THE LORD SPOKE (October 22)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Jeremiah 27-29

“You’re going to be there for awhile so get used to it.”

That was Jeremiah’s advice to the people of Israel as they contemplated the 70-year captivity. Many were probably thinking they could get time off for good behavior. After all, God is a gracious God. Can’t we just repent and get it over with quicker?

And there were plenty of other prophets around to encourage them in this thinking. In fact, there were also diviners, interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers to promote this lie (27:9-10). Hananiah was a popular and respected prophet. He didn’t like Jeremiah’s negativism. Without a word from the Lord, he prophesied relief within two years (28:2-4). Not only did he contradict Jeremiah, he publically demonstrated against him (28:10-11) and led the people to rebel against the Lord (28:16). God took his life away!

Jeremiah told the people to “serve the king of Babylon” (27:18 - he’s even called “my servant Nebuchadnezzar” in 27:6). Jeremiah tells them to...

• build houses and settle down
• plant gardens and eat what they provide
• marry and have sons and daughters...and grandchildren
• seek the peace and prosperity of that place - “Pray to the Lord for it.”

He says, “It will be a long time [so] settle down” and get used to it (29:28). Is there an application here for us? While “this world is not my home - I’m just a passin’ through”, nevertheless, God has placed us here for a time and for a purpose. We too should settle down and lead productive lives. While our citizenship is in heaven, we should be involved in our present location, contributing to our community.

Before reading these chapters, would you have recognized any of these names:

• Hananiah, ben-Azzur
• Ahab, ben-Kolaiah
• Zedekiah, ben-Maaseiah
• Shemaiah the Nehelamite
• Zephaniah, ben-Maaseiah

They’ve been long forgotten. But have you ever heard of Jeremiah? He was just “one of the priests of Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin” (1:1) - a small village in the smallest tribe and off the beaten track. But, “the word of the Lord came to him” (1:2) and he faithfully proclaimed it. You can do no better!


Psalms 71-72

If Psalm 72 is just about Solomon, it rings rather hollow. Earliest interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, have seen messianic overtones in this psalm.

It’s what is commonly called a Royal Psalm or a Coronation Psalm. The superscription tell us it’s “Of Solomon” but therein lies part of the problem. The Hebrew means of indicating a possessive is to attach the preposition ל (lamed) as a prefix on the noun. However, that same prefix can mean both “of” in the sense of being “derived from” or “of” in the sense of “dedicated to”. Both would carry the sense of “belonging to”. In either case, it’s a psalm “of Solomon”.

It’s quite possible that both are true in this case. Solomon may well have written this psalm for his own coronation. It was used by Israel as a dedicatory prayer for later kings in the Davidic dynasty. But the messianic applications stand out in nearly every verse:

• righteousness and justice (vs. 1-2,7)
• prosperity (vs. 3,7)
• endure through all generations and forever (vs. 5,17)
• rule from sea to sea, ends of the earth, distant shores (vs. 8-10)
• deliverance of needy, afflicted, and oppressed (vs. 4,12-14)

Perhaps the clincher comes in vs. 17b where it says that “all nations will be blessed through him”. That’s a not-so-veiled reference to the Abrahamic Covenant. In Genesis 12:3, God told Abraham that “in you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” and Paul picked up on that exact phrase in Galatians 3:8 where he says it constitutes “the gospel in advance”. A clear messianic reference!

The very idea of all the nations participating in God’s plan for mankind speaks of the Messianic Age when Jesus Christ shall reign. He is the ultimate King who will bring eternal justice and righteousness.

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen!

Great God, whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son,
Extend His power, exalt His throne.

With power He vindicates the just,
And treads th’oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last
Till hours, and years, and time be past.