Read Jeremiah 37
37:1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made King of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.”
The contradiction is glaring. The people, the King and all the royal household paid absolutely no attention to the Word of God. They dismissed the Word of God. They loathed it. They despised it. And yet in vs 3 they sent messengers to Jeremiah to ask him to pray to God for their situation. Did they really think that God would hear them, given that they paid no attention to the Word of God?
It pictures for us the skin deep “Christian” who is always too busy to attend church on Sonday. Work, family, sport and sleeping in take a much greater priority than God. He or she rarely if ever prays because life is good and things are rosy. Why bother God when life’s good, right? Why waste time, right? He or she never reads the Word for themselves and the concept having a quiet time before God evokes nothing but a chuckle. Yet when tragedy strikes, this “Christian” cries out to God and upon receiving no answer spits the dummy and fumes against God. Picture the stamping feet and the thumping fists and the beetroot red face turned towards God in raging anger.
Our God is a jealous God and will not play second fiddle to anyone or anything. He is not a God who takes kindly to being treated like a vending machine – we put in our prayer coins when we have a need and then demand immediate answers. Our God hates being treated like a genie whose bottle we can rub with prayers only when in dire straits. Just like we can’t expect money for nothing so we can’t expect God to appear and disappear on cue as needed. We are brothers in arms standing before an awesome and majestic God who demands respect, holiness and life-style worship. The walk of life with God entails hearing the Word and, more importantly, doing the Word.
As James 1:22-25 so plainly tells us:
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
King Zedekiah made the fatal mistake of thinking that he could live life his way and call on God only when needed. I pray that you and I would not make the same mistake.
Prayer:
Using today’s Bible passage and notes write down points for
Adoration:
Confession
Thanks
Supplication:
· Pray for the work of Roger and Margaret Crane and other PIM padres as they seek to bring the gospel to inland Australia. Pray for open doors into station and towns. Pray that many would be willing to listen to the gospel as they travel through our vast interior.
· Pray that God would continue to bless the work of Student Life in Australia and Uni Impact in NZ as they seek to make disciples of uni students.
1. A non believer confesses to you that he can’t worship your God because his wife died with cancer. He tells you he prayed but God still let her die. How can you respond?
2. How would your answer and approach change if the above person told you he was once a believer and went to church regularly?
P r e p a r a t i o n f o r C e l l
Read this week’s
passage and jot down any problems or issues that come to mind about the passage,
it’s application or meaning to you and/or your church.
O n Y o u r O w n
Key Words/Phrases Jeremiah 40-45
Use this space to write down and define key
words/phrases. Look for repetition and biblical themes from other parts of the Bible.
P r e p a r a t i o n f o r C e l l
After your cell has met, jot down the solutions you
found having studied the passage together.
P r a y e r
Prayer:
How does this
passage lead you to pray in terms of
Adoration: Confession Thanks Supplication:
Non
Believers to be Praying for
C e l l G r o u p - D i g g i n g D e e p e r .
The Passage: Read
Jeremiah 40-45
Before Cell, complete the ‘On Your Own’ section
on the previous page. Describe the context of this passage?
List the key
words/phrases and what they mean? Use your previous page notes
In chapter 40:1-6
Jeremiah chooses to stay in the land of Judah even though God’s blessing is with the people in exile. Why do you
think Jeremiah choose to stay in the land?
Recount what
happened to Gedaliah.
Recount what
happened to Ishmael son of Nethaniah.
Why did the
people remaining in the land choose to go to
Egypt?
How did God feel
about this decision?
The people still sought God’s Word
through Jeremiah but disobeyed it. Why do you
think they disobeyed?
If NT believers are Spirit filled, as opposed to OT
believers, why do NT believers still choose to walk in disobedience?
The people upon entering Egypt
began immediately to commit idolatry. Can you
explain
why they did this?
Looking back at Jeremiah through the cross of Christ,
what message is there in Jeremiah 40-45 for
Christians?
Describe one practical thing you can take away from
this passage that gives you stamina in terms of maintaining your ministry and
calling. Think of your
head heart hands
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