Saturday 26th September
Read Jeremiah 10:17-22
“Gather up your belongings to leave the land,
you who live under siege.
18 For this is what the Lord says:
‘At this time I will hurl out
those who live in this land;
I will bring distress on them
so that they may be captured.’
19 Woe to me because of my injury!
My wound is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
‘This is my sickness, and I must endure it.’
20 My tent is destroyed;
all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;
no one is left now to pitch my tent
or to set up my shelter.
21 The shepherds are senseless
and do not enquire of the Lord;
so they do not prosper
and all their flock is scattered.
22 Listen! The report is coming –
a great commotion from the land of the north!
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,
a haunt of jackals.” (NIVUK)
There is a ‘gospel’ preached in many places that argues that once you put your faith in Jesus you can expect blessing after blessing. It has many forms but is commonly described as the prosperity ‘gospel’. God loves His people and wants the best for them. Generosity is expected and many preachers make rather impressive incomes off the back of their message!
It is hard to square their theology with passages such as this. Jeremiah is faithful, righteous and speaking God’s word truly. He is rewarded with physical suffering (v19), domestic chaos and homelessness (v20) and social ostracism and poverty (v21). Yet he stays with his people and shares their awful fate (v17-18, 22).
History declares that the true gospel involves suffering with God’s people- and where prosperity rises, faith retreats. “Then they (Paul and Barnabas) returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said.” (Acts 14:21b-22) (NIVUK).
