Originally posted: 5/12/2021
And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, “Listen to My voice,” (11:6-7).
Today marks the eleventh day reading the words of the Weeping Prophet. And I just couldn’t get over how often, in just eleven days, we hear the Persistence of Holy God as He pursues a people so persistent in their rebellion. And then it hit me, it’s only been eleven days, but Jeremiah was God’s spokesman for more than fifty years!
And again I find myself undone, undone by His Patience, Compassion, and Grace; undone and bewildered by the lengths He chose to go; undone by His Persistence in Proclaiming His Promises that were persistently passed over to pursue the practice of the pagans.
His warnings were reiterated, and His invitation continued, an invitation to walk with Him in obedience; an invitation that must be accepted by faith as it goes against societal norms and traditions.
His invitation began back when He called them out of Egypt, His invitation to be their God.
“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;3 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’” (11:2-4).
And from the beginning, when He called the nation Israel to Himself, He made it clear that the choice was theirs. They could heed His warnings, listen to His voice in obedience and accept His invitation by faith to be in relationship with Holy God; or they could ignore His warnings, reject His invitation and forego the blessing of all His Promises.
And what is beyond our human understanding is that though His people did not choose to hear, did not choose to listen, did not choose to obey, still He Persisted to Proclaim His Promises.
Each day’s encounter with our amazing God, revealed in the pages of Jeremiah, demonstrates His Passion for the children who had sold themselves to idolatry. In every reiterated warning detailing the curses of disobedience, and in every repetition expounding on the blessings of obedience, the message is the same.
Whether His Prophecy expresses the negative of His impending destruction or the positive of His imminent salvation, He Persistently Proclaims His Promises, offering His people, yet again, the way of faith through the opportunity to choose to hear, to listen, and to obey.
Consider Him Who Persistently Proclaims His Promises
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose His Presence.
- The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace…” (11:1-3).
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose to become His Possession.
- “…saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’” (11:3).
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose His Plenty.
- “ in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day,” (11:5).
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose His Patience.
- And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, “Listen to My voice,'”” (11:6-7).
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose His Protection.
- “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not,” (11:8).
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose His Preservation.
- Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them,” (11:11).
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose His Power.
- “Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster,” (11:12).
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose His Paradise.
- The Lord called your name,
“A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”;
With the noise of a great tumult
He has kindled fire on it,
And its branches are worthless, (11:16).
- The Lord called your name,
- He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: Choose His Peace.
- “The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal,” (11:17).
- And He Persistently Proclaims His Promise: those who Plot to Prohibit His Prophecy are Choosing His Punishment.
- Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not die at our hand”; 22 therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; 23 and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth—the year of their punishment,” (11:21-23).
How do we respond to Him Who Persistently Proclaims His Promises?
Seven times in today’s chapter, the Hebrew word that is translated, hear, listen, or obey, is used.
hear/listen/obey: “8085. שָׁמַע šāma: A verb meaning to hear, to obey, to listen, to be heard of, to be regarded, to cause to hear, to proclaim, to sound aloud. The verb basically means to hear…” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
Three times this word refers to His call to the people to hear, listen, and obey (11:4, 6, 7); two times this word speaks of the people’s refusal to hear, listen, and obey (11:8, 10); and two times God states that in response to the people’s refusal, He Himself will refuse to listen to their cries (11:11, 14).
Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them,” (11:11).
“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster,” (11:14).
This should rock us out of ever taking His Patience for granted. At some point He will Proclaim, “Enough.” Oh, that we would stay as far away from that point as possible.
God will always judge sin. And if we belong to Him through faith in Christ, our sin has been judged at the cross, and by His Grace we are secure in knowing we will be spared eternal punishment.
But Grace doesn’t provide a license to separate faith from obedience. Grace does not offer us complacency towards the need to listen to His Persistent Proclamations through His reiterated warnings. Grace does not abolish His command to hear, listen, and obey His voice.
For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17).
Oh, that we would be Persistent in our faith that we would always choose to hear, listen, and obey His Word. This word, persistent, in the Hebrew, also has an interesting connotation.
Persistent: “7925. שָׁכַם šāḵam: A verb meaning to rise early. It uniformly indicates arising early to do something… The Lord had risen early and had diligently, eagerly spoken to a rebellious people (Jer. 7:13, 25)…” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
We know God does not slumber or sleep, “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep,” (Psalm 121:4); but in the poetic style of Jeremiah, the image is portrayed of God being eager to Proclaim His Promises.
And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer, (Jeremiah 7:13).
“Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them,” (Jeremiah 7:25).
Shouldn’t that image of God being eager, rising early to Proclaim His Promises, inspire our own eagerness?
Let us pray for a spirit of eagerness, that we would choose to rise early to incline our ear and intentionally seek Him before anything else. Oh how glorious it would be if we would choose to begin each day listening to the voice of Him Who Persistently Proclaims His Promises, that we would hear His lovingkindness and be strengthened in our faith as we choose to obey the way in which we should walk.
Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul, (Psalm 143:8).