Jeremiah 26:4
The Bible says in Jeremiah 26:4-7, “And thou
shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk
in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants
the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but
ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make
this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. So the priests and the
prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of
the LORD.” One observation that can be made about these verses has
to do with the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and
the similarity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The difference
has to do primarily with the law. The Israelites were obligated to live under
the law and to obey the law of God that was given through Moses. In the New
Testament, Christians are told in Romans 6:14, “Ye are not under law, but under
grace.” If you are going to understand the Bible, you must understand the
difference between law and grace. The law is very unforgiving, because the law
requires total and complete obedience, and every failure is punished. Under the
law the favor of God must be earned, and therefore can never be earned because
we are all sinners. Under grace the favor of God was earned by Jesus, and then
given freely to each believer through faith. Needless to say, it is much better
to live under grace than under law. How fortunate we are to live in the age in
which we live and to know the love and grace of Jesus.
The sins of the Israelites were much
greater even than not keeping the law of God. God said in Jeremiah 26:5 that
they did not “hearken to the words of my servants the prophets.” God gave His
Word to these people, and then they made the choice to not hear His Word. This
circumstance that we find in the Old Testament is exactly the same now in the
New Testament time. Some things do not change. In every age God reveals His
truth to someone. That person grows in Christ, learns God’s Word, and the Lord
sends him or her out to tell others. The Spirit uses the Word as it is spoken
by a believer, and then the hearers must decide to listen or to reject.
Another way in which the message of
the Old Testament is the same as the message of the New Testament: for those
who do not repent and accept God’s message, judgment will surely come. Just as
God said to the Israelites in Jeremiah 26:6, “I make this house like
The Bible says in Jeremiah 26:8-11, “Now it came
to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had
commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets
and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die. Why hast thou
prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like
Everyone opposed Jeremiah and the Word
of God. If people oppose you because your words are from God, then you are in
the right place. The priests, the prophets, all the people, and the princes
opposed Jeremiah. Notice first of all that the priests and the prophets opposed
Jeremiah. The priests and prophets are mentioned first, probably because they
were the first ones to oppose Jeremiah, and it is because of them that the
others opposed Jeremiah too. Evil spreads. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 12:30,
“He
that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth
abroad.”
The Jewish priests opposed Jeremiah,
God’s prophet, and the Jewish priests also opposed Jesus. It says in Matthew
26:59, “Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought
false witness against Jesus, to put him to death.” Why did these Jewish priests
seek false witness against Jesus to put him to death? It was for one reason:
because of what Jesus said. This is demonstrated very clearly in Matthew
21:42-46, “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The
stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner:
this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I
unto you, The
What happened to Jeremiah and what
happened to Jesus tell us a very important truth about the freedom of speech.
Freedom of speech is essential to having a free society. If you do not allow
freedom of speech, then you will be allowing the worst kind of tyranny. So many
hatreds, persecutions, prejudices, and even murders flow from not allowing freedom
of speech. In order to have true freedom of speech everyone must always be
willing to say the following and mean it: “I may not agree with what you say,
but I support your right to say it.”
The Bible says in Jeremiah 26:12-15, “Then spake
Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me
to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have
heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the
LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced
against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good
and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye
shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon
the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak
all these words in your ears.” Notice what Jeremiah said to
these people after it became apparent that they wanted to put him to death. He
said in Jeremiah 26:14, “As for me, behold,
I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.” We mentioned the importance of freedom of speech, and now
the statement that Jeremiah made in this verse relates to the freedom of human
will. God gave each person a free will. That is why God does not force anyone
to believe in Jesus. Each person is given a free choice. You are free to fall
at the feet of Jesus, call upon His name, and be saved from your sins, if you
choose to do so. You are also free to reject Jesus, and to turn away from Him.
When a terrible violent act is committed by some human being, some people ask
why God allowed such a thing to happen. Part of the reason is that God has
given to each person freedom of choice and a free will.
You can use your free will to do good
or to do evil. But be careful what you choose. You can make your choice, but
you will bear the consequences of that choice. That is exactly what Jeremiah
told the people of
The Bible says in Jeremiah 26:16-19, “Then said
the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man
is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly
of the people, saying, Micah the
Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all
the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed
like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountains of the house
as the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put
him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the
LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might
we procure great evil against our souls.” This passage shows
one of the values of knowing the Word of God. Because some of the elders
remembered Micah the Morasthite and the fact that King Hezekiah properly responded
to Micah’s message, the elders learned from what King Hezekiah did, and the
elders decided not to put Jeremiah to death. Serve the Lord: you might start
something good. Some people follow the example that they see in others, and
that means that some people just might follow your good example.
Jeremiah was
threatened and punished, but he was not put to death for his service to God.
But a man who was put to death was named Urijah. The Bible says in Jeremiah
26:20-24, “And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the
LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this
city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: And when
Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his
words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was
afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; And Jehoiakim the king sent men into
Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the
king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of
the common people. Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with
Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him
to death.” There is a important spiritual lesson to learn from the
fact that Urijah was put to death, but Jeremiah was not, and that is simply
that God has a different will for every person. What that means for one thing
is that we who are saved by faith in Christ should never fear death. We are not
going to die until God’s time. No matter who is against us, we will stay alive
in order to fulfill God’s purpose that He gave for our lives. That truth should
make you brave and strong and confident. If you belong to Jesus, you have
nothing to fear, not even death.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2012 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved