Nothing Can Stop His Word

Nothing Can Stop His Word

3/10/22

Many of us have a tendency to forget just how powerful God is and what He can do to our lives and in our lives.  There are also countless examples of ministers and other church leaders getting caught up in the lie that God is not around and is not present in times of need, their need.  This is an eternally deadly mistake made by many folks, certainly by those who have no idea who God is and what His Word actually says and does.  God is a living and breathing Being that our minds cannot fully comprehend but we do know that what He says He shall do no matter which side of His statement you are located.  God is not here to shake you down with every communication He has with you, but if you do not heed His words then there will be a time that changes need to be made.  This scenario too is not well received by some but when God speaks of such a situation know that His Word shall not return void on any level.

As current events seem to spiral out of control, so many people around this nation and the world do not see how bad our nation's response to these events is nor are they aware of what is about to occur either.  It is obvious that our eyes and ears are definitely on another target, one that is so close in front of us that it is not required for us to look up and see what is around us.  It is this type of living that we have adopted and desire to have at all times, such a self-centered and self-decaying existence.  We have become so used to a society such as this that we no longer care to do what is right, only what we want, and hopefully, somewhere along with this societal planning scheme of ours we will have our 20 seconds of fame then sell it for a fee.  It is frightening to think that anyone would thrive in such a governing living space but it is true our reality succumbs to the world's ridiculous state of being without any regard for true authority around us and the defense of such beliefs can be deadly if questioned.

It should not come as a surprise to know that the Church has fallen into this category and as a result, she has no true direction in the mission that we have from Christ.  It has become common practice that church denominations change their belief system as fast as the Pharisees and scribes wrote new laws; as they came across situations, they wrote what served them.  Even in the Old Testament, religious leaders took advantage of such beliefs and stretched them for their own personal gain, a practice so common that it had generational ties within its confines.  Also, it gave reference to the people in such a manner that they acted as their priests did, which is a way of truth given in the Old Testament, one that should have been detected early and irradicated before it grew heart roots.  After everything is said and done, will we be able to stand and say or finish what God has told us to say to those who need Him or will we fall and succumb to the humiliation that the world dishes out?

We find one of these examples in the Old Testament, it is not too hard to locate for the Old Testament is filled with these types of authority issues and how much power the religious rulers believed they wielded.  Our passage comes from the Book of Jeremiah and it tells of one of the times God's prophet was treated terribly by the religious leaders for telling the truth. It is a single verse but once again God's Word is filled with rich information that will help us to not fall into a long sinful trap of selfishness.  Our passage is as follows:

Jeremiah 20:4

"For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give Judah into the hands of the King of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword."

Never once in the entire Word of God did He, His Son, or Holy Spirit say that things for those who follow will have things easy.  All who have stated things that go against the world's view or what people believe will be subject to a multitude of adversaries and malicious settings, it is a guarantee.  Our passage deals with one of the times that Jeremiah has been placed into confinement after he was beaten, just for saying what God directed him to say.  What was said did not sit well with the religious leaders of Judah and hence the reason for Jeremiah's current condition.  Once again we find that the religious leaders had become so worldly-wise and accepting that they failed to recognize what God was actually telling them and warning them about.

However, because Jeremiah had been beaten and placed into stocks did not stop him from completing what God had told him to say to Judah's leaders.  We find Jeremiah out of the stocks and in this verse he immediately continues his mission, Jeremiah never backed down even though he was beaten and locked up.  God had a warning for His people and it was the job of Jeremiah to hand the message to them no matter the cost.  People who were put into stocks were placed in a very uncomfortable position, there was nothing easy or restful about it.  Plus, they would conduct such punishment in a very public place in order that anyone who disagreed with the prisoner could basically do whatever they wished to them.  It was common to have the prisoner in worse shape after their time in the stocks than they were before they were put there.

First off after the release from the stocks, Jeremiah continued with the personal message to Magormissabib, and how God was so displeased with his actions of leadership that He was going to make his life so miserable and tense that he would serve as a terror unto himself and nothing good would be in his future.  Along the same lines, remember God is a complete God, Magormissabib's friends would suffer the same fate as he but would fall before Magormissabib because God stated that he would watch them fall by the sword.  This means that Magormissabib listened to his friends and that his friends were part of the allowance of sin within the heart of Judah, this is why God repeats HImself many times throughout His Word to be careful of who you seek out as friends.  

The word "terror" here is from the Hebrew word "lemagowr" which means fear, terror.  One cannot misinterpret this definition for it is clear and precise and it comes from the masculine noun "magor or magur".  This is a powerful word and would have been easily recognized by Magormissabib.  What makes it so devastating is that it describes a person or place that is surrounded by fear and terror, it has become its own servant to the self-destruction process.  It does not just incarcerate from the outside or surrounding areas, but it also confines itself within your spirit and destroys your inner peace, and replaces it with turmoil and fear.  This is a price that one can hardly imagine and one that would be impossible to bear and survive holding.  Even the very presence of your body brings fear and installs pain, agony, and terror not only to yourself but to others around you.  This is what God changed Pashur's name to and it is what he represented from that moment onward.

