Day 203 – Jehoiakim (Southern King 11 years)

• Today we’re meeting another of the kings of Judah, but with an emphasis on spending more time looking at the “weeping prophet”, Jeremiah.
• The introductory verses in 2 Kings 23 show that after three months king Jehoahaz was deported. Where did he end up living? Who took his place, and what was he renamed to? This new king, Jehoiakim, was put in place by the Pharaoh in Egypt, so it’s no surprise to read in verse 35 that he “taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh”. Jehoiakim was basically a puppet, being controlled by the foreign ruler.
• During this time, the prophet Jeremiah was vocal with messages from God. We read what he says in Jeremiah 26. What was the warning message from God that came through in this chapter?
• Did God still want to give His people a chance to repent?
• How did the people who heard Jeremiah’s words react to them? Imagine being Jeremiah at the time. Would you have been scared?
• Jeremiah was spared death. In Jeremiah 26:16-19 we hear why. What did the wiser elders give as the reason?
• Have you ever needed to give a difficult message to someone, like Jeremiah did? How did they react? In future situations where you may have to give a difficult message, can you learn anything from Jeremiah?
• In contrast to Jeremiah, we read in chapter 28 about a false prophet, Hananiah. Hananiah preached a different message, supposedly “from God”, in Jeremiah 28:1-4. What did he claim?
• How did Jeremiah counter this false message? Look at the clear words in verses Jeremiah 28:15-17 to find out what God thinks about people who tell lies in His name!

There are people around us all who act a bit like the prophets we meet today. I don’t mean that they actually are prophets, of course, but we are continually getting advice from many sources. How good are you at working out which are the false messengers, like Hananiah, and which are the true, like Jeremiah? It’s not always easy to know, especially when both sound convincing.

When it comes to advice about how to live out your Christian life, what can you do to learn about who is giving you good advice, and who is not?

Well, apart from the obvious things such as your own character judgements, your first step should be to see if what they’re saying is biblical. Have the things that you have been taught, both in the church, by leaders, by friends, etc, been words backed up by Scripture?

A second thought to consider is whether the messengers in your life are telling you what you need to hear, or what you want to hear. Good advice can often be tough advice, especially when it comes to sin. Advice which permits or encourages a sinful pattern of behaviour is not good advice!

Thirdly, be careful about messengers in your life that teach legalistic adherence to the Word of God. Someone may tell you that you can do something, or shouldn’t do something, because the bible doesn’t specifically mention it. Does that always mean you are free to follow that advice? Does it still honour God?

Finally, remember that all human messengers are just that – human. God can, of course, with powerfully through the people in your life, but we all get things wrong. Youth leaders, vicars, parents, the lot. I’d certainly recommend listening carefully to the advice of all three sets of people, of course, but they aren’t always right, and can teach you things that are wrong, through misunderstanding, ignorance or misinterpretation. Scripture is without fault, but people are not! Practice considering all the advice you get against what you know the Bible to say.

Pray about this tonight!