Beat your Plowshare into a Sword
“Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, 'The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears. Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, 'This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”
Engaging in peace making and loving ones brother, laying down one's live to serve, does not always mean giving others what they desire. What people desire is not always the best for them. In these cases, conflict is often the only way to bring true peace.
Jeremiah was someone who understood conflict. The people of Judah had turned away from God. It was Jeremiah's task as a prophet to declare the coming judgment of God. (1) Shortly after being called, God speaks to Jeremiah in Jer. 1:16-19, “And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to others gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, it priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”
“I pray Lord -break me, I pray Lord -take me, I pray Lord -make me all I've failed to be” sings in the background.
Jeremiah spoke the truth to the people, speaking of the coming doom and disaster at a time that everything seemed good. The rest of the prophets and priests were speaking peace and prosperity to the people (Jer. 8:11). Nobody wanted to hear a message of doom. They refused to listen or turn from their evil (Jer. 8:15).
Jeremiah's heart in speaking the truth was for the benefit of the people. He was not demanding his own rights or defending himself, he placed himself completely in the hands of God (Jer. 11:20b). He loved the people and carried them in his heart. He grieved over the coming disaster and the great sin of the people. In lament he cries out, “My joy is gone; grief is upon me, my heart is sick within me. Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” (Jer. 8:18-19)
However, Jeremiah realized that what was needed was not God to relent from the coming disaster as much as the people to turn from their idolatrous ways.
Ultimately, Jeremiah found his joy in being with God, and seeing things God's way. Jeremiah spoke to God, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. I did not sit in the company of revilers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.”
“Here's my devotion, You're all that it means to live... You found me in a shallow grave, You tracked me out from beneath it all, You healed me, saved me in the nick of time, Your perfect time... I devote all I have to You, I devote all that You've made new, all You restored that day You bled, all that You brought back from the dead.”
Dallas Willard writes that being transformed into Chistlikeness is “characterized by single-minded and joyous devotion to God and his will, to what God wants for us, and to service to him and others because of him. He writes that this becomes our character “when it governs the responses of every dimension of our being.” (2)
God spoke to Jeremiah, “If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.”
“To live a love that never fails, to love my neighbor as my self..to be crucified with Christ until all that lives through me is a message” sings in the background.
It is not always easy to speak the truth, but it is always the right thing to do. I write this with tears in my eyes as I know that God is speaking to me to be more willing to love when it means taking risks, speaking the truth, and even confronting others.
I enjoy being comfortable (harmony) in relationships. However, much of the reason I love harmony is because I get a sense of security from having good feelings in my relationships. I somehow seem to look for approval/harmony to validate me. However, one cannot have harmony with the enemy. Having validation from the enemy is not good. If one chooses to go along with the enemy, they are choosing to go against God.
“I'm led astray far too easily... so here I am again, willing to be opened up and broken like a flower in the rain.”
Jeremiah loved the people. However, the answer was not for him to become one with them in their sin. The answer was not for him to go along with their idolatrous plans. If he would have, the people would not have rejected him or tried to kill him. Instead, they would have accepted him, slapping him on the back and including him in their activities.
Jeremiah chose to stand alone. He stood apart from the people, including family, and chose to be with God, speaking the truth in love as the people looked upon him with indignation. He chose standing with God over standing with family relationships and friendships.
Luke 12:52-53
“For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
As the Lord speaks in Jeremiah 17:5-8, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick (Jer. 17:9). I often don't even realize it at the time when I am going along with people to keep peace. I so easily go along with people.
Sadly, I seem too eager to please man and not God. When I am standing in confrontation with someone, I feel terrible about it and worry about the relationship. I have to learn to trust God and let outcomes go to Him. What happens is that I try to hard to manage people's behavior which is a form of manipulation. I am trying to keep in control. I need to learn to speak the truth with kindness and leave the outcomes of how people handle it up to God. Like Jeremiah, I need to learn to put my self in God's hands.
“So I must be faithful in all I say and do.”
When I become determined to speak the truth, I sometimes seem to swing to the other side of the pendulum. I speak from my own desires rather than God's will. “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds” (Jer. 17:10).
Jeremiah's heart in speaking the truth was love for the people. He spoke the truth for their benefit. Too often I fail to speak the truth for my own benefit (acceptance). Then when I do speak the truth, I also am speaking the truth for my own benefit. Speaking the truth becomes about claiming what is important to me rather than about helping the other person who is stuck in sin.
James says in James 4:1-2, “What causes quarrels and what causes fight among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”
When I set boundaries with others, it needs to be for their benefit and not for mine. It needs to be looking out for their best interests.
Isa 42:3 (KJV) also says, “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth...”
When I hear this verse, I think of the way Jesus brought forth justice, by His own suffering and I start thinking that suffering wrongs silently is always best. It must be a bad idea to share the truth with someone who is bruised and beaten down because it will certainly break them. However, the truth said in love never breaks a bruised reed and Jesus was not afraid to speak it. When He healed those who sinned, he told them boldly, “go and sin no more.”
