July 5th - Reflection

Jeremiah 28:10-17 (NRSV)
Hananiah breaks Jeremiah's yoke Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and broke it. And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, "Thus says the Lord: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years." At this, the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Go, tell Hananiah, Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars only to forge iron bars in place of them! For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations so that they may serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they shall indeed serve him; I have even given him the wild animals. And the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord: I am going to send you off the face of the earth. Within this year you will be dead, because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord."

In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

Reflection
What an inspiration Hananiah must have been for the people that were against the Babylonian government. He broke the yoke and took it from Jeremiah, and the crowd must have gone wild. A sense of freedom. But a sesnse of false freedom. This freedom was from Hananiah, not God. But Jeremiah just went his way? What a wimp?

Not really. We keep getting hung up with the human ego. This isn't about Hananiah being in the right or Jeremiah being in the right. The focus once again must be on God. Hananiah was taking the focus off of God's power and placing it on the power of humans once again. For Jeremiah to have a quick come-back would do the same for him.

Jeremiah maintains focus on God and walks away until he hears from God what to respond. God will replace the wooden yoke with a yoke of iron. The nations and even the animals will serve the King of Babylonia, for now.

Prayer
Lord, help me discern your voice from my voice and your way from my way that I may always walk in step with you...today...tomorrow...and forever. --- Amen