2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
Each of you is dear to me and also to our loving Abba. He leads me to remind you how much your willingness to spend time thinking about Him and praying to Him by reading my messages is valued. My last message in this segment of spiritual warfare called “Accused Avenged” dealt with Christ’s worthiness to open the scroll with the seven seals which represents the mortgage to dominion over earth. His ability to open it is the act of wresting that dominion in consummation of all prophecy in the Scriptures from Satan’s hands and returning it to the Creator, our God Jehovah. This was always God’s plan. In doing so, Christ is our Kinsman-Redeemer, our Blood Avenger. Avenging was made necessary by Satan’s ugly and arrogant usurpation of dominion over earth by deception, false accusation, and the murder of mankind’s souls. The latter began with the deception leading to Adam and Eve’s original sin. The cunning and sly serpent found a way to spread his sinfulness to all mankind, except the Only One Who was born of the Spirit, Jesus Christ.
Today’s message deals with a fascinating series of events which reveal how actions taken in the OT foreshadow those in the NT. I refer specifically to JER 32: 6-15 and 44, the story of the prophet, Jeremiah, buying a field from his cousin, Hanamel. Taken by itself, this would seem like a relatively unimportant event, but it was one that allows us to have a clearer picture than before of God’s will and His overall plan. Let me fill in the context and details. At the time of this purchase, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia was attacking Jerusalem. You may remember that Jeremiah’s ministry was from 627 BC –582 BC. So, he lived most of his life in Israel, but was alive to be taken captive in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar prevailed in destroying the city and bringing his captives to Babylon. Since the purchase of this piece of property in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin occurred as the Babylonian king was attacking Jerusalem, it would be logical to assume it occurred in 586 BC shortly before Jeremiah was taken by the Babylonians. Jeremiah had been told by God to buy this field from Hanamel. At the time Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem, he took prisoner the then king of Israel, Zedekiah, who had previously imprisoned Jeremiah in the palace courtyard for prophesying that Jerusalem would be taken captive.
In JER 32: 4, one of three prophecies about Zedekiah is said, he will be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar who will see him face to face. One in EZK 12:13 tells us that Zedekiah would not see Babylon but would die there. Here’s how these seemingly contradictory prophesies are fulfilled. We find in 2 K 25: 7, that Nebuchadnezzar put out Zedekiah’s eyes in Riblah, in the land of Hamath. Then, he was taken to Babylon, but he never saw it. Jeremiah obeyed God’s command and did buy that field from his cousin. Jeremiah signed and sealed the documents of sale and had them witnessed (10). Then he weighed out the price of 17 seventeen pieces of silver on a scale and paid Hanamel. There were two copies of the deed of purchase, one sealed containing the contract and the conditions and an open copy. These were given to Baruch while Hanamel watched for safekeeping in an earthen vessel at God’s command. JER 32: 15 & 44, “The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel has said that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land…People will buy them and the deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed. This will take place in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, and in the towns in the hill country, in the foothills, and in southern Judah. I will restore the people to their land. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
We know from the hindsight of history that Jeremiah was eventually taken captive himself and was taken to Babylon where he was temporarily placed under the care of the governor, Gedalia of Judah [JER 39: 11-14]. The main point for us to remember about this story is that God never had any plan to destroy His chosen people, only to punish them for their iniquity for a time. We know that both Isaiah and Jeremiah understood this from their prophecies in IS 23: 15 and JER 25: 11-13. Jeremiah knew that the deeds he signed would be valid another day. We must remember that the battle we do with the devil and his followers may cause us pain, sorrow, and loss, but they will eventually end in victory through Christ and eternal life as joint-heirs to the Kingdom with Him for us, if we will endure in our faith.
PRAYER: O Lord, how difficult it is for us to see Your lofty perspective at times. Part of our inability is sin we hold on to because we either don’t know we are sinning or refuse to give it up. The rest is that we must acknowledge Your omniscience and omnipotence. We are created in Your image, but we are not the same as You, nor shall we ever be. That is no reason for us to be jealous of Your almighty power or to think we could ever be equal to You. Instead, we should take comfort in Your love for us, trust in Your wisdom over that of mankind, worship only You (in all Your personalities), revel in Your righteousness, and look to You for guidance. Anyone who would assume You are ever unrighteous or that they are superior to You is a person who lives in sin. This person has allowed Satan to establish a stronghold in Him. We come against Satan and his followers in the name of Jesus Christ. We reject those who reject You and act on it with no plan to change their ways, especially false teaching. We acknowledge Your supreme and sovereign right to carry out Your plan in Your own way and in Your own time. JER 29: 11-13 is Your word that You don’t have plans for our destruction and instead, Your plan is our prosperity. We trust in that and trust in You. We humbly approach You in ask You to carry out the prayerful request of the Palmist in PS 139: 23-24. “Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me , and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.” Today, we pledge You our adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, patience, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will compare what has already been discussed in REV with what we learned in today’s message from JER. This should prove even more illuminating in our perspective of God’s will for us. I, for one, have never wanted to be ruled by a Sovereign and Righteous Lord, more than I do now. The more time I spend in the Scriptures, the more opportunity He has to reveal Himself to me. It doesn’t hurt for you to know how I’m reacting to God’s hand on my life, because I’m convinced He is doing the same thing in yours. That’s the nature of our loving Abba. He knows we have challenges to our faith in progress, yet He is always there for us, eager to see us through them. We need to let Him know that He can count on us too. God loves each of you and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn