LifeWay Bible Studies for Life Series for August 26: Persevere in obedience

Most of us have little firsthand experience of real persecution because of our faith in Jesus. There have been times when we have faced ridicule for being old fashioned in our beliefs or resisting an opportunity to sin when the rest of the group already had decided to participate.  

While these types of persecution may seem extreme to us with our protected environments, the only thing we sensed we would lose was some popularity or influence with a person or a group of people.

That is not the case in many places in our world. Many believers are faced with pressure and persecution daily that calls upon them to remain faithful and obedient to God and possibly suffer the consequences of imprisonment or even death. A real possibility exists that most of us may still encounter this type of persecution in our lifetime. The question will be put to us as to whether we will desert our faith or persevere in obedience to God. That is what Jeremiah faced in three separate instances all related to one event in this week’s lesson.

Jeremiah was the prophet God had used to reveal to the people of Judah that their land, their capital city of Jerusalem and their very lives would be turned over to the Babylonians.

In Jeremiah 37:11-17, the time of battle between Babylon and Judah is interrupted for a period of time. When the Chaldeans (Babylonians) withdrew from Jerusalem for a season, Jeremiah decide to leave the city and go to the land of Benjamin to take care of some personal business. The guards detained him and charged him with planning to desert to the enemy. He was beaten and put in prison.  

While in prison, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah. When asked by the king if there was any word from the Lord, Jeremiah had his first opportunity to deny his faith. He could have said anything that would have been pleasing to the king and perhaps been released from prison. Instead, he remained faithful and spoke clearly God’s word that Judah and Zedekiah would be handed over to Babylon.

For thought: Too often, we have opportunity to deny our faith by just giving an answer that pleases people rather than speaking God’s answer. If we will cave in with little pressure, why would we expect we would remain obedient to God if severe persecution comes?  

A current phrase in our day is “I’ve got your back.” The meaning is that I will defend you, protect you and stand up for you. But sometimes when the pressure increases, the speaker of the first phrase becomes the one who stabs you in the back.

In Jeremiah 37:18-21, Jeremiah asks for and gets Zedekiah’s permission to not return to the dungeon-like prison he had been in but rather to remain in a guarded courtyard.  

Once word was out that Jeremiah still was saying Babylon would be victorious, officials began to call for Jeremiah’s execution. Zedekiah, who had given Jeremiah leniency, reversed himself under pressure and said for the officials to do whatever they wished to do to Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 38:4-6, we see they did not kill him outright but instead threw him into an abandoned well to die. Again Jeremiah remained faithful to God even though others had gone back on their word.

For thought: Have you ever let the actions or behaviors of other people become the justification for your disobedience to God? Our children often use this reasoning as to why they did something or should be allowed to do a particular thing—“everyone else is.” God has called upon us to obey him. Obedience to God is not based on a majority-rule vote.

Once Zedekiah was informed Jeremiah was in the well, he ordered other men to go and pull Jeremiah out of the well and bring him to the king. Again the king wanted to know if there was a word from God. Certainly he was hoping for a better outcome than previously had been predicted. Jeremiah was hesitant to speak because Zedekiah had not believed God’s message previously.  Zedekiah promised Jeremiah’s life would be spared if he would share what God was saying.

Again, Jeremiah persevered in obedience to God by faithfully proclaiming God’s exact message. The outcome had not changed. Zedekiah and his family would be spared if they surrendered to the Babylonians. Otherwise, the Babylonians still would be victorious, Jerusalem would be burned and Zedekiah would be killed.

Jeremiah was called to be God’s prophet as were other men throughout the Scripture. Each was given specific instructions and words from God that were to be conveyed to the people. Likewise, God gives each of us certain callings and tasks, expecting us to live our lives in faithfulness and obedience to him.

It would be easy to say certain tasks or messages might be easier than others. I would rather proclaim a message of hope than of judgment. But our call to faithfulness is not based on the ease or difficulty of the task or the comfort or discomfort of the message. We are called to persevere in our faith regardless of what we face or what we are assigned.

For thought: Laying aside all our excuses and fears, will we persevere in obedient faith to the God who redeemed us through the life, death and resurrection of his only Son?