Threats Upheld
8/1/26 Bible Thought (Jeremiah 39-40)
Main Idea: God upholds His threats and keeps His Word.
A Look at the Text:
Today, we see the costliness of King Zedekiah’s rebellion. Chronologically, we are returning to the siege from chapter 32 when Jeremiah bought the field. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem for about a year and a half, and then the city fell.
Eventually, a hole was created in the wall, and the city was taken. Zedekiah and his officials escaped only to be caught in the open plain. There, the last thing Zedekiah saw was the slaughter of his sons (Jer. 39:6). Then, the Babylonians put out his eyes and took him captive to the land of Babylon (Jer. 39:7).
Thankfully, for Jeremiah, God looked after him. Ironically, the Babylonians ended up treating him better than the people of Judah had (Jer. 39:11-14). He was even given free rein. He could go with the captives to Babylon, he could stay in the land of Judah, he could do as he pleased (Jer. 40:4-5).
Bringing it Home:
The time of the divided kingdom and the writing prophets in the Old Testament sends a consistent message: God keeps His word, all of it.
The prophets warned the people again and again, but they wouldn’t heed God’s message. Then, eventually, judgment day came.
As we saw in yesterday’s text, Jeremiah pled for Zedekiah and the people to surrender, but they wouldn’t listen. As such, Jerusalem was burned to the ground. Solomon’s temple in all of its grandeur was burned down. The walls of the city were demolished. The Promised Land became a distant hope rather than a present possession once again.
If it weren’t for the hard-heartedness of the people of Judah, they could have been spared much suffering. Even more, there would have been no need for Nehemiah to later rebuild the walls or for Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple.
If the people had simply submitted to God’s Word, they could have spared themselves a lot of grief.
Thus it is today as well. God’s Word is irrevocable. We can try and go our own way and find it doesn’t work, or we can simply submit to God and His ways.
Doing things our way will cost us and other people. The sad truth is that oftentimes our sins don’t just hurt us. They affect others, too. But if we listen to God’s Word and heed it, we can spare ourselves from a lot of unnecessary suffering.
Altogether, let us rest assured: if we refuse, God’s Word will not return void. He doesn’t make empty threats. He keeps His Word—all of it.
Challenge:
Do I take the warnings from God’s Word seriously?