Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter Thirty Two verse Forty Two, “Thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good fortune that I now promised them,” (NRSVB). In order to understand our watchword in context, we have to study the circumstances of the situation of the prophet Jeremiah, at the time when the Lord gave him this prophecy. It was in the tenth year of king Zedekiah’s reign. The army of Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem, but king Zedekiah had Jeremiah locked up in prison in the palace court, instructing him not to prophesy the word of the Lord. Jeremiah prayed to the Lord day and night for the deliverance of the people and the change of heart of the king.
Zedekiah refused to listen to the prophet, nor would he bring Israel back to repent and return to the Lord from their idol-worship. He did not believe that Nebuchadnezzar would overpower Jerusalem and lay waste to the city, despite the siege all around. God instructed Jeremiah and told him that his cousin would come to the court to ask Jeremiah to buy the land in Anathoth. Jeremiah must buy the field and sign the deed of purchase and have it countersigned by two witnesses. The papers must be put, in the presence of witnesses, in a clay vessel so that it would remain intact for many years. After this symbolic act, Jeremiah must prophesy saying that there will come a time when the Israelites will return, purchasing land and planting vineyards and be settled again. However, there will first be a time of destruction, captivity and exile.
King Zedekiah had the opportunity to change the lot of the people he reigned over for the better, despite the siege. However, he chose to lock the prophet in the dungeon, thinking that his words would be nullified if he was quietened. Zedekiah’s acts brought the entire kingdom into danger and ultimate destruction. He did not heed the words of the true prophet and wilfully went his own way and followed the counsel of false prophets. The writing was already on the wall, but it did not stop the king continuing in his wrongful ways. The people didn’t think about the possible ruin they would face if they kept serving this king. The price of following wrongful leadership leads to the fall of the leaders and their followers.
The prophets of the Lord, through the ages, had brought the tidings of peace and good will when God’s laws were obeyed. They warned of destruction when kingdoms planned to overturn the good order and peaceful co-existence of neighbouring countries. The rules of God still pertain in this world. Justice is not served when nations make war against nations, using ideologies as pretence for gaining access to riches and resources. God said that the people turned their backs to him in rejection, not their faces in prayer and supplication. Notwithstanding this situation, God is God. He will honour his covenant with the people, despite their rebelliousness. He will be their God and bring them back to him and they will turn their faces to him in worship.
The Apostle John writes in his First Letter, Chapter Three, verses One and Two, regarding this wonderful love of God, “See what an incredible quality of love the Father has given, shown and bestowed on us, that we should be permitted to be named and called and counted the children of God! Beloved, we are even here and now God’s children; it is not yet disclosed or made clear what we shall be in the thereafter, but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him, just as he really is,” (Amplified Bible). God’s love to us is inexhaustible. He works at reconciling the world and her people to each other, for through his Son, we have been reconciled to the Father. We have the assurance of peace that passes all understanding.
Father, we ask that you will work in the hearts of humans to turn their faces to you in worship and their back to the ways of the world. This we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.