Concentrate on Obeying God

While we do not know the details of Jeremiah’s message in Jeremiah 26 that were so offensive to the political and religious leaders, it is not hard to understand their hatred of his prophecy in Jeremiah 27:1-10.  “In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.

And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.  And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.  And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. “

To political leaders amnd many religious leaders, such a prophecy would seem treasonous.  Jeremiah was encouraging the people to simply yield to Nebuchadnezzar and allow him to have his way.  the message was not onl to Judah, but to all the countries around.  At the time they were still under Egypt’s domination, but as we know from history, four years after Jehoiakim became king, the Babylonians would defeat both the the Assyrian and Egyptian forces, and seize control.  Jeremiah was advising them that god was allowing Babylon to take control, and that there would be no serious problems if they would recognize it as God’s will and simply yield. 

He also warned thast to fight against the Babylonians would result war, famine and disease and ultimately, the loss of their lands.  They should not listen to the politicians and prophets who encouraged them to stand up and fight, because following them would only result in destruction.   Like many people today, many of the leaders of Israel equated patriotism and godliness.  They are not the same thing.  While the Jews were to continue to follow the theachings of the Law, God had designated Nebuchadnezzar to rule the entire area, and fighting against him would amount to fighting against God’s will. 

In much the same way, Christians need to realize that while the move to create a global government is part of Satan’s plan for the Antichrist, God has said it is going to happen to fulfil his prophecies.  As Christians, we are not called on to prevent it happening, but rather to continue to stand for what is right as it happens.  If we try to stop it, we may well find ourselves fighting against God.   As we see this coming to pass, it becomes increasingly important that we stand for the moral and religious beliefs we find in God’s word. 

Revelations 2 and 3 talk about typical churches in the last days.   Christ had only compliments for two of those churches.  He told the church at Smyrna, “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,” in Revelation 2:10.   In Revelation 3:10-11, he told the church at Philadelphia, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”  Instead of trying to prevent Satan from setting up his world government, we are to focus on doing what God has said and trust him to take care of Satan.   It is not our job to fix the world, but to obey God.