Astonishment when God speaks from an unbeliever

Jeremiah 40:1-6

What does it look like when a Pagan has more faith than those who claim to be followers of God?  I will never forget a time in my life when I was allowing my flesh to rule and a non-believer who I was living with made this comment; I thought you claimed to be a Christian that is not Christian!  It was as if God Himself had spoken to me, for I knew that the words that had come from my mouth were of my flesh, and not from God, and I knew my friend had nailed me.

The captain of the guard for Nebuchadnezzar was a man named Nebuzaradan, and he is at Ramah and Jeremiah is in chains along with all the other exiles of Jerusalem.  They are heading for Babylon when Nebuzaradan removes the chains from Jeremiah and shares these words with him.  Now it may be of importance to know that Ramah is about five miles from Jerusalem.  You may also find it of some interest that the Babylonian pay close attention to the beliefs of their enemies, to wage psychological warfare against them.

When Nebuzaradan found Jeremiah in chains, he released him and this was the conversation they exchanged: “The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God pronounced this disaster against this place. The Lord has brought it about and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you. Now, behold, I release you today from the chains on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well, but if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go. If you remain, then return to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever you think it right to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.”

The sadist news of all is God has spoken to mankind from a bush, a rock, a donkey, and from the heavens above, and we are astonished when He speaks to us from an unbeliever.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

How easily deceived we are

Jeremiah 39:11-18

How easily deceived we are; God never promised us a rose garden, but so many are teaching a gospel of all gain and no pain, and it has no roots in Scripture.  But when God makes a promise, as He did to Jeremiah, it will always be fulfilled.  Do you recall Jeremiah trying to leave the city by Benjamin’s Gate and a sentry named Injah seized Jeremiah and called him a deserter and the officials beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan?  God arranged for the King to rescue him and have him held in the court of the guard and for a loaf of bread to be given to him daily. 

Do you recall the evil officials going to King Zedekiah and reporting all that Jeremiah was saying and telling the King he must die?  How the King told them to do as they pleased and Jeremiah was cast into the Cistern to die in the mud and without food.  And God used Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the Kings service to rescue him.  How often we forget our God is big, in fact, He tells us in Jeremiah 23:23-24, “Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the Lord, ‘and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord”.

Bodies are stacking up in Jerusalem and where do we find Jeremiah in the court of the guard and our God who is nearby and far away has put into the heart and mind of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to give this command concerning Jeremiah to the captain of the guard.  Picking up the account in Jeremiah 39:12-14, “Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.” So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he lived among the people.”

And you recall Ebed-melech the Ethiopian eunuch because he was faithful to what God put into his heart, he became as a prize of war.  This is the account: “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: “Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 39:15-18)

God has a great plan for those who have ears to listen, but it is never our timeline.  One of my favorite verses in Jeremiah is 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  But that promise is going to happen after seventy years are completed for Babylon, then God is going to bring His people back home.  Obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings curses, and those are the only choices!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Have you ever been a foolish man?

 Jeremiah 39:1-10

Have you ever been a foolish man?  I have, and I’m betting the farm that you have too.  I will make my argument from the Scriptures beginning in Micah 6:8, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  If you read this as I have and not made that the goal of your life, what does that say about you?  We find in Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that he should lie or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

Do you recall King Zedekiah having the private meeting with Jeremiah and once more asking what God had been telling Jeremiah?  We find that account in chapter 38 and Jeremiah’s answer to the King in verses 17-18.  “Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.”

We have entered into the 39th chapter, and it is like a broken record; God tells Jeremiah what happens if the people are obedient; it brings blessing, and disobedience will bring judgment, but they, like us are a little too busy to listen.  Verses 17-18 are not a new message to the King, but this weak leader fears people more than God.  If only he, if only we believed the words in Numbers 23:19, how different would life be?

The Babylonian army came and besieged Jerusalem, and the date and time were the eleventh years of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, and on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city walls.   And all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle of the gate.  So what did King Zedekiah do, he ran with his army, his sons, and his officials at night.  And what happened when the army of the Babylonians captured the king?  

