Sunday, April 3, 2016

Year 6, Day 93: Jeremiah 40

Theological Commentary: Click Here


Discipleship Focus: Obedience

  • Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

Jeremiah 40 gives us a great perspective on why God is God.  For 38 chapters the message that God gave Jeremiah has been resolute.  “Surrender to the Babylonians and all will go well for you.”  Chapter after chapter Jeremiah spoke those words.  Chapter after chapter the Hebrew kings rejected Gods message in Jeremiah.  Now the Hebrews are captive and being dragged off into captivity.

How do we see obedience in all of this?  God wins.  But after God wins, Gedaliah is appointed as governor over the people as a vassal king underneath Nebuchadnezzar.  But look at what Gedaliah says.  Gedaliah tells the people to settle down, submit to Babylon, and work the land.  Geadaliah advises the people to stop resisting and accept their consequences.

The neat thing is that the people actually listen to Gedaliah!  Once Nebuchadnezzar drags away the rulers, the people actually respond and listen.  They do accept their lot in life.  They do submit.  They are obedient to God’s will after all.  God just had to get the leaders out of the way.

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