August 27th - A Prophet Persecuted

A Prophet Persecuted

(Jeremiah 37:3-21; 38:1-28)

Jeremiah in the Cistern

Artist Unknown

Have you ever been asked for advice, only to have the hearer reject your counsel?

I know I surely have. As a parent with teens, I can testify! The most heartfelt truths may echo in unwilling ears. Our earnest pleas may fetch no response, or even opposition. Is this not the basic plea in many parents' prayers for young people?

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah knew this frustration well. In fact, Jeremiah found himself imprisoned and then tossed into a cistern, simply for speaking the words of the Lord. The king’s officials did not like his counsel, so they persecuted the prophet.

Finally, King Zedekiah himself summoned the prophet and asked him for the truth. But Jeremiah was skeptical of the king’s possible response.

Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,

"If I give you an answer,

will you not kill me?

Even if I did give you counsel,

you would not listen to me."

(Jeremiah 38:15, NIV)

Of what use is it to offer a prophetic word, if the listeners will merely cast the Lord’s words aside? What if the words fall upon deaf ears, and those for whom the word seems intended fail to respond? Should the prophet still speak?

Perhaps the point is not the listeners’ response – as much as the prophet’s own obedience in carrying forth the message the Lord has given to him. For each of us may only be held responsible for our own attitudes and actions, faithful or faithless.

Will you pray with me?

Lord,

Make us faithful,

Where we are faithless.

Teach us to take our guidance

From You alone.

Guard our hearts

From seeking

The approval of men,

Rather than Your favor.

Your acceptance

Is all that counts.

Amen.