He hears the cries and He hears the excuses

In Jeremiah 24, God shows Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs.  One basket contains figs that are so bad that there is no hope for them. They cannot be redeemed. They will have to be destroyed. Some of the people are like that – the king and his officials. But the people are like the basket of good figs. There is hope for them. God has gathered them in one place and will redeem them. He has promised and He will do this.

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.  Jeremiah 24:7

This new relationship is going to be all about heart. Not about rituals and rules. God has seen the people halfheartedly stick to rituals and rules without the right attitude of heart. That hasn’t worked. They’ve ended up going through the motions. Making it all into something it wasn’t. Cutting corners. Compromising.

Now He is going to give them a new heart to know Him.

For the past 23 years, Jeremiah has stood before the people bringing God’s message. The promises and the warnings. He has laid before them a clear choice. It couldn’t have been clearer. And they have refused to listen. They have refused to change.

So now the time has come. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon will destroy the land and all its inhabitants. The people will be taken into exile and will serve this foreign king for 70 years. And after 70 years, God will redeem His people.

‘Look! Disaster is spreading
from nation to nation;
a mighty storm is rising
from the ends of the earth.’  Jeremiah 25:32

The people aren’t going to like hearing all this. We know that. Who would? Jeremiah has to be silenced – this voice of doom and gloom!

But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, ‘You must die! Why do you prophesy in the Lord’s name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?’ And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.  Jeremiah 26:8-9

They don’t know what to do with him though. There’s always an outside chance that He is really God’s messenger and if that is the case, then no one wants the blood of an innocent man on their hands – particularly a man of God. Another prophet Uriah is not so fortunate – he’s saying the same things as Jeremiah and is hunted down and put to death. Interestingly though, he runs. He doesn’t stand his ground like Jeremiah does. He doesn’t say in confidence ‘do with me what you will’ like Jeremiah does. He doesn’t have the same courage of his convictions. Maybe that is why he faces a different fate.

Some of the elders of the land can see the truth in what Jeremiah is saying. They remember back to the time of Hezekiah – when the prophets spoke the same warnings and the king changed his ways and disaster was averted. The outcome of this is in the hands of the people. They can change. They can come back to God.

We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves! Jeremiah 26:19

There is so much going on in the world today that we’d rather not hear about. The news is too depressing. We feel helpless. We distract ourselves and pretend it’s not happening. We keep busy and look the other way. We make excuses about how there’s nothing we can do. And God sees and hears it all. The effects of climate change. The poverty and famine and lack of clean drinking water. The refugee crisis. He hears the cries and He hears the excuses.

We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves. We can do something about it. We have a choice.

Jeremiah is to make a yoke out of straps and a crossbar and put it on his neck. It’s a visual reminder of what is to happen to God’s people. If they are not prepared to wear the yoke of subjugation and serve the King of Babylon, then they will be put to the sword. He warns the people not to listen to all those saying they should refuse to serve Babylon. It is part of God’s plan for His people. This is how they will show their obedience and trust at this time. It’s hard for us to imagine what this was like for the people. It was a time of immense stress. A time of terror. In their fear, how would they know who to listen to? All these people claiming to be speaking for God…how would they know which one was speaking the truth? They would always be able to find someone saying what they wanted to hear. Why would they choose to listen to Jeremiah?

Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, “You will not serve the king of Babylon,” for they are prophesying lies to you. “I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. “They are prophesying lies in my name.”  Jeremiah 27:14-15

Of course, it’s still the same today. With so many people preaching such different messages, how do we know who to listen to? How do we know we are listening to a message from God?

I’m sorry. I don’t have the answers. In my experience, I guess there are three things that help me here. Maybe they will help you too.

1. I keep an open mind. I try to keep my eyes and ears open all the time. I believe God can speak at any time through anyone and anything. I expect Him to surprise me. To speak at the most unlikely of moments. I never listen to anyone assuming that every single word coming out of their mouths is from God. Or could not possibly be. We are all human. And yet we were all made in the image of God. So God can use any one of us to convey His message in a given moment.
2. I ask God to make it clear what’s from Him. If I sit down to read the Bible or hear a talk, I pray. I pray before walking into a meeting. I pray before meeting up with friends. I pray that God will make my heart receptive to what He has to say to me at that time, in that situation. That He will speak loud and clear so that I will know for sure it’s Him.
3. I use my own intuition. That phrase that says something ‘rings true’ really means something to me. It’s when a bell is hit just right and rings out with a pure note and vibration. It’s unmistakable. You know it when you hear it. I guess over the years you build up experience of knowing what it feels like when you hear God’s truth – it vibrates within you. It’s unmistakable. It takes time and patience and humility (yes, I’ve got it wrong sometimes – lots of times), but I’m moving in the right direction.
4. I wait for confirmation. OK, so there were four things. I used to rush in and act immediately. Now I wait a bit. If it’s urgent, God will make it clear it’s urgent. If it’s not, then a bit of time to reflect and consider and prepare is never a bad thing. It allows time for the great ideas and inspiration to float to the top and the rest to fade away.