April 17 ▪ Day 107

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 15:23
Jeremiah 43–44
Acts 4
Psalms 107

Verse Focus (Proverbs 15:23)

A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—
     and how good is a timely word!

Meditation

Have you ever been haunted by thinking up the perfect answer when it is too late? The conversation is already past — it may be days later, even. But as you mull things over in your mind, it comes to you. That’s what I should have said! you think.

Today’s proverb celebrates the timely word. As Proverbs 15:23 says, “A person finds joy in giving an apt reply — and how good is a timely word!” We do take pleasure in saying the exact right thing at the exact right time. Unfortunately, it is more common to reflect on what one should have said, rather than being able to say the perfect thing while the conversation is actually happening.

So, our Scripture speaks a truth to us today. But how do we apply it? I suppose first by recognizing that we do find joy in giving an apt reply. Secondly, though, we should seek to give such apt answers. Partly the ability to give an apt response relates to taking time to truly consider your answers. When we rush to speak, we’re less likely to remember those things that will haunt us later because we didn’t think of them in time. But, partly — or mostly — I think the ability to give an apt reply is a matter of prayer. We need to pray in advance to be able to speak well, and to speak God’s truth in our conversations. We need to pray that God will be able to give us the ability to speak the timely word — not only so that we rejoice in it, but so that it reaches those who hear with that same perfect timeliness.

Father God, thank you that language has the ability to delight us and to give us joy. Speech also has the ability to reach someone in their time of need — words that are just what they need to hear. We pray that you will be in our conversations. Help us to be thoughtful and considerate in our speech. Please enable us to give apt replies. May we also help others as we speak words that are timely. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

In Jeremiah 43, the people reject the word that Jeremiah gave them. Johanan and some of the other men accused Jeremiah of lying, and of being influenced by his secretary Baruch son of Neriah. So they disobey the prophecy, going down to Egypt with the entire remnant of Judah. They also compel Jeremiah and Baruch to go with them.

When they arrived at Tahpanhes in Egypt, Jeremiah receives a message from the LORD. He is to take some stones and bury them in the clay at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. And he is to tell the remnant of Judah that the king of Babylon will come and set his throne down on that very spot. Nebuchadnezzar will attack Egypt, bringing death and captivity to the remnant. He will “pick clean the land of Egypt, as a shepherd picks his cloak clean of vermin (v. 12).” And he will destroy all their temples with fire.

Even while the remnant lives in Egypt, Jeremiah continues to receive word from the LORD. In chapter 44, Jeremiah denounces their persistent idolatry. “Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves?” asks the LORD in verse 7. He accuses them of forgetting the crimes of their ancestors, and declares that He will punish the remnant of Judah even as He had punished Jerusalem.

But the people refuse to listen. In fact, they credit all the misfortune they have experienced as being because they had stopped making offerings to the Queen of Heaven (v. 18). So now they are determined to continue with their idol worship. The women declare, in verse 19, “Indeed we will go on making offerings to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out libations to her; do you think that we made cakes for her, marked with her image, and poured out libations to her without our husbands’ being involved?”

Sarcastically, Jeremiah tells them in verse 25, “By all means, keep your vows and make your libations!” But he prophesies that the LORD will deliver Pharaoh Hophra into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar — and then all the remnant of Judah will know “whose words will stand, mine or theirs (v. 28)!”

Chapter 44 is somewhat mind-blowing, to see how the people attributed the fall of Jerusalem to their failure to worship the Queen of Heaven. This is going back almost a full generation to the revival that happened during Josiah’s reign. At that time, a lot of the idol worship was eliminated in the kingdom of Judah. It must have been then that families stopped making their cakes and libations for the Queen of Heaven. Or when husbands forbade their wives from doing so.