We find the account in chapter 39:6-9, “The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained.”

I began by asking have you ever been a foolish man, but that is not the best question; will you, will I keep being stupid people?  Ladies, I was not gender-exclusive, the same question could be asked of you.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Prophet of God - Hireling Prophet

Jeremiah 38:14-28

We must begin in the Proverbs 22:28-29, “Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.  Do you see a man skillful in his work?  He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.”  The ancient landmark takes us back to when Joshua and the people entered the promise land, the land they did not earn, and it was a gift from God.  Joshua was told to establish boundaries for the tribes and property was marked off by pillars and to be kept within a family forever, so if one moved a marker, it was like stealing the land.  Now that is vital, but the latter part of the verse should be each person’s goal, to be a skilled worker to what God has called us.  We’re told in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”  When we do this, we are obedient, and it is an act of service and worship if done with the right heart attitude.

Now we have this prophet of God; Jeremiah and then we have the hireling prophet who will tell you what you want to hear, and we as people like to have our cake and eat it, so often we listen to the ones who fear to lose their job.  But the hireling will never stand before kings, but Jeremiah often stood before the King. 

So King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the LORD’s temple.  It is not just a private meeting it was meant to be a secret meeting.  And once more the King wants to know what God is telling Jeremiah.  Jeremiah’s reply; "If I tell you, you will kill me, won't you? Besides, if I give you advice, you won't listen to me anyway."  A hireling will never talk like this to one in authority, but a man who trusts in God cannot do anything else.  The King’s reply, "As the Lord lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who want to take your life."

The conversation; “Jeremiah, therefore, said to Zedekiah. "This is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape from them.' " 19 But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am worried about the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans. They may hand me over to them to abuse me." 20 "They will not hand you over," Jeremiah replied. "Obey the voice of the Lord in what I am telling you, so it may go well for you and you can live. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the verdict that the Lord has shown me: 22 'All the women who remain in the palace of Judah's king will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon and will say: Your trusted friends misled you and overcame you. Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you. 23 All your wives and sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn down.' " 24 Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, "Don't let anyone know about these things or you will die. 25 If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come and demand of you, 'Tell us what you said to the king; don't hide anything from us and we won't kill you. Also, what did the king say to you?'

26 then you will tell them, 'I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.' " 27 When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he reported the exact words to them the king had commanded, and they quit speaking with him because nothing had been heard. 28 Jeremiah remained in the guard's courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured, and he was [there] when it happened.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Life brings with it Sorrows and Trials

Life brings with it Sorrows and Trials

I have a high school friend who lost his daughter to cancer, and he has shared with me if there had been a way to change places with her he would have.  But often when we experience such unexpected sorrow our first and right thing to do is pray, but often when it does not go to our liking, the old enemy of our soul tells us God does not care.  A book that has helped me understand the ways of an invisible God, and how He the Creator cares for His creation is “Faith is the Victory” by Buell H. Kazee.

Last night, I was not able to go to sleep and in those times it seems as if my mind will not shut down, I prayed for everyone and still sleep would not come.   At midnight I got up and went into the living room so as not to wake Jan.  I was going to read my Bible, but it was in my office in the bedroom, so I opened “Faith is The Victory,” it is not a new read, it is one of those books you will read more than once and yet with my schedule I’ve been working on the reread for months.  I want to share page 113 and some of 114 with you, for after reading this I was so thankful I was not able to sleep and shared that with the Father when I came back to bed.

“Remember, you are God’s child, in a world of sin, and you do not know the way.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and you will need Him in all three entities.

So, the first conclusion about your problem is, don’t try to get rid if it until you have looked into it thoroughly.  If, after you have submitted it to God, He takes it away, all right.  But it may be something He has permitted to come into your life to bless you.  Don’t handle it rashly.  Remember, you have trusted all to Him; now try to practice it.  It is His business, and His alone, now, what happens to you.  You may be contradicting His plans and thus robbing yourself of the great blessing He has for you.

