“Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go. ¹⁰ For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire,’” (37:9-10).

Today’s chapter is a perfect bookend companion to yesterday’s reading. His Word is Unstoppable (Jeremiah 36), nothing and no one can frustrate, thwart or stop His Word. And nothing and no one is needed to Advance His Word. His Word will go forth without impediment and Without Assistance.

God sends His faithful prophet once again to warn the king of the danger he is courting with his misplaced trust in Pharaoh’s army. I find it absolutely fascinating that Zedekiah would even think to ask Jeremiah to pray for him; after all, he wasn’t in the habit of listening to the Word of the Lord.

But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet, (37:2).

And as his habit was refusing to give heed to God’s Word, it’s safe to assume that Zedekiah wasn’t really seeking the Lord at all, but more likely he was seeking an answer that he wanted.

“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. ⁸ The Chaldeans will also return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’ ⁹ Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go,’” (37:7-9).

The warning came again, don’t be deceived, for God’s Word Is Unstoppable, whether it looks probable or possible. And what the Lord has determined to happen will come to fruition by the Unassisted Advancement of His Word.

Consider the Unassisted Advancement of His Word

What can He not do and from whom would He ever seek Assistance?

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding…
¹² “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place?” (Job 38:4, 12).

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵ nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things, (Act 17:24-25).

• He had only to speak, and the Unassisted Advancement of His Word created the heavens and all their host.
  • By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    And by the breath of His mouth all their host, (Psalm 33:6).

• By the Unassisted Advancement of His Word, He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it.
  • In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… ²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so, (Genesis 1:1, 24).

• By the Unassisted Advancement of His Word, He created man in His image.
  • Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them, (Genesis 1:26-27).

• By the Unassisted Advancement of His Word, He saves, heals and delivers.
  • Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
    He saved them out of their distresses.
    ²⁰ He sent His word and healed them,
    And delivered them from their destructions, (Psalm 107:29-20).

• By the Unassisted Advancement of His Word, He performs His Will in His time.
  • “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,”’” declares the Lord God, (Ezekiel 12:28).

• And by the Unassisted Advancement of His Word, He calls things, even armies, into existence that do not exist.
  • For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire,’” (37:9-10).
  • …God, who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist, (Romans 4:17).

How do we respond to the Unassisted Advancement of His Word?

We are called to live by faith in the Unassisted Advancement of His Word. And faith demands obedience, or else it really isn’t faith.

but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; (Romans 16:26).

But the truth is, obedience is a challenge when we doubt His Word, when we are unsure that He is really going to do what He said, when our circumstances scream that He must not be in control, for surely He would never have called us to this place of suffering and affliction.

It is in those times that we must choose to believe that His Word Is Unstoppable, that He will do all that He has promised, and He needs no Assistance to make it happen, and that includes from us.

God needs no Assistance to Advance His Work in us and through us. The Unassisted Advancement of His Word will accomplish in us what only He can do.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus, (Philippians 1:6).

As we take hold of this truth, that the Advancement of His Word in us will be perfected without Assistance from us, and as we trust Him to work out what He has worked within us, He will enable us to live in holiness and in reverent worship of Him.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure, (Philippians 2:12-13).

And God does not need our Assistance to work through us, only our availability and dependence on Him. Oswald Chambers summed this truth up in the following quote:

“God can achieve His purpose either through the absence of human power and resources, or abandonment of reliance on them. All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on Him made possible the unique display of His power and grace. He chose and used somebodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.” from Grace Quotes: https://gracequotes.org/author-quote/oswald-chambers/

Oh, let us ask the Lord to grant us unusual dependence on Him that we would become fit vessels of the Unassisted Advancement of His Word and Work through us.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves, (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Let us learn from Abraham, the father of faith, who believed God when there was nothing but His Word to believe. Oh, that we would live as children of faith who believe that every promise He has spoken, even when it seems improbable or impossible, even when it seems hopeless, will be brought to pass by the Unassisted Advancement of His Word.

For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. ¹⁸ In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be,” (Romans 4:16-17).

Oh, that we would believe His Word and trust His Work, that our lives would be an offering of praise for His glorious grace as we become exactly who He has predestined us to be by the Unassisted Advancement of His Word.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren, (Romans 8:29) .

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved, (Ephesians 1:5-6).

Let’s Grow Together!