“And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire,” Jeremiah 21:8-10.
“But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live,” Jeremiah 27:11-12.
“The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire: and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword: but thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD,” Jeremiah 34:1-5.
I. THE MESSAGE OF GOD TO HIS FAITHFUL PEOPLE IN A DAY OF APOSTASY IS ‘SURRENDER’!
“He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey,” Jeremiah 21:9.
I can recall, as if it were yesterday, Dr S B Cooke, in my first year in the Homiletics class in 1965, say of the message of God given to Jeremiah that, ‘to preach surrender in a day of apostasy is the most difficult message any man will ever be required to preach, especially here in Ulster!’
I know now that he was saying it to us with an understanding of just what was coming upon ‘Protestant Ulster’!
Proof
On July 28th, I read Jeremiah 24 where there is given to us the ‘parable’ of the ‘two baskets of figs’. One had ‘very good figs’ and the other had ‘very naughty (disagreeable, unpleasant) figs’.
The Lord was picturing by the ‘good figs’, those who surrendered to His just judgment for their sins and yielded to Nebuchadrezzar and went into captivity, Jeremiah 24:1.
“Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart,” Jeremiah 24:4-7.
The unpleasant figs, however, represented those who rejected the justice of God in His punishing of their sins by Nebuchadrezzar and his army, and resisted him and perished as result. (more…)
