Jeremiah 26:20–24 (HCSB)
Another man was also prophesying in the name of the LORD—Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like all those of Jeremiah.
King Jehoiakim, all his warriors, and all the officials heard his words, and the king tried to put him to death. When Uriah heard, he fled in fear and went to Egypt. But King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor and ‹certain other› men with him ‹went› to Egypt. They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with the sword and threw his corpse into the burial place of the common people.
But Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
Uriah and Jeremiah both prophesied the word of the Lord. Uriah was killed. Jeremiah was delivered. Uriah fled in fear to Egypt. I can only imagine the fear he felt when he was captured.
What can we say about these things? Both men obeyed God. When paid the ultimate price for his obedience. The other doubtless suffered great things, but he still survived.
There are no guarantees when we obey God. God’s plan for one of His servants is completely different then the plan He has for all the other of His servants.
Which will we be: the servant who survives or the one who dies? We don’t know and we cannot know. I can only say three things:
First, we must obey God regardless. We don’t obey God for what we get out of it. We obey God because that is what we must do.
Second, we must trust that God will give us what we need to fulfill His will. Uriah fled in fear, but I want to believe that he came back under guard with God’s peace in his heart.
Third, both prophets received a reward. I do not know what that reward was, and I know we do not serve God for rewards. But God does reward His servants. It is not was though we have nothing to look forward to. We have a lot to look forward to.
It will all be worth it when we see Jesus! So keep obeying Him.
God is so awesome in how he blesses us. I hope I never get complacent about the blessings of God. He is with me daily. It really challenges your thought life when you realize God is right there in the middle of it.
ReplyDeleteLarry Flegle