The last portion of Jeremiah's word from God stated that because Judah had not repented and continued to live in sin that they would fall and then be taken captive and through this act would be totally destroyed.  God did not leave out any detail for He told Magormissabib who would be the enemy that destroyed them and their land.  Jeremiah did not hesitate in delivering this message from God, even in the dire circumstances that other men placed upon him for when a Word comes from God to be delivered to specific people or to be delivered in a specific manner it must be completed for if the messenger does not do their job then everyone involved is subject to the message.

This word of the Lord is pretty direct and gruesome but it has another meaning as well and it has to do with the sovereignty of God and the authority of His actual Word.  It should not be uncommon for the Church to understand exactly what is said here and why it is said, but we have fallen into the same category as Judah did when this Word was given to them so many probably miss its meaning of authority.  The leaders of Judah preached the sovereignty of God but used it as a weapon to hold over the heads of the people which turned their hearts away from God.  Then, Satan began to introduce his own ways into their lives and after a while, all had joined in the worldly festivities that could be absorbed, with the religious leaders at the front of the line in leadership.  Judah embraced this worship so much that they failed to see that what they were worshipping was offensive to God, and they did not care either.

Many times people forget that God will speak His Will through other people and when these words are spoken we tend to react in the same manner as Magormissabib did.  WE reject them since they are coming from someone who does not know the area, or the people or seems out of touch with what the leaders are portraying in the land.  It is not unusual for God to speak towards one person or a group of people but it is an extraordinary time when God refers to the entire nation immediately after He changes a priest's name.  It is even more radical to have your name changed to the exact type of judgment that God is about to allow to come upon your home and that your name reflects the attitude of your entire nation.

The overall point that Jeremiah made those few days was that God had a message, both to an individual and to a nation.  Both Words from God had deep and specific meanings along with warnings that were sure to follow.  Notice God did not set a time of when these things were going to begin, occur, and end but the only thing He said was that they would come to pass.  Jeremiah's job was one of warning and comfort; comfort, really?  Yes, for God always says what He is going to do and He allows for time to change our hearts, just as He did in this passage.  However, Judah did not change their hearts only dug them deeper into their idols and sin.  Whatever the time-sensitive materials proved, it was spoken by God and therefore could not be rescinded.  These things were made by a Holy and complete God, one who cannot lie or detract from the truth.  This is why God can make such statements and not be incorrect, for mankind shall always prove Him correct.  It is this part of God that we tend to forget about and blow His Words off.

Our goal should be to NOT get to this point in God's heart.  We need to recognize our mistakes and sins before God has to give us a warning from those who are listening to what He is saying.  When we do not accept God's Words for our lives it proves that we have been fooled enough not to even consider what is being said and why God is saying such things.  Ever since the Garden of Eden, God has been giving humans warnings about what not to do and the reasons why, how come it is still so difficult for us to get this pattern?  Look at our nation and world societies today, we have become terrors to ourselves and it is so blatantly obvious but we are blind to it.  We have rendered ourselves useless for the plan that we were created for yet we revel in our sins and call it a day anxiously awaiting another round of new worldly adventures tomorrow.

One of the most devastating lies that we have fallen for is what Judah allowed to happen to them in this passage.  Both the religious side of life and the secular side of life began to merge into one conglomeration needing the support of the other in order to survive.  When this type of atmosphere occurs compromise is the only pattern that will prevail and it is a guarantee that it will not be a righteous atmosphere to emerge dominant.  We see this type of pattern all throughout the Bible, in the New Testament Church as well and if those folks cannot keep the true faith intact there is no way that we stand a chance.  Look at the Church today, she has meshed herself within the boundaries of the world and it is painfully obvious that she has given all her authority to the world.

We no longer have any spiritual teeth to fend off any tactics of Satan, nor do we have any spiritual energy and any spiritual mindset to recognize or to hear spiritual instructions from God on how to defend ourselves.  It is for this attitude and action that God began to issue warnings and prophetic messages to this nation a few decades ago.  God saw the pattern that we had chosen to follow and He knows that we have not strayed from those horrid decisions.  It is for this reason that God has continued these messages right up until today, for He wants His children to understand that they need to repent.  Also, just as in the passage for this article, God has spoken words against this nation and He has not reversed His direction at any time either; in fact, some prophets have renounced their calling since things did not play out in the specific timeframe they believed it should.  Weak, weak, weak without any spiritual gumption to make the effort to seek God further for answers.

Once again we have fallen for the big lie, and it is about time that God allows such devastation to be heaped upon our land and lives.  It is obvious that our focus has been on the incorrect pattern and purpose for which the Church and this nation were established.  God has spoken and all He wants is for us to repent and to be ready for this dreadful day.  God suggests you prepare your lives for a change of unimaginable proportions, this includes spiritual levels as well.  Hold tight to His Word, which means get into His Word for if you do not then you shall have no idea what to hold on to when this time arrives.  This Word from God back in Jeremiah and the one that you have just read is no longer a suggestion - it never has been - but serves as a warning for what is to come.  Has our spiritual national name been changed?  You bet it has and we shall soon find out exactly what it is too.

DLB