A sermon from Brent Kercheville.
The book of James gives a warning about a person who is double-minded.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8 ESV)
The warning of this scripture of one of having divided loyalties so that we do not trust in the Lord yet for some reason are still coming to God in prayer. James is not speaking to the doubts we have because we do not know the future or wonder what is going to happen. We see many people in the scriptures wonder what is going to happen or not know what is going to happen next (see David in the Psalms). The problem is that you ask God not in faith, doubting, because you are double-minded with God. This problem is illustrated in the life of the nation of Judah in the book of Jeremiah. Open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 37-39 and we are going to look at the problem of being double-minded people with double-minded prayers.
Truth Twisted (Jeremiah 37)
The first two verses of Jeremiah 37 set the theme for these three chapters in Jeremiah. Zedekiah is now the king over Judah. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has removed King Jehoiachin and installed Zedekiah as the new king. But Jeremiah 37:2 tells us that neither Zedekiah, nor his administration, nor the people in the land paid any attention to words the Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah. This is the problem of Jeremiah 37-39 and the theme. No one is listening to what God has spoken.
So notice the odd thing we are told in verse 3. Zedekiah sends a messenger to Jeremiah asking Jeremiah to pray to the Lord on their behalf. I want us to see the problem is being put right in front of the readers’ eyes. No one is paying any attention to what the Lord has spoken but you want Jeremiah to intercede for to you the Lord while you are in your disobedience. But we know what this means. This kind of heart is not seeking the honest truth from the Lord. This person just wants good news from God. This person just wants validation from the Lord. Tell me that everything is going to be okay even though I am not paying any attention to what God has said. Do not tell me the truth. Twist the truth so that it is what I want to hear. We are going to see this problem all through these three chapters of Jeremiah. Tell us good news while we disobey God.
God has a message for the people through the prophet Jeremiah. The Babylonians had withdrawn from Jerusalem to fight the Egyptians (cf. Jeremiah 37:5). But this was not the hope that the people of Judah were looking for. In verses 7-8 we read that the Babylonians were going to come back and they are going to capture and destroy the city of Jerusalem. Listen carefully to God’s message in verses 9-10. Do not deceive yourselves. The Babylonians will not go away. Even if Judah defeated the whole Babylonian army and all that remained were some wounded men, they would rise up and burn the city with fire. This is God’s message and do not deceive yourself with wishful thinking or false hope. We like to do this. We know what God plainly says about sin and judgment. But we want to deceive ourselves into thinking that maybe there is not going to be judgment for sins. Or we want to deceive ourselves into thinking that our particular sins are not going to be judged. We want to deceive ourselves and think that maybe, just maybe, our disobedience will turn out for good. This is what the people want to hear. But that is never God’s message.
In verse 11 we read that Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his property portion there. But he is arrested by the captain of the guard who thinks that Jeremiah is trying to escape and join the Babylonians. Jeremiah denies this but they beat him and imprison him in a dungeon (Jeremiah 37:15-16). King Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah to come to the palace in Jerusalem so that he can find out if there is any word from the Lord. I hope we again see the double-minded nature of Zedekiah. He is not obeying the Lord but he is hoping for God to answer their prayers, give them good news, and deliver them. The message does not change. Jeremiah boldly tells Zedekiah that he is going to be handed over to the Babylonians (Jeremiah 37:17). Then Jeremiah makes his plea to Zedekiah about why he has been left in the dungeon for days. Look at verse 19. Jeremiah asks where are your prophets that told you everything was going to be fine and that Babylon would not attack. Jeremiah is the only one speaking the truth and giving God’s true word. Jeremiah has not done anything wrong and so he begs that Zedekiah not send him back to the dungeon. Zedekiah listens but does not set Jeremiah free. Instead, he remains in the custody of the guard.
Truth Ignored (Jeremiah 38)
As Jeremiah 38 begins we find out that some others who had heard Jeremiah’s sermons were upset with him for what he preached and went to the king to have him put to death for discouraging the people. Please think about the charge against Jeremiah. Jeremiah is not seeking the welfare and good of the people but their harm by telling them that anyone who stays in the city of Jerusalem will die and anyone who surrenders to the Babylonians will live (Jeremiah 38:2). Now we have been reading how Zedekiah has been getting his spiritual updates from Jeremiah. Notice the great defense of Zedekiah in verse 5. Zedekiah simply caves and tells these people that they can have Jeremiah and Zedekiah will do nothing to stop them. What we see here is weak leadership out of fear. Zedekiah is afraid of the people. We will read this problem of fear in Zedekiah in verse 19 also. Friends, we are called to be courageous and serve the Lord even in the face of opposition and even when it is frightening or difficult to do so. Zedekiah has no strength to do what is right and allows Jeremiah to be taken by these men and thrown into an empty cistern to die. This event is similar to what happened to Joseph when his brothers took him and put him in a cistern to die until they decided to sell him instead. But these men are not going to sell Jeremiah. They are going to let him die.