We cannot over-emphasize this principle.  When you cross Jordan, you have surrendered all to Him.  How keep dependent on Him, and move only at His direction.  When you don’t know what to do, wait until the pillar of cloud and fire move on.

If God is going to work His character in us, He must begin with tribulation.  Trials are the common lot of His children, for in them is our spiritual education wrought.  The children of Israel had not been long across the Red Sea until they came into a desert place where they were seized with a thirst for water.  God permitted this so that they might learn that He could turn their trial into something good.  It is easy for us to see how something we call good, can be good for us; but how can the adverse things work together for our good?  The secret is that that which pleases us merely keeps us like we are; that which is unpleasant to us may serve to change us.

  

And here comes a great lesson.  God is not trying to change His ways to suit us; He is trying to change us to suit His ways.  Since we are wrong, and He is right, anything that simply satisfies our fleshly tastes and desires will not help us because it brings no change in us.  The flesh will never love Jesus.  Nobody likes to walk the way of Christ while the flesh dictates his likes and dislikes.”

Let me share one last remark from page 115, “And so this brings us to an important principle: faith is not to get rid of our trials, it is to help us use them for our good and God’s glory.”

From the Back Porch,

 Bob Rice

Are you minding your business?

Jeremiah 38:1-13

Jesus gave us all the information we need to live life to the full on planet earth.  He told us; “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  (Matthew 16:33)  And never forget what Jesus said about the thief; “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  Also never forget what is written in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  He changes not, He was working in the life of Jeremiah, and He is working in your life.  When we look at the remainder of John10: 10 we see that Jesus has these words for us; “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” 

 Jeremiah is just minding his business, and his business is the same as yours and mine, to do the will of the Father.  When that old thief put into the heart of Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jucal, and Pashhur to ask the King to allow them to kill Jeremiah, his words were weakening the morale of the warriors and the people left in the city of Jerusalem.  They said Jeremiah is not looking out for the good of the people but for disaster.  So the King replies in verse five; “King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.”  I’m sure the King knew this to be a lie; it was acts of I do not want this on my hands, but go ahead if you wish and they did.  But he did what many in government, families, church, and business leadership do; they come across as weak and without moral character and give up control to others.

 Now it seems these four men were like many in our culture, they wanted to silence the voices of anyone who has moral integrity so they do as these four we do not have to kill our Jeremiah’s, we just drop them in the cistern and allow the mud and the lack of food and water do what is needed to hush their voice. 

What we need are more men like Ebed-melech, a Cushite court official, a principled man who reported to the King what these four had done to Jeremiah.  He was standing against the movers and shakers of his day, powerful men; but God put him in the Kings service for a moment like this.  So this weak King got some backbone and sent Ebed-melech with 30 men under his authority and pulled Jeremiah up out of the cistern before he died.  They rescued Jeremiah from the death of the cistern, but they did not have the authority to give him his freedom, he had to remain in the guard’s courtyard.

I believe the guard’s courtyard is where God’s people need to be, exposed to the world but not under its control.  The God, who put into the heart of a servant in the Kings court and the courage to stand against the powerful men of his time, is still in charge of the affairs of men today!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Jail Time

Jeremiah 37:11-21

Have you ever said, now that was not the plans I had, and I bet you never began a trip and ended up in a prison?  This writer was fearful that he might have that result, when traveling on business from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.   On my arrival in Qatar, the authority at the check-in informed me that without a visa I was not welcome and in a booming voice told me to go back to where I came from.  It is a longer story than we have time for but let me share it did not end up with me going to jail.  But that was not the case with Jeremiah. The Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem, so Jeremiah is going to the land of Benjamin to claim his land; you recall it was the property he had just purchased from his cousin Hanamel.

But there is a problem at the Benjamin Gate, an officer of the guard named Irijah had apprehended Jeremiah and charged him with deserting to the Chaldeans.  Now, let’s pick up the rest of the story in verses 14-16, “That’s a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” Irijah would not listen to him but apprehended Jeremiah and took him to the officials. The officials were angry with Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and stayed there many days.”