In speaking the truth, He was not critical and judgmental of people. He believed in the potential of people and He called them out into more. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus up in the sycamore tree, Jesus did not criticize or judge him for his past sins, instead, Jesus demonstrated unconditional love and acceptance of him, coming to his house for dinner.
What about speaking the truth to those in authority? Jeremiah was courageous in speaking to those with authority over him because he spoke on the authority of God. He had no doubt where his authority was coming from. He spoke to kings, elders, head priests and others with boldness.
In Jeremiah 22:1-2,7, the Lord said to Jeremiah, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah... For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: …I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons...”
When it comes to people in authority over me, while I need to humbly keep my motives in check, I still must be willing to speak the truth in love when it is needed and stand my ground because it is best for both them and for me.
Peter says in 1 Peter 2:13,18 “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him... Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.”
Often, I have taken this to mean that I should go along with the decisions of those who are above me and trust God. However, this is not what Jeremiah, Peter, or any of the Apostles did. They did what was right and spoke the truth in love and then submitted themselves to whatever consequences came as a result. They trusted themselves into God's hands.
Being subject or in submission does not mean to go along with evil. We are to honor everyone (1 Peter 2:17). However, honoring them does not mean we will always go along with them. It means to respectfully speak the truth in love and trust the consequences to God. Jesus says in Matthew 15:14, “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Instead, with gentleness and respect, it is the kind thing to do to speak the truth.
And what if the one in authority does not agree?
When David ordered a census in Israel, Joab knew it was wrong and pleaded with the king not to go ahead with it. However, “the king's word prevailed against Joab” and they performed the census (2 Samuel 24:4). The result was devastating. There was pestilence on Israel, killing 70,000 men.
Proverbs 25:26 says “Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.”
Lord, I come again to the words You spoke when you were on the earth:
Luke 9:23-25
“ And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”
I long to lose my life in You. I long to live my life for You. Would you give me wisdom to know when to speak the truth, the courage to stand strong in it, and the kindness and love needed to deliver it in a way that does not cause others harm but does them good. I am willing. Help my unwillingness.
1.The Holy Bible. ESV. Crossway Bibles, Wheaton, Illinois. The Large Print Edition. Introduction commentary to Jeremiah. Page 796.
2.Willard, Dallas and Johnson, Jan. Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice. NavPress. 2006
Engaging in peace making and loving ones brother, laying down one's live to serve, does not always mean giving others what they desire. What people desire is not always the best for them. In these cases, conflict is often the only way to bring true peace.
Jeremiah was someone who understood conflict. The people of Judah had turned away from God. It was Jeremiah's task as a prophet to declare the coming judgment of God. (1) Shortly after being called, God speaks to Jeremiah in Jer. 1:16-19, “And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to others gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, it priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”
“I pray Lord -break me, I pray Lord -take me, I pray Lord -make me all I've failed to be” sings in the background.
Jeremiah spoke the truth to the people, speaking of the coming doom and disaster at a time that everything seemed good. The rest of the prophets and priests were speaking peace and prosperity to the people (Jer. 8:11). Nobody wanted to hear a message of doom. They refused to listen or turn from their evil (Jer. 8:15).
Jeremiah's heart in speaking the truth was for the benefit of the people. He was not demanding his own rights or defending himself, he placed himself completely in the hands of God (Jer. 11:20b). He loved the people and carried them in his heart. He grieved over the coming disaster and the great sin of the people. In lament he cries out, “My joy is gone; grief is upon me, my heart is sick within me. Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” (Jer. 8:18-19)
However, Jeremiah realized that what was needed was not God to relent from the coming disaster as much as the people to turn from their idolatrous ways.
Ultimately, Jeremiah found his joy in being with God, and seeing things God's way. Jeremiah spoke to God, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. I did not sit in the company of revilers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.”
“Here's my devotion, You're all that it means to live... You found me in a shallow grave, You tracked me out from beneath it all, You healed me, saved me in the nick of time, Your perfect time... I devote all I have to You, I devote all that You've made new, all You restored that day You bled, all that You brought back from the dead.”
Dallas Willard writes that being transformed into Chistlikeness is “characterized by single-minded and joyous devotion to God and his will, to what God wants for us, and to service to him and others because of him. He writes that this becomes our character “when it governs the responses of every dimension of our being.” (2)
God spoke to Jeremiah, “If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.”
“To live a love that never fails, to love my neighbor as my self..to be crucified with Christ until all that lives through me is a message” sings in the background.
It is not always easy to speak the truth, but it is always the right thing to do. I write this with tears in my eyes as I know that God is speaking to me to be more willing to love when it means taking risks, speaking the truth, and even confronting others.
