King Nebuchadnezzar His servant, but it is because we do not understand God’s sovereign control over the affairs of all mankind. 

So God spoke these words to Jeremiah, and he passed them on: “Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”  Now, this did not sit well with the false prophets of that time or now, it was not politically correct then or now and it brought Jeremiah into conflict with them.  Hananiah was one of the false prophets, and he was telling the people that none of the things Jeremiah was saying were true and then he took this action.

 “The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. In the presence of all the people, Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Jeremiah the prophet then went on his way.

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet: “Go say to Hananiah: This is what the Lord says, ‘You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place, you will make an iron yoke bar.’ For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have also put the wild animals under him.’”

The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah!  The Lord did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.’” And the prophet Hananiah died that year in the seventh month.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice