“The King Must Hear This!”

“The King Must Hear This!”
We often personalize our faith because salvation is personal. It is true that God is concerned for the individual, but only in so far as individuals constitute community.
God expects us to be one another’s keeper. Structural sin can be the undoing of a nation. The wickedness of constituted authority through evil structures and imposed upon the people becomes national sin.
Thus when a people are regarded as evil it is not because there are no good people in that community. They are there but their voices are drowned in the midst of the cacophony emanating from the loudspeakers of evil structures.
It was God’s wish as echoed by Jeremiah that when the people hear the word of the scroll, “perhaps …each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.”*
Unfortunately, when Baruch read the scroll, the authorities were absent. They are never there anyway. They are busy with the next scheme! The one who heard went and told them and they called Baruch to come and read to them all that was written on the scroll.
“When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, ‘We must report all these words to the king.” When Baruch confirmed to them that what he read was dictated to him by Jeremiah, the officials said to him, “You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are”(Jer.36:11-19).
The Lord will always protect his own. God’s word, no matter how piercing it may be will always warm its way into repentant hearts who will do things in the fear of the Lord. It was the fear of God that was in these officials that caused them to ask that Baruch and Jeremiah should hide before they present the matter to the king.
They surely knew what the king’s reaction would be. They probably remembered what happened to Uriah who prophesied in the name of the Lord the same things Jeremiah prophesied against the city. The king heard him and sought to put him to death. Uriah fled to Egypt, but the king sent men to Egypt who tracked him and brought him back to Judah. The king struck him with a sword “and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people”(Jer.26:20-23).
My friend, when you hear God’s word harden not your heart. Rather, let the word of God generate reverential fear in you so that you can protect and save lives that are in danger.
Prayer: Lord, may your word inspire me to protect the lives of those who speak in your name. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!