5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
REFLECTION:
In this passage, Jeremiah compares the coming Messiah with the corrupted leaders at that time, forming a sharp contrast. The coming Messiah is the king from the tribe of David. This perfect king will rule all of Israel and all nations. Because he continued the life of the root of David, he was called “the righteous branch” (cf. Isa. 11:1). This branch is full of righteousness and fairness like the creator, and when he grows up, he is full of God’s attributes. This is the image of the incarnated Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jeremiah’s beautiful prophecy about the righteous branch and the coming Messiah was a ray of light in the darkness, and it brought infinite hope to those who could not change the reality at that time but were still seeking God. Today, this prophecy has become a reality, the precious salvation has long been accomplished, and the power of resurrection has long been manifested. However, we still seem to be living in a dark world. We often lament our weakness and the evil of the world, and seem to be unable to change many things in reality. Let us not forget that when the Lord Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven, he left us with a newer and more beautiful hope: He will come again to execute a righteous judgment and justice for the oppressed. May this hope be the light in your life and bring you infinite comfort.
PRAYER:
Use Niebuhr’s “Serenity Prayer” as your prayer today: ask God to give you serenity to accept the things you cannot change; ask God to give you the courage to change things you can change; ask God to give you wisdom so that you can distinguish the difference between the two.
1Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
an uninhabited city. 7 I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
REFLECTION:
God told the king of Judah through the mouth of Jeremiah that the foundation of making the country strong is to stay away from sin and practice fairness and justice. To uphold justice is not only to believe in the correct doctrine of God, but also to show it in practical actions. Although good deeds cannot save us, they can express our faith concretely. As the Book of James said, faith without works is like body without spirit, it is faith of death (see James 2:17-26). Such faith will not make us stand before God’s judgment. Reflect if our faith is expressed in practical actions? If our faith cannot bring out our good deeds, and if “justification by faith” has become an excuse for our inaction, we should be vigilant whether we have deviated from the new covenant that God established with us through the blood of Christ, and turned to serve all kinds of tangible and intangible idols?
PRAYER:
Come to God humbly and ask God to examine your heart to see if it contains pollution from the world? Pray for God to cleanse you, make you more holy, and be willing to fully dedicate yourself to God to please Him. Pray for God to give you the strength to actively participate in the church’s various ministries, and follow the Lord Jesus’ Great Commandment “love your neighbour as yourself” with practical actions to commensurate with your faith.
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
8 “And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
REFLECTION:
From the beginning of this chapter to chapter 28, Jeremiah predicted that King Nebuchadnezzar would besiege Jerusalem from 588 to 586 BC. The central message that Jeremiah preached was: Those kings and false prophets who lead the people astray will be judged by God. Jeremiah had predicted that Jerusalem would be destroyed, but he was denied and ridiculed by the leaders of the city. Zedekiah, King of Judah, decided to fight against Nebuchadnezzar. The politicians of the country urged King Zedekiah to ally with Egypt. It was not until the last resort that Zedekiah asked God for help, but he still ignored God’s warnings and did not confess his sins. King Zedekiah quoted historical events during the reign of Hezekiah, thinking that Jehovah miraculously saved them and saved Jerusalem from the destruction by Sennacherib, King of Assyria, and this time history will repeat itself. Jeremiah’s answer broke the illusion of Zedekiah. When Judah was taken into captivity in 586 BC, Zedekiah finally became the last king of Judah. Today, many people of God often forget God in good times, ignore God’s warnings, and ask God for help only until they are desperate. However, God wants to establish a long-term relationship with us. Think about whether you are trying to establish an intimate relationship with God in your daily life, or do you only find Him to relieve your problems when you are in trouble?
PRAYER:
Pray for God to enlighten you and give you a vigilant heart so that you do not leave God in a stable and prosperous life; resolve to God, whether it is smooth or difficult, you are willing to get close to God and experience God’s presence in your daily life, and establish an intimate relationship with Him.