I enjoy being comfortable (harmony) in relationships. However, much of the reason I love harmony is because I get a sense of security from having good feelings in my relationships. I somehow seem to look for approval/harmony to validate me. However, one cannot have harmony with the enemy. Having validation from the enemy is not good. If one chooses to go along with the enemy, they are choosing to go against God.
“I'm led astray far too easily... so here I am again, willing to be opened up and broken like a flower in the rain.”
Jeremiah loved the people. However, the answer was not for him to become one with them in their sin. The answer was not for him to go along with their idolatrous plans. If he would have, the people would not have rejected him or tried to kill him. Instead, they would have accepted him, slapping him on the back and including him in their activities.
Jeremiah chose to stand alone. He stood apart from the people, including family, and chose to be with God, speaking the truth in love as the people looked upon him with indignation. He chose standing with God over standing with family relationships and friendships.
Luke 12:52-53
“For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
As the Lord speaks in Jeremiah 17:5-8, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick (Jer. 17:9). I often don't even realize it at the time when I am going along with people to keep peace. I so easily go along with people.
Sadly, I seem too eager to please man and not God. When I am standing in confrontation with someone, I feel terrible about it and worry about the relationship. I have to learn to trust God and let outcomes go to Him. What happens is that I try to hard to manage people's behavior which is a form of manipulation. I am trying to keep in control. I need to learn to speak the truth with kindness and leave the outcomes of how people handle it up to God. Like Jeremiah, I need to learn to put my self in God's hands.
“So I must be faithful in all I say and do.”
When I become determined to speak the truth, I sometimes seem to swing to the other side of the pendulum. I speak from my own desires rather than God's will. “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds” (Jer. 17:10).
Jeremiah's heart in speaking the truth was love for the people. He spoke the truth for their benefit. Too often I fail to speak the truth for my own benefit (acceptance). Then when I do speak the truth, I also am speaking the truth for my own benefit. Speaking the truth becomes about claiming what is important to me rather than about helping the other person who is stuck in sin.
James says in James 4:1-2, “What causes quarrels and what causes fight among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”
When I set boundaries with others, it needs to be for their benefit and not for mine. It needs to be looking out for their best interests.
Isa 42:3 (KJV) also says, “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth...”
When I hear this verse, I think of the way Jesus brought forth justice, by His own suffering and I start thinking that suffering wrongs silently is always best. It must be a bad idea to share the truth with someone who is bruised and beaten down because it will certainly break them. However, the truth said in love never breaks a bruised reed and Jesus was not afraid to speak it. When He healed those who sinned, he told them boldly, “go and sin no more.”
In speaking the truth, He was not critical and judgmental of people. He believed in the potential of people and He called them out into more. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus up in the sycamore tree, Jesus did not criticize or judge him for his past sins, instead, Jesus demonstrated unconditional love and acceptance of him, coming to his house for dinner.
What about speaking the truth to those in authority? Jeremiah was courageous in speaking to those with authority over him because he spoke on the authority of God. He had no doubt where his authority was coming from. He spoke to kings, elders, head priests and others with boldness.
In Jeremiah 22:1-2,7, the Lord said to Jeremiah, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah... For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: …I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons...”
When it comes to people in authority over me, while I need to humbly keep my motives in check, I still must be willing to speak the truth in love when it is needed and stand my ground because it is best for both them and for me.
Peter says in 1 Peter 2:13,18 “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him... Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.”
Often, I have taken this to mean that I should go along with the decisions of those who are above me and trust God. However, this is not what Jeremiah, Peter, or any of the Apostles did. They did what was right and spoke the truth in love and then submitted themselves to whatever consequences came as a result. They trusted themselves into God's hands.
Being subject or in submission does not mean to go along with evil. We are to honor everyone (1 Peter 2:17). However, honoring them does not mean we will always go along with them. It means to respectfully speak the truth in love and trust the consequences to God. Jesus says in Matthew 15:14, “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Instead, with gentleness and respect, it is the kind thing to do to speak the truth.
And what if the one in authority does not agree?
When David ordered a census in Israel, Joab knew it was wrong and pleaded with the king not to go ahead with it. However, “the king's word prevailed against Joab” and they performed the census (2 Samuel 24:4). The result was devastating. There was pestilence on Israel, killing 70,000 men.
Proverbs 25:26 says “Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.”
Lord, I come again to the words You spoke when you were on the earth:
Luke 9:23-25
“ And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”
I long to lose my life in You. I long to live my life for You. Would you give me wisdom to know when to speak the truth, the courage to stand strong in it, and the kindness and love needed to deliver it in a way that does not cause others harm but does them good. I am willing. Help my unwillingness.
1.The Holy Bible. ESV. Crossway Bibles, Wheaton, Illinois. The Large Print Edition. Introduction commentary to Jeremiah. Page 796.
2.Willard, Dallas and Johnson, Jan. Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice. NavPress. 2006
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