I’ve talked before in this blog about the importance of remembering what the Lord has done and so…….. I thought I would do so again…..because it’s an important reminder.

You see today, I was reminded not simply of the importance of remembering the Lord’s breakthrough in my own life, but also His breakthrough in the lives of others and how that has an effect on my life. This is something we miss so often as we have become more individualised.

The passage that got me thinking about all of this is Jeremiah 26, a chapter that was a big moment for the young prophet.

It starts with God telling Jeremiah to prophesy to all the people in the courts of the Lord. These people had come to worship God, so they were technically following Him, and God specifically tells Jeremiah to speak every word He was about to give him, he wasn’t allowed to omit anything. It may have worried Jeremiah that God gave this clarification as I don’t think he’d left stuff out before! It probably means something tough was coming.

And it was….here is the Lord’s instruction;

Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened ), then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.’” Jeremiah 26:4-6

A nice wee “encouraging” word…..

Just for context, Shiloh was one of the first places that the Israelites worshipped God in the Promised Land. Before there was a temple in Jerusalem this was one of the main places people would make a pilgrimage to. It was located in Samaria. It was where Joshua allotted land to the remaining tribes, where they would gather before battles, where their annual festivals were held, it was where Hannah dedicated Samuel, and where the Lords presence showed up often. Shiloh was a big deal – it was an important place

However, that didn’t continue forever. The Bible doesn’t tell us entirely what happened but by the time of Jeremiah Shiloh had been reduced to ruins, there was nothing left of the place where Israel worshipped. We get a couple of references to it in the Psalms and earlier in Jeremiah;

He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans. Psalm 78:60

Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. Jeremiah 7:12

Shiloh stood as a warning to everyone in Israel. People were aware of its significance in history but also of its fall. The Lord is telling the people, through Jeremiah, that the temple in Jerusalem, and this city itself, would be reduced the rubble just like Shiloh if they didn’t reform their ways.

So…..

Jeremiah delivers this difficult word in front of all the people, including the priest and the prophets. Their response was swift, but not in the way he might have hoped.

But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die! Jeremiah 26:8

That’s not the feedback you’re looking for after a talk! Yikes!

In scenes that reminded me of Jesus being hauled before Pilate, the people begin to call for Jeremiah’s head because he had prophesied against the city. Interestingly they did this in front of the city officials and all the people of the city, just like with Jesus. Interesting because I find it funny how the ‘church’ too often relies on the world in times of difficulty rather than turning to the Lord.

It’s at this point when remembrance saves not just Jeremiah, but the people, from committing a terrible crime.

Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God. Jeremiah 26:16

I’ve underlined ‘officials’ here because they were the ones who recognised the word of the Lord, not the priests or the prophets! After they speak we are told that some elders of the land also speak up about the prophet Micah who also spoke of Jerusalem’s destruction.

Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the LORD and seek his favor? And did not the LORD relent, so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!” Jeremiah 26:1

They go onto talk about another prophet and in the end we are told that Jeremiah was not handed over to be killed, although we do hear of another prophet who was. The passage finishes with us hearing about Jeremiah’s escape. It ends well for him in this instance.

I have a question with all of this;

What would have happened if the officials hadn’t remembered the word of the Lord in the past?

For a start there would be no more Jeremiah, they would have been guilty of killing another innocent man, sent by God, and who knows what further destruction may have come on Judah? It would have been disastrous but it seems this could have been easily happened.

Could we be at danger of this kind of thing?

I wonder how often we read or remember about what God has done in the past? I don’t mean personally but perhaps in our own town or country. Even further afield. What if the answers we are searching for can be found in the things that have already happened? What if we are missing an entire resource because we haven’t been bothered to search? What if we are about to kill innocent people (I’m stretching it, I know) and bring disaster on us?

I don’t know about you but I think we need to lean in more and remember what the Lord has already done and ask Him to do it again!