Jeremiah is God’s man, His prophet, and mouthpiece and I wonder what Jeremiah is thinking?  I can assure you that in Qatar I had no clue of what this person who was yelling at me to go back where I came from was going to do next.  But God, He was not sleeping, and God put into King Zedekiah’s mind to invite Jeremiah to his house for a private meeting.  

The question the King had for Jeremiah; “Is there a word from the LORD?”  I want you to pay to Jeremiah’s reply; “There is,” Jeremiah responded, and he continued, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and this land’? So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you?  Don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

The message Jeremiah gave the King had not changed, but it looks as if the King is beginning to understand he is dealing with a man of integrity, a man who had not lied to him in the past nor would in the future.  “So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard’s courtyard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the baker’s street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard.”  Do you understand truth won over the lies of the false prophets?  It was not the word the King hoped to hear, but one must wonder at this point if he had begun to fear the God of Jeremiah?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Message that is not received

Jeremiah 37:1-10

Have you experienced what seems to be good news at first glance, but may not turn out that way?  I recall a time in my career when my new boss and his boss called me in and were telling me what a great job I was doing.  In fact, they were going to give me a new assignment; it was to be over the industrial business in Texas and Louisiana.  First, I found out the job came with no pay increase, I had little or no authority and yet was given a new quote of what they expected.  At first glance it looked good, but the more the onion got pealed back it seemed like the job from hell, and I thanked them for thinking of me but told them it was not a job I desired.  There was only one problem, they did not care what I preferred and made it very clear to me this was my new assignment.  I had that winless job for three horrible years before my friend and soon to be new boss rescued me.

The new King of Judah, Zedekiah has a problem, and he sent Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah with this request: “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.”  Now Jeremiah is going about whatever a prophet does each day, and this is before he's put into prison, and the LORD speaks to him, and it is important to understand that Judah is looking to Pharaoh’s army and not to God.  The military of Egypt had left Egypt and was coming to Jerusalem to engage the Chaldeans who had laid siege to Jerusalem, so the Chaldeans withdrew once they got wind of this.  That was a smart move you do not want to get caught between two armies, that never turns out well.  Now that seemed to be great news until they learned that Egypt’s army went back home, and the Chaldeans returned.

So let us pick up the story in verses 6-10. “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah’s king, who is sending you to inquire of Me: Watch: Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt. The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down. This is what the Lord says: Don’t deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will leave us for good,’ for they will not leave. Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire Chaldean army that is fighting with you, and there remained among them only the badly wounded men, each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city down.”

What happens when the King or your boss gets a message that is not to their liking?  A wise manager or King will listen, and respond by doing what is needed, but that is not what we find in Jeremiah’s account or mine above.  We will find out tomorrow that King Zedekiah’s solution was to imprison God’s messenger, and my boss did the same thing by not using my skills in a manner that worked.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What does the LORD require of you?

 Jeremiah 36: 19-32

How many have heard these words from a parent: “You will do it because I said so,” and how many have also repeated the same words to your young children?  Now it may be time to ponder on those words found in Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Why, because the Father told you to do so.  Jesus sat at the right hand of the Father and spoke these words: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”  (Matthew 6:25)  And as long as we are exploring such a small part of what our Father and LORD have said, let’s look at the why: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  I have no understanding of how you are doing in these areas, but this writer has often told his daughter to obey his words, with no regard that he was not obeying his Father who takes note and keeps an account.

What happens when one is king, you may say I have no understanding of kingship but that’s not right, each of us has taken over the role of King of our life, and it is hard to give up control because of pride.  Pride finds its home when we grow satisfied with self, and it produces self-importance, and that leads to arrogance.

Pride has taken over in King Jehoiakim, in his mind he is bigger than God, people do what he says, people fear what he can do, and many who follow him have not thought in a long time.  You may ask will a man like this have any fear of God?  I will allow you to come to that conclusion by reading in Jeremiah 36:19-32.  But do let me share that after the King had burned the scroll of Jeremiah his anger was centered on the Scribe Baruch and Jeremiah, and he gave this order to seize them, but the LORD had hidden them.  Now that is a hide and seek I like, when God has hidden you the king has no chance of locating you!

