Let Us Be Reminded: Do Not Stiffen Your Neck Against the LORD’S Commands!
“Thus says the LORD,
(The Book of Jeremiah 19: 1-2 NASB)
“Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar,
and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests.
Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom,
which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate,
and proclaim there the words that I tell you,”
If you have met me, then you know me, and if you know me, then you also know that I am clumsy when it comes to the breaking of dishes.
Just ask my sweet husband.
Just ask my precious sisters who caution me each time I offer to wash their dishes.
Do I break dishes on purpose? Well, no, I do not, but unfortunately, I turn too quickly, not paying attention to what I bang against a glass dish. Counters, cabinet doors, & anything close by: you name it, there are so many obstacles within my reach when glassware is in my hands. Then there are the times when my fifty-six-year-old hands just seem to have a mind of their own, and my brain must say to my hands, “Let go,” even though there is nothing to catch the glassware than the kitchen floor.
In reading today’s passage from The Book of Jeremiah, I immediately found myself thinking about all the “potter’s earthenware jar,” (glassware in my case) I have purchased and broken over the years.
As we read the prophet Jeremiah’s account of God’s command, we become intrigued at the events, so let’s keep reading to see the WHAT & WHY behind this Bible narrative.
“Thus says the LORD,
(The Book of Jeremiah 19: 1a & 3-6 NASB)
. . .
and say,
‘Hear the word of the LORD,
O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem:
thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place,
at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle.
Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods,
that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known,
and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of,
nor did it ever enter My mind;
therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom,
but rather the valley of Slaughter.”
The Bible tells, we who have been saved are “the salt of the earth,” that we have an important task, one we must not take lightly. We cannot, under any circumstances—lose our Christian influence!
Let me just pause to say: This is often a tough ‘row to hoe.’ Day-after-day, we must arise, pray, thanking God for the gift of a new day to serve Him. Then we must pray, asking God for His assignment within this day He has given us to live. Finally, we must pray, seeking God’s forgiveness for the ways we failed Him yesterday, seeking His protection and guidance as we step forward into this new day.
Now if you are like me, this conversation needs to occur EARLY—EACH MORNING, not late in the morning or not after lunch or even not even late afternoon.
- WE NEED TO SEEK GOD EARLY EACH MORNING!
- WE NEED TO SEEK GOD THROUGHOUT EACH DAY!
- WE NEED TO SEEK GOD EVERY EVENING AS WE LAY OUR HEAD BACK UPON OUR PILLOW!
WHY?
- Because it is so easy to stiffen our necks against the LORD’S commands!
- Because it is so easy to begin to worship other gods of this world!
- Because it is so easy to allow the blood of the innocent to become sacrificed in this world.
- Because it is so easy for the devil to distract us, to steal our children, & to sacrifice them—right in front of our eyes!
Because it is so easy to lose our Christian influence!
We must be mindfully aware to stay “salty enough” through God’s In-Dwelling Holy Spirit & remain on-mission as Jesus Commanded Us!
“the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,” reminded the people “of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem” to listen to exactly WHAT the LORD God of Israel was about to do to them & exactly WHY.
Thus, as I mentioned earlier, this narrative in God’s Word caught my attention because—while I do not break dishes on purpose, unfortunately, I do not pay attention to what hits against my glass dishes, or even that of my sister’s.
Yes, for sure, there are so many obstacles within my life, things within my reach when glassware is in my hands. Furthermore, there are times when my aged hands just seem to have a mind of their own, dropping the precious glassware to the floor.
Let Us Be WARNED & REMINDED—CHRISTIAN BROTHER & SISTER—
We Must Live In This World but Not Be Of This World in our Thoughts or our Actions!
We Must Not Stiffen Our Necks Against Our LORD’S Commands!
- Do we as Christians react like this with our Christian witness?
- Do we allow the devil to distract us with the ‘busyness’ of the morning, so that we forget to pray and study God’s Holy Word?
- Do we allow the cares of the day to overwhelm us, so that we allow other gods to take God’s rightful place in our hearts?
- Do we sit idly by as the world’s morality proclaims what is RIGHT, even when we know they speak against the TRUTH FOUND IN THE BIBLE!! ?
- Do we willingly become so busy, allowing the world to steal our children, sacrificing them to Satan’s evil—right in front of our eyes?
The prophet Isaiah was given these words from God. May we heed this warning.
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
(The Book of Isaiah 5: 20-21 NASB)
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
And clever in their own sight!”
- May we remember the holiness of Almighty God!
- May we remember that Love apart from Truth is a myth!
- May we remember the LORD’S Holy Wrath & HIS Holy Cleansing!
- May we never forget the reason Jesus willingly died upon the cross!
- May we never ever forsake God’s Mercy & Amazing Grace!
In closing, let us see the end of the narrative, the WHAT our LORD gave as a command to His prophet Jeremiah—
“Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you
(The Book of Jeremiah 19: 10-11 & 15 NASB)
and say to them,
“Thus says the LORD of hosts,
“Just so will I break this people and this city,
even as one breaks a potter’s vessel,
which cannot again be repaired;
and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial.”
. . .
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it,
because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’ ”