In Jeremiah 38:7 we read of a courageous man named Ebed-Melek. He is not from the tribe of Judah. He is a Gentile. He is an Ethiopian eunuch who is serving in the king’s house. He heard what happened to Jeremiah and tells the king what these evil people did. So the king gives authority for Ebed-Melek to take 30 men and go lift Jeremiah out of the cistern. So they tie together old rags and worn out clothes to make a rope to lift Jeremiah out of the cistern. Now is Jeremiah free? No, he is returned to custody of the guard (Jeremiah 38:13).
Now after all of this, look at what Zedekiah does. Zedekiah wants to inquire again through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:14). How are you feeling right now if you are Jeremiah and what are you thinking about this king? Listen to what Jeremiah answers King Zedekiah. Look at verse 15. “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me?” Jeremiah just can’t believe that Zedekiah wants to speak to him again. What is the point? You are going to kill me when you hear the message. If I tell you want you should do, you are not going to listen anyway. Zedekiah says he will not kill Jeremiah so Jeremiah proceeds to say the message that he has been saying the whole time in his prophetic ministry. If you surrender, you will live. If you do not surrender, Babylon will burn the city down (Jeremiah 38:17-18). But Zedekiah says he cannot surrender because he is afraid of the people and the mistreatment he will endure if he surrenders. But Jeremiah tells him that it will go well for him and his life will be spared if he surrenders. But Zedekiah sends Jeremiah back into the custody of the guard rather than setting him free (cf. Jeremiah 38:28).
Truth Triumphant (Jeremiah 39)
Zedekiah does not surrender and chapter 39 records the fall of Jerusalem. Just as the Lord had said, the Babylonians came and destroyed the city. Zedekiah was captured, his eyes were gouged out after watching his children killed, and he was carried to Babylon in shackles. But I want us to focus on the ending in Jeremiah 39 and two points that are made. First, look at verses 11-14. Nebuchadnezzar gave the command to not harm Jeremiah and to do whatever he asks. What foreign king invading a nation gives a command to take care of this prophet who is living in Jerusalem? Clearly this is the hand of God moving in Nebuchadnezzar to provide for his prophet. In verse 14 we see that Jeremiah is treated better by Nebuchadnezzar than he was treated by Zedekiah. Jeremiah taken out of the custody of the guard, returned to his home, and allowed to live among his own people. I want us to see that in all the chaos, persecution, and pain God was with his prophet and he took care of him through these years of service.
The second point turns our attention back to Ebed-Melek. Remember that he is the one who heard that Jeremiah had been left for dead in the cistern and urged King Zedekiah to allow him to do something about it. Look at verses 16-17 and notice the message given to him. God would destroy the city just as he said but will rescue Ebed-Melek. Ebed-Melek will not given into the hands of those of whom he is afraid. God will save him. He will not die by the sword. God will rescue his life. Why did God save Jeremiah and why did God save Ebed-Melek? Read the last sentence of this chapter. Rescue came “because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 39:18).
The Condemnation of the Double-Minded
What was the difference between Zedekiah and Ebed-Melek? Zedekiah was double-minded and Ebed-Melek was not. Think about all the ways that Zedekiah was double-minded in these three chapters. First, he shows he was double-minded because he wanted prayers made to the Lord on his behalf, but did not pay attention or obey the words of the Lord (Jeremiah 37:2). Zedekiah speaks religiously but lives rebelliously against the Lord. He speaks of prayers and intercession but he is not living the words he is proclaiming. Second, he showed he was double-minded because he wanted to believe everything would be okay even though he was continuing in his sins (Jeremiah 37:9-10). Zedekiah wanted relief without repentance. Third, he was double-minded because he would listen to God’s word in private, but would not publicly exert his faith or lead the people in faith (Jeremiah 37:17). Even when Zedekiah rescues Jeremiah from the dungeon, he would not set him free. Instead he put Jeremiah back in the custody of the guard. Fourth, he was double-minded because he was more afraid of the people and what they would do to him than of the Lord and doing what the Lord told him to do (Jeremiah 38:19).
As James describes in James 1, Zedekiah is unstable in all of his ways because he has divided loyalties. What I want us to do with this lesson is consider the fruit of his life which shows he lack of loyalty to the Lord. His actions reveal his double-minded problem. None of us would want to think that we are double-minded. But we must consider the fruit. Do we speak righteously but continue disobeying the Lord? Do we want God’s relief in our lives but are unwilling to repent? Do we listen to God’s word in safe place but are unwilling to live our faith before the world? Do we fear what people think and what people may do so much that we do not obey God’s commands for righteous words and righteous living?