March 10, 2017
Jeremiah 44:15-30
As I looked at these verses a song popped into my mind, it was
from 1940 but became popular in 1960 by Ricky Nelson. The song was titled
“Fools Rush In” and this was the punch line; 'Fools rush in where
wise men never go, but wise men never fall in love, so how are they to
know?' These men of Jeremiah’s time must have been foolishly in love
with their wives, for they never address their rebellion to God. Could it
be their wives had taken the leadership of the home?
In the Proverbs you will discover information on the ways of a
fool, this writer has often found himself playing that role. Proverbs 18:2, “Fools
have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” Proverbs
1:7, “Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools
despise wisdom and discipline.” Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is
right in his own eyes but a wise man listens to advice.” The list is too
long to keep going so let us end with Psalm 14:1, “Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no
God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does
good!” Note many act
foolish, Christians and non-Christians, and
that does not make them a fool, but it is also not in keeping with a follower
of Christ who is being led by the Spirit.
As we examine Jeremiah 44:15-30, it becomes clear that the
husband of these women knew and approved their worship of the queen of
heaven. It is also apparent they along with the wives believed their
blessing came from her and not from Yahweh, and foolishly they rejected God and
believed Jeremiah was giving them wrong information. It seems impossible
that time after time Jeremiah had spoken “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel” and told them precisely what was to happen and they, like us
have learned little from history.
In fact, they are very bold, and in hindsight, they are acting
like fools, they reject God’s message, and these are their words. “As for the word that
you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to
you. But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the
queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our
fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets
of Jerusalem.”
Jeremiah’s reply is that type of worship is why devastation has
come to Jerusalem and Judah, and now it is going to come on most of you.
You put your trust in Egypt, Pharaoh, Hophra and his army, but God is sending
His servant King Nebuchadnezzar to kill Pharaoh’s Hophra as He did Judah’s King
Zedekiah.
It is this writer's opinion that we are living in a time talked
about in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will
come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears, they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. So
they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to
myths.” That is being
foolish, and if one practices foolishness, it will not be long before they take
the role of a fool.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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