Many an evil man has set out to remove the Word of God from the world, yet to my understanding it’s evil man 0, God’s Word 100 percent still being read.  God tells Jeremiah to take a new scroll and write on it all the words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned.  This is the account in verses 29-31.  “And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”

Those who were over me told me; “A word to the wise is sufficient” and is it not advisable to obey and receive a blessing?  Jesus gives us this directive in Matthew 5:6, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”   I want to have such a hunger and thirst for God’s Word, for it is promised that we will be satisfied!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It was a “But God” moment

Jeremiah 36:9-18

As the King, you had the authority to imprison God’s spokesman, but you did not have the power to restrict the message God had for a nation.  I am a great believer that history keeps repeating, in that we as a people never seem to learn from it.  The power brokers of today want an open society with no spiritual authority, free to do as one desires.  What must happen for such to happen is you must silence all voices that are reminding the leadership and the people that God has spoken, and they are on the wrong side.

That was Jeremiah’s role, and that is the role of many in the Church today, but as in the day of Paul we also have false teachers and preachers doing the work of the evil one.  Their goal is not Christ but personal gain, and they do great harm to Christ’s Church.  Jeremiah is imprisoned, but it did not stop God’s message from being delivered to both the people and the leaders of that day.

It was a “But God” moment, He called forth a scribe, Baruch who was the son of Neriah, and the family was well known and respected in Jerusalem.  A lesson we should understand is that no King has authority over God’s message, you may lock up His spokesperson, but the Word of the LORD will go where it was intended.

9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah.

10 From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the LORD’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.

11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,

12 he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

13 After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll,

14 all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand.

15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.

16 When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.”

17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?”

18 “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What Happens if the Church Gets it?

 Jeremiah 36:1-8

Have you ever had this thought come into your thinker; what happens if the church gets it?  Yes, the “it” is, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”  God is not what so many in the pew think, for Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  And in John 3:18, it is well defined the invite is for all, everyone who believes in Him is not condemned, that is all-inclusive.

But one must understand the gift has been offered and each person has to make a choice, and your choice has to do with your judgment, as stated in John 3:19.  “This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.” 

God is as merciful today as He was in the days of Jeremiah, in fact, the Scriptures tell us He is longsuffering wishing no one would perish, but light exposes darkness and mankind loves darkness and runs from the Light, Jesus is Light.  So God in His mercy tells Jeremiah to: “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” (Jeremiah 36:2-3)  That’s grace, by turning from sin and confessing before God the act of serving self, and that is called repentance, and the Father’s act of forgiveness.

Jeremiah is no longer allowed to enter the temple, so he summoned Baruch and dictated all that God had said and Baruch wrote it down on the scroll.  Picking up the account in verse 5-8, “Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the temple of the Lord, so you must go and read from the scroll—which you wrote at my dictation—the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people at the temple of the Lord on a day of fasting. You must also read them in the hearing of all the Judeans who are coming from their cities. Perhaps their petition will come before the Lord, and each one will turn from his evil way, for the anger and fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people are great.” So Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. At the Lord’s temple, he read the Lord’s words from the scroll.”

They were given a clear message, and so were you and I, now it's time to make a choice, listen and go to the light, or ignore and run for the darkness.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Obedience brings blessing

 Jeremiah 35:1-19

Obedience brings blessing so one should not doubt that disobedience brings pain and suffering.  My dad often said to my brother Fred and me, I’ve warned you once, but you will not receive a second warning, you will accept the punishment for your actions.  May I assure you that was not timeout, it was not going to your room and giving thought to your actions, it was a belt used to adjust our attitude.

In the day that Jehoiakim was king of Judah the Lord spoke this message to Jeremiah; “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.”  What a beautiful thing to do and I’m sure it was not the house wine it was the best stuff.  Maybe there is more happening than is evident to us at this point; yes, God is about to show us what obedience is.

So Jeremiah who is God’s spokesperson does as instructed. “So I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. I brought them to the house of the Lord into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us.”

