Dealing With Tough Guys

Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Today's Chapters: Jeremiah 37-39
Message Title: Dealing With Tough Guys

Hello My Friend,
Did you ever watch a movie where there is a group of tough guys trying to take down the one guy? Each one thinks they are tough enough to stop him? Movies like that are not far from reality, the world is full of rebellious, arrogant, tough guys. As Christians, we face tough guys every day trying to knock us down, but we have a body guard stronger than the strongest person we will ever meet, and that is Jesus. We might get beat up a bit, but in the end, we will win. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” -1 Corinthians 15:57,58.

Jeremiah had to deal with his fair share of tough guys, especially when judgment had finally come to Jerusalem, just as he warned them, the Chaldean's were attacking. Jeremiah tries to get out of there, only to find himself cast into a dungeon because they were blaming him for the invasion. The king has him pulled out and brought to him. “Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.” - Jeremiah 37:17-19,21.

The king was too ashamed to admit that he wanted to know what God was going to do, so, he asked him in secret, if the news favored him he would accept Him, but if it did not, he would reject Him. This is the very same response the world has with Jesus, oh, they know the He will return, and when He does there will literally be hell to pay. Yet, they continue to ignore the warnings, even though they are right in front of them, and reject Him in hopes that it will not happen. We cannot ignore the warnings, and no matter how many people reject Him, He is still coming. “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” - Matthew 10:32-34.

As the men heard Jeremiah, they became wroth with him, and this time wanted him dead, they cast him into a dungeon they had to use a rope to lower him down into. “Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it. Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you. Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.” - Jeremiah 38:3-6.

I imagine that, at this point Jeremiah was pretty discouraged and saddened about standing in a pit of thick mud?

Sometimes the trials we face feel like they will never end and that God is no where around, but it is through these trials that God works miracles in us. All trials come to pass and, let me tell you, they are a testimony and hope to others as well, which can bring them to know Christ as too. “Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” - 2 Timothy 2:9,10.

A brave man, named Ebedmelech, who was not even a Jew, came to Jeremiah's rescue, he, along with several others joined in to help pull Jeremiah out. Shortly after, Zedekiah calls for Jeremiah again. “Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.” - Jeremiah 38:17-20.
Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” - John 15:13. Jesus laid down His life for all so that no one needs to be cast into the pit of hell, but He only saves those who believe that He alone is the one who can save them. We may not never know the outcome of our efforts, but Jesus will return to claim His people, those who are not His will be cast into the fire. It's important that we, who are saved, reach those who are not, we cannot be ashamed of Christ, and we cannot fear those who want to stop us. We are going to face some tough guys, but imagine the blessings that God gives to those who lay down their lives for someone they do not even know. “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” - Revelation 2:10.

Now, everything was coming to pass just as Jeremiah warned, during the judgment not only was Jeremiah sent to safety so was the man that laid down his life to save Jeremiah. The king did, in fact, get carried into Babylon, but not before he had to watch his sons be killed, his eyes gouged out, and his kingdom destroyed. “And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain. But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him. Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon. And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.” - Jeremiah 39:4-8.

We can ignore the warnings or hold them secretly in our hearts, but we cannot escape judgment unless we do what we are told. Many tough guys will revolt, and the one they go after is the one that God sent to warn them in the first place, but we do not have to fear, God will bring us to safety. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,” - 2 Peter 3:9-11.
Today's Prayer: God, You always know what is best for me, and I want to live in Your will, but there are so many people and things trying to get me to doubt You and follow ungodly advice. Lord, give me Your power to walk away and stand by Your Word. Help me to keep my eyes and ears on You to know the warnings and do what You need me to do, even if that means people will be angry or spiteful of my decision to stand by You. Let me not be in fear, but rejoice knowing that You will bring everything to pass and I will be safe with You. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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