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