It makes me wonder what would the church look like if it had that kind of obedience?  Jaazaniah and his brothers, sons, and wives, and the entire house of the Rechabites were obedient to the words of Jonadab.  They were in Jerusalem seeking protection from the armies of the Babylonians. 

God reminds Jeremiah how often He had spoken to the people of Judah and Israel, and they had not listened, how He had sent all his servants and prophets with this message.  Turn from evil and obey, but they ran to the little gods, gods that could not see, nor hear.  But the sons of Rechab kept the commands of their father, but the people of God have not obeyed.

God is much more compassionate than my dad, we only got one warning, but God shows them compassion for He understood they were a stiff-necked people and slow to learn.  But payday came, God always keeps His word, and judgment day is coming.  It came for them, and a day is appointed for those who put faith in self and live as if God is not relevant.

But you may find this of interest. “But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab, your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Selling oneself

 Jeremiah 34:8-22

Selling oneself for a set time to meet a financial obligation is not a new thing and has been practiced from the time the children of God were released as slaves in Egypt, until this day in nations around the globe.  Many a young person who has no understanding of history will be blown away that it was common in the early days of America, and they were not blacks coming from Africa but poor white Europeans.  “Until the late 18th century, indentured servitude was very common in British North America. It was often a way for poor Europeans to immigrate to the American colonies: they signed an indenture in return for a passage. After their indenture expired, the immigrants were free to work for themselves or another employer.

In some cases, the indenture was made with a ship's master, who on-sold the indenture to an employer in the colonies. Most indentured servants worked as farm laborers or domestic servants, although some were apprenticed to craftsmen.  The terms of an indenture were not always enforced by American courts, although runaways were usually sought out and returned to their employer.” (Wikipedia)   

Judah also was guilty of this, and God had set up a rule of what a Hebrew could and couldn’t do in regards to another Hebrew.  They could sell themselves into slavery to meet a financial obligation, but at the end of seven years, they had to be set free.  The seven years were ignored, and this was not pleasing to God, so King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom to them.  This was the agreement, each man would free his male and female Hebrew slaves and no one would enslave his Judean brother.  So all those holding a Hebrew as slaves entered into the covenant and the Babylonian army is withdrawing and it looks like life is good once more.

But do you recall one of mankind’s ongoing problems of greed?  Yes, it did not take long for it to pop up its ugly head and the Hebrews who were slaves were once more enslaved.  I bet you recall that obedience brings blessings and disobedience brings curses, which is what is going to take place in Jerusalem.  “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 34:17)  I hope you read the remaining verses and never forget God is a promise keeper, He vows and makes covenants and keeps them, and expects us to do the same!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Stage Four

 Jeremiah 34:1-7

When we hear the words “stage four” our minds go to it's an all out attack on the cancer cells, they have control of the body and time is short for the one we love.  But God, how I’ve learned to love those words, for I have four friends that have been given that message over the last years, and were told to get their affairs in order.  As I stated, over the last years my friend Alejandro was told his time was very short, weeks maybe a month, but God is the one who set the date, and one year has passed, and all the markers are looking good. 

Most of us do not have a Jeremiah who is God’s envoy saying, this word came to me from the LORD, so listen up.   We have been programmed to believe what a doctor tells us as if it were God speaking.  And God has spoken, and Jeremiah is instructed to go and share what God has said to King Zedekiah.  Now it may be of interest that the nations of the world were all fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities.  They all are under the control of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and all the armies of the world at that time are coming on one common foe, Judah.

The message to King Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. You shall die in peace. And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall burn spices for you and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”  (Jeremiah 34:2-5)

And we know that Zedekiah did see the King of Babylon eye to eye and that he was forced to witness his sons being executed and then his eyes were put out.  We have this account in Jeremiah 39:5-7 and also in chapter 52:8-11.  It would be years later that King Zedekiah would die a natural death and have a royal funeral as found in 2 Chronicle 16:14.

We are servants of a promise keeper, and yet we His people have learned so little, many read the Bible, but its value is not in reading but in abiding and applying what is written.  In 1 Corinthians 10:11, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice