Jer. 39, 52, 40
Zedekiah was not obedient to God. He had his eyes put out, was bound in chains, and was taken to Babylon. Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian who rescued Jeremiah from the cistern, however, was spared. God told him, through Jeremiah, “For I will surely save you…because you have put your trust in me” (Jer 39:18). Jeremiah was also faithful to God and he was given the freedom to go where he wished. Again, when we trust in God and obey His word, it does not guarantee us an easy road. It does, however, put us in the solid protection of God’s faithful promise that “[He] will surely save [us]”.
I find it interesting that, while God’s own people refused to listen to His word through Jeremiah and the other prophets, the leaders of Babylon, who did not know or place their trust in God, knew that what they had done to the nations was by the hand of God. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian guard said to Jeremiah, “The LORD your God pronounced this disaster against this place. The LORD has brought it about, and has done as He said” (Jer 40:2b-3a). I can only guess that they knew this because they, too, heard the proclamations of God’s prophets. Unlike the Jews, though, they believed them. Perhaps this is a foreshadowing of how God’s new covenant through Jesus would be extended to the Gentiles after the Jews rejected it. And perhaps it opened the door for some of these Babylonians to trust in God as their own.
Heb. 10:19-39
I recognize that everything in the Temple of God is a representation of Jesus, but I have never caught this analogy of the curtain to the holy of holies as Jesus’ own flesh. It makes sense, since His flesh being broken is what tore that curtain, giving us direct access to God.
I like how the ESV words Hebrews 10:24a. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works”. Some translations use the word “provoke”, which I also like. Usually we associate words like “stir up” and “provoke” with chaos and division, giving them a negative connotation for us. And that is exactly why I like the use of them here. It seems to say to me that, while we should be working up energy among ourselves so that we do not become complacent, we should NOT be causing chaos and division within the body of believers. True, we don’t always agree with each other. But let’s put our energy into the things we know are good and right. This is one of the reasons we should meet together. Because facing a hostile world with God’s love and truth can be a very discouraging business!