Year 9, Day 79: Jeremiah 26

Theological Commentary: Click Here

If you want to know a person speak the truth to them.  Don’t tell them what they want to hear.  Don’t only tell them happy things.  If you want to truly understand who a person is, speak truth to them.  To know a person, watch how they handle the truth.  Anyone can be nice when hearing what they want to hear.  Anyone can be friendly when things are going their way.  Show a person the truth and watch how they handle it and you’ll see who they really are.

This is the experience of Jeremiah.  He tells the people that they are going to be judged by God.  He warns them of the impending wrath of God.  He tells them about the judgment that is coming because of their rebellious nature.  He gives them the truth and watches how they handle it.  In fact, he tells them that his whole life is in their hands, they are free to respond however they want.

The people in the immediate vicinity are angered.  They threaten him.  They tell him they want to kill him.  They are so offended by his prophecy against them and against Jerusalem that they rise up and demand the death sentence.  Jeremiah sure sees their character.  He gets to watch the ugly side of the people as they rise up against the truth.

Can there be any wonder that God was bringing judgment against them?  When people respond this violently to the truth, how can anyone expect to see repentance and humbleness?  Hearing this passage, there can be no doubt that God only had one recourse: Babylon.

The people drag Jeremiah in front of the rulers.  They have a bit more wisdom.  They tell the people that in former days the people didn’t kill prophets who called for repentance.  They remember back to a time when prophets decreed judgment, the people repented, and the Lord relented.  These leaders seem far wiser than the rest of the people.

Lest the leaders be passed over in judgment, though, Jeremiah feels inclined to tell us about the prophet Uriah.  Uriah wasn’t spared.  In fact, he was dragged back from Egypt to pay for his prophetic moments.  The king struck down Uriah because of his prophecy.

What does this really tell us?  It tells us that Jeremiah had some friends.  The last words of this chapter tells us that Jeremiah was spared because he had someone within the circle of influence of the king who could spare his life.  This story is given to us to balance the fact that Jeremiah’s life was spared.  Jeremiah wasn’t spared because of the wisdom of the leaders after all.  Jeremiah was spared because of the connections he had into the leaders.  He was spared because he had a few people willing to stand up for him.

Want to see the core of a person?  Present them with he truth.  See how they handle the truth.  Just remember, though, that when we present a person with the truth we get their true being in response.  Priests and prophets alike died because they presented people with the truth.  Jeremiah was spared, but not because he told the truth.  Jeremiah was almost killed because he told the truth.

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