Gospel Prism

Now when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there among the people. 13When he was at the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

Jeremiah 37:11-15

I was reading Jeremiah 37 and these words struck me. It’s hard to imagine Jeremiah as a normal person. He was the prophet extraordinaire. He was God’s respresentative here on earth in his day. And yet, he had some property that he wanted to check on during this tumultuous time. When I think of Jeremiah, I think of someone who cared nothing for earthly things at all, the John the Baptist of the Old Testament who wore camel’s skin and a leather belt and ate locusts and honey. And yet, here is Jeremiah setting out to look at his portion of land. So it was in this mundane act of looking upon his land that gets Jeremiah into trouble.

What happens to him? He’s accused of lying, treason, and desertion. And then to top it off, he’s beaten and imprisoned, for what? Because he wanted to see perhaps if his crops were doing well in the midst of the battles and wars, he faced this harsh treatment. I wonder what Jeremiah was thinking during such a time. Here he was, obeying and ministering on behalf of the Lord, and yet, he is tortured and imprisoned. He could have easily resented his ministry and His God. But instead, he knows that what the Lord offered to Him was better than life. It’s for this reason that Jeremiah records some of the most promising words throughout the Bible:

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Jeremiah 31:3