Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck and broke it in pieces. And Hananiah said again to the crowd that had gathered, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Just as this yoke has been broken, within two years I will break the yoke of oppression from all the nations now subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.’” With that, Jeremiah left the Temple area. Soon after this confrontation with Hananiah, the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but you have replaced it with a yoke of iron. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations, forcing them into slavery under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.’” Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, but the people believe your lies. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘You must die. Your life will end this very year because you have rebelled against the Lord.’” Two months later the prophet Hananiah died.
I was sharing a conversation with a
friend of mine, who is an internist, about another friend, who is experiencing
the multiple-doctor-mixed-diagnoses-syndrome.
One “specialist” doc prescribed a certain medication; the other doc, not
in that specialty, said, no,
you don’t have to take that. I asked my internist friend, what’s a patient to do? He said, I believe that other doc oughta stay in his lane.
Jeremiah had worn a common oxen yoke
to show how Israel had gotten themselves into a serious rock and hard place situation with disobeying God.
Hananiah, a man who had a reputation as prophet, took the yoke off
Jeremiah’s neck and broke it to pieces.
That was a metaphorical slap at Jeremiah’s prophecy, telling all who
would hear about it, that everything was going to be just fine in Jerusalem. Israel was going to be great again, and the
Babylonian invasion was just a minor blip on the screen of their national pride…not
to worry.
America hasn’t had to deal with
that (so far) in its storied 244 years since our Independence. We have been the richest, most powerful
nation on earth for a long time. I am certainly
not Jeremiah, nor am I going to be a meddling Hananiah, but the parallels
between Israel’s disobedience, and what we see destroying even a thin
resemblance of godliness in this country, should give warning enough that we
are headed for the same hand of judgment Israel experienced…and, perhaps worse.
Now, that’s as far as I go in prophesying,
following Jesus’ admonition to see the signs of the times, the fields being white unto harvest. But it still causes me to shudder
for the sake of my children, and theirs; what in the world are we thinking in
this day to do just what Israel did 2,600 years ago?
·
They were arrogant about being God’s chosen (as we claim with our motto, One Nation Under God); they were, but that just meant, if they were disobedient children,
their Father was going to meet them at the woodshed, and it wouldn’t be pretty.
·
They assumed (as we do) their wealth, powerful history, and determination
would protect them from any other nation.
·
They sacrificed their children (as we do).
At the risk of being pronounced unpatriotic, I
am saying you don’t have to be a prophet to make this connection – America is
not great; we are sinful. Only God is great,
and we have no hope of being great unless we bow in His presence by changing
our ways.
Let’s
Pray Together:
Father, help us to not lay the blame for our sins on anyone else. Help us to acknowledge that, like sheep, we have ALL gone astray[1], and must not only plead for forgiveness, but receive that forgiveness by repenting of sinfulness. Help us to put aside the notion of being great and turn towards becoming Godly.
For You Today
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.
Have a blessed day!
