Destroying the Message: Part 1

Jeremiah was God’s prophetic voice to the nation of Judah during a time of impending doom. For many years, God through Jeremiah had been warning Judah of His displeasure with them and that Babylon would conquer them and take them captive into exile (Jer. 6:8–19, Jeremiah 26). The Lord was seeking to save them, but they had to obey.

Judah’s sins were many, open, and unchanging. Idolatry, child sacrifice, adultery, and tyranny were the norm during Jeremiah’s time, yet the prophet’s warnings and appeals were not heeded. As Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry neared its end, God’s appeals to His wayward children grew more intense, yet His efforts always remained redemptive. In Jeremiah 32, for instance, God tells Jeremiah to buy a piece of land and hold on to the deed, “ ‘for thus says the Lord of hosts . . . : “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land” ’ ” (Jer. 32:15, NKJV).

It was love that moved God to have Jeremiah write a kind of final appeal for repentance and reformation. Jehoiakim’s response to this message was one of disdain for God, His message, and His messenger.

Sometimes there is a tendency to believe that if we dismiss or destroy God’s messages or His messengers, the message itself will vanish. Our unwillingness to heed God’s prophetic Word does not erase the message God has for us. Our disdain only intensifies the harm that will befall us and our families because of our willful ignorance or rebellion. Jeremiah’s prophecy about King Jehoiakim’s end holds a grave warning for every human being (Jer. 36:30, 31): we ignore God’s warnings to us at our own peril, for we will reap the consequences of our sin and evil.

---

Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White

The crisis demanded a public and far-reaching effort. Jeremiah was commanded by the Lord to stand in the court of the temple and speak to all the people of Judah who might pass in and out. From the messages given him he must diminish not a word, that sinners in Zion might have the fullest possible opportunity to hearken and to turn from their evil ways.
The prophet obeyed; he stood in the gate of the Lord’s house and there lifted his voice in warning and entreaty. Under the inspiration of the Almighty he declared:
“Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.” Jeremiah 7:2–7.
The unwillingness of the Lord to chastise is here vividly shown. He stays His judgments that He may plead with the impenitent. He who exercises “loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth” yearns over His erring children; in every way possible He seeks to teach them the way of life everlasting. Jeremiah 9:24. He had brought the Israelites out of bondage that they might serve Him, the only true and living God. Though they had wandered long in idolatry and had slighted His warnings, yet He now declares His willingness to defer chastisement and grant yet another opportunity for repentance. He makes plain the fact that only by the most thorough heart reformation could the impending doom be averted. In vain would be the trust they might place in the temple and its services. Rites and ceremonies could not atone for sin. Notwithstanding their claim to be the chosen people of God, reformation of heart and of the life practice alone could save them from the inevitable result of continued transgression.
Thus it was that “in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem” the message of Jeremiah to Judah was, “Hear ye the words of this covenant,”—the plain precepts of Jehovah as recorded in the Sacred Scriptures,—“and do them.” Jeremiah 11:6. And this is the message he proclaimed as he stood in the temple courts in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim.—Prophets and Kings, pp. 412–414.