25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, [a]these twenty-three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you [b]again and again, but you have not listened. 4 And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets [c]again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, 5 saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever; 6 and do not go after other gods to [d]serve them and to [e]worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares the Lord, “in order that you might provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.
8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will [f]utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will [g]take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
In this passage, we step back in time a bit, and answer one of the questions I had wondered. Namely, was Jeremiah delivering God’s messages during the reign of Josiah? And for how long? The answer, as we see here, is yes. Josiah reigned for 31 years, and Jeremiah started his ministry in the 13th, which was five years before Josiah instituted serious reforms.
As big as those reforms were, including the biggest (or best?) Passover celebration ever, Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, did not follow in his steps. Instead, he rebelled against God, and his reign lasted all of three months. This message was given in the fourth year (out of eleven) of the reign of Jehoiakim, Josiah’s second son.
So what does that tell us exactly? Well, this wasn’t new information, that they were rebelling against God. Potentially, for the first ten years of Josiah’s reign (and five years of Jeremiah’s ministry), they might have asked, “What do you mean we aren’t following God’s commands? We don’t even know what those are!” They could have been right about that, but once Josiah found the book of the law, and celebrated the biggest Passover ever…
The people were now without excuse, but just as many do today, they could have also asked, “What does it matter? I’m not hurting anyone, can’t you just leave me alone!” As we look again at v. 7, we might agree. I mean, were they really hurting anyone? Was God just being capricious and angry about having His feelings hurt?
As that verse ends, God makes it clear that they were hurting themselves, that it was all “to their own harm.” And if we look elsewhere (2 Kings 23 for example), we’ll see it wasn’t just themselves, but they were often hurting or outright sacrificing children in the worship of these false and evil gods. According to God’s law, which they now knew, that was an instant death sentence.
So again, what’s the point? They were without excuse, just as we are without excuse, and everyone from the beginning of time has ever been. So what are we doing with God’s commands? Why do we insist on hurting ourselves and others, living selfishly at our own expense? God is not whimsical or wishy washy, He doesn’t change, and His plan from the very beginning has been for our good. We’re just awfully skilled at messing that up…
Often, our problem is that we don’t know what God’s Word actually says, other times we’re just stubborn and don’t listen to it. In any case, we need to read His Word. It’s the best selling book on the planet, there are copies everywhere, it’s free and being given away even. So we need to wake up and pay attention. Again, read it, don’t just listen to others talk about it or give you their opinions on it.
Read His Words of life for yourself, and let it sink in. Do what He asks, and you’ll find out it isn’t about being restrictive or punitive. God’s Word, the Bible, is about a plan designed for your good, to bring you life, and life to the full.