Day 535: God's word or byword. - Jeremiah 29 vs 15 - 23
15-16 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’, thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts. 17-18 Behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’”
20-21 “Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22 Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire”, because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. 23 I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.’” Jeremiah 29:15-23 (English Standard Version)
A 'byword' is a word or phrase associated with some person, place or thing, and it’s usually used in a negative sense. For example, in Psalm 44:13-14 the writer was deeply troubled and cried out to God: “You have made us the taunt of our neighbours, the derision and scorn of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughing-stock among the peoples.” Jeremiah says something similar would be said of the prophets Ahab and Zedekiah. (vs 20-21) What was the byword that would be used of them, and why did God's judgement so fall on them? (vs 22)
We're not told how literal the phrase 'roasted in the fire' is to be taken, but we do know from the story of Daniel's friends that a fiery furnace was one of the punishments the Babylonians used. Not only had they spoken lies in God's name, thus misleading God's people, they had also committed adultery with their neighbour's wives. Spiritual adultery against God (by twisting His word and teaching lies) and physical adultery, are often found together. We've seen much of that in the false evangelists of our generation. Verse 23 is important because it reminds us that what people do in secret does not escape God's sight.
The people in Jerusalem, who hadn't been taken into exile when Nebuchadnezzar first raided the city, had been particularly deceived by the false prophets who said the exile would only last a couple of years. But what was the awful truth? (vs 17-18)
They were the people represented by the basket of very bad figs Jeremiah has spoken of in an earlier vision in Chapter 24. They were going to experience terrible heart breaking trials and end up as a byword among the nations as Psalm 44 had described. Why was that? (vs 19)
They had not paid attention to God's word that He had persistently sent to them by His true prophets! Instead of being a people who would hold out God's word to the nations, they would end up as a byword among the nations. And what was true of people's response to God's word then is just as true of God's word today. God is the one who knows our hearts and who knows all about our lives, even things we did which we thought were hidden from people's eyes. Do we pay attention to the words God has spoken through His prophets? And, above all, do we pay attention to the words spoken by His well beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?