Obedience
Day 377, Saturday, Aug. 23
Jeremiah Chapters 35 and 36
Today’s chapters present a sharp contrast between holy obedience and unholy rebellion.
In chapter 35 Jeremiah is instructed to invite the family of the Rekabites to share in drinking wine.
They respond to the invitation, but refuse to drink wine since their ancestor had made a pledge that neither him nor his descendants would do so.
Their faithfulness to their ancestor’s pledge made a contrast to the rebellion of most of God’s people, who had repeatedly promised to follow God, but again and again turned their backs on him.
While he promises destruction for the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, God promises that Rekab will never fail to have a descendant.
The story is very different in chapter 36, when God commands Jeremiah to present the king with a scroll that contains all of the prophecies he has received.
Jeremiah dictates the scroll to Baruch, who presents it to palace officials, who in turn present it to the king.
Rather than responding with obedience to the prophecies, the king cuts the scroll to bits and burns the pieces.
His attempt at censorship was unsuccessful, as God instructed Jeremiah to make another copy of the scroll that allows us to know the prophecies. “So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.”

-Rev. Mark Fleming

Saturday meditation

Job 24:18-25
“Yet they are foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one goes to the vineyards. As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned. The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them, the wicked are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree. They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness. But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life. He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways. For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
“If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”

Prayer focus
God, let us be found to be obedient to you in all things.