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DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
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Jeremiah 45:14-28 (11/14-11/27) Thirty-fifth Reading in Kellia from the Prophecies of Jeremiah
On The Eve of Jerusalem’s Fall ~ A Secret Meeting: Jeremiah 45:14-28, especially vs. 24: “Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, ‘Let no one know of these words and you shall not die.’” King Zedekiah admitted, “I am afraid of the Judeans who fled to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hands, and they mock me” (vs. 19). In addition, he was afraid of his own court officials - ‘the rulers’ as our text calls them (vss. 25,27). Thus, the king swore Jeremiah to silence regarding their secret meeting lest what he had said should be exposed publicly (vss. 24-26). The man feared his own officials and the prospect of an exile in which he would be mocked or abused (vs. 19). Had the counsel of Saint John of Kronstadt - “Do not cling with your heart to anything, and do not make it the god of your heart; the sole God our heart must be the Lord God Who created it.” - had been available to him, how greatly he might have been blessed!
Truthfully, Zedekiah is a study of a man controlled by a ‘worldly’ perspective; his outlook was only on people and their immediate relationships and interactions with him. Our SAAS text tells us that he wished to ask the Prophet of God a question, but in the original it is stated more biblically: “I wish to ask a word of you” (vs. 14). Above all, observe, the Lord’s ‘word’ to Jeremiah (vss. 17,18). God’s word brought no terror into the king’s heart, just fear of disclosure to people (cf. vss. 14,26). On the other hand, the spiritual dimension dominated the consciousness of Jeremiah, but remained a shadow-possibility for Zedekiah. He may have thought that Jeremiah had a point about surrendering - “perhaps the Prophet was correct; but what motivated the king was the political world: the views, actions, and coalitions of men.
How the world changes once we see God at work in all the events of life and history! Arrest a Prophet and beat him up (Jer. 44:14,15), throw him in a cistern up to his knees in the mire; and he bears these assaults on his life. Jeremiah never varied in speaking the Lord’s word,- that single reality that consumed his life. Saint Ephraim gives us a portrait of Jeremiah when describing the person who has attained patience: he “...touches on every virtue...rejoices in sorrows, and is well-tried in misfortunes, is joyful in danger, ready for obedience, filled with love, glories in vexation, is humbled in reproaches...” and unwavering in his misfortunes.
Jeremiah is an example for every Orthodox Christian. He stands in marked contrast to King Zedekiah, providing an embodiment of what it means to know and pursue the ways of salvation. God placed Jeremiah under a weak-willed king, a man controlled by what others were saying and doing around him. Still, when this king begged Jeremiah not to divulge the content of their conversation, the Prophet graciously obeyed his monarch as God’s servant for good, not bearing “...the sword in vain...”(Rom. 13:4). He limited his reply to the state officials, violating neither the truth nor the King’s command to be silent, for he was accountable above all to God, and obeyed, as he was able, the one whom God allowed to rule over His chosen People.
What a vision of life! How sterile is the human perspective that is fixated only on this present existence! By abusing our God-given freedom, such a view leaves out the living God Who ordained the mystery of our salvation “...before the ages for our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7). Beloved of the Lord, struggle to be free from this dominating opinion of the contemporary world and the one that controlled Zedekiah. Come what may, allow God to be the One Who helps you. Remember that He always is involved and active. Knowing so, ever beseech Him to:
“...teach us to treat all that comes to us throughout the day with peace of soul and with the firm conviction that Thy will governs all. In all our deeds and words, guide our thoughts and feelings. In unforeseen events, let us not forget that all are sent by Thee.”
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