Despite the fact that Jeremiah repeatedly prophesied that the Babylonians would come against Judah for their idolatries and other sins, and despite having his words proven true, the people believed what they wanted to believe. No one else was saying that a kingdom from the far north would come conquer them — in fact, everyone else said that it couldn’t possibly happen. Jeremiah predicted this in advance; he told them what it meant. And it came true. But this meant nothing to the women.

Today as I read this chapter, it felt like part of the problem related to the whole divide between men and women in worship. No one knows exactly how much access women had to the religious life during the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. After the Babylonian captivity, there was a separate “women’s court” in the temple, and women appear to have been segregated from worship. It is unclear whether or not this was also a feature of the temple that got destroyed when Jerusalem fell. But by the time Jesus came, women were not allowed to read Scripture in Synagogue and were not taught systematically as the boys and men were taught.

Even though I can’t speak to the exact conditions of how women participated — or not — within the practice of the genuine worship of the LORD, I think it’s fair to say that in some ways they were second-class citizens. And I think that this contributed to the women in particular being led astray into worshiping the idol known as the Queen of Heaven. Did the women even get to hear Jeremiah’s prophecies? Were they isolated from hearing God’s messages to the people?

I was also struck by the women’s point that their husbands knew full well what they were doing when they made offerings for the Queen of Heaven. How very true! And I can understand that impulse for the women — when in Egypt, a foreign land — to reestablish worship practices that they had done while in Judah. Making cakes for the Queen of Heaven was a portable religious practice — they could do that in Egypt, and it probably made them feel more “at home.”

The whole situation makes me understand even more the need for Jesus to come. The people — all the people: the men and the women — desperately needed to have the Holy Spirit come and teach them true knowledge of God and true worship.

When Jesus was preaching in the temple, it was mostly the Pharisees who were outraged by his teaching. In Acts 4, as Peter preaches his second gospel sermon, it is now the Sadducees who are upset. The Sadducees didn’t really believe in an afterlife, so they were offended that Peter and the apostles were teaching that resurrection from the dead is possible through Jesus Christ. So the Sadducees had Peter and John arrested and put in jail. Still, the gospel message was effective — an additional 5,000 people were added to their numbers.

The next day, Peter and John are brought before the ruling council. Peter testifies that the cripple was healed by the power of Jesus Christ — crucified by them, but raised by God. He tells the Sanhedrin that Jesus is the stone the builders rejected that is now the cornerstone. As he says in verse 12, “There is no other name under heaven” given to mortals for salvation.

The council members are surprised that Peter and John are “uneducated and ordinary men (v. 13).” By “uneducated” they do not mean that the apostles are illiterate, but that did not go through advanced education or specialized training. Certainly both Peter and John would have been taught the Scriptures and would have needed to demonstrate a certain proficiency as they entered adulthood. In today’s terms, it is more like Peter and John were high school graduates, but neither of them had studied an additional 8 to 10 years to earn an advanced doctoral degree.

The Sanhedrin orders the apostles not to preach or teach in the name of Jesus, and then they release them.

Peter and John return to the other disciples and tell them what happened. Their prayer is very interesting. In verse 29, the disciples pray, “And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness.” They don’t say, “Consider their threats and stop the opposition.” No, they simply pray to continue to speak with boldness. This is radically different than how many of us pray today. We do pray against any opposition. We pray for protection and we pray that God will stop or change those who persecute believers and their message. Now, I don’t think it’s wrong for us to pray as we do today. But we might be more effective if we worried less about what other people might do and focused instead on what we need to continue doing what we are supposed to do.

Psalm 107 praises God for the many ways He displays His faithful love to the people. I love all the different scenarios we get — those who are in “desert wastes (v. 4),” those who are in “darkness and in gloom (v. 10),” those who are sick (v. 17), and those who are in peril on the sea (v. 23). In each situation, God rescues and redeems those who call upon Him. These scenarios are fairly comprehensive — there is always something you can identify with, even if the details aren’t exactly the same. Those without shelter or financial resources, those who battle depression or other mental illness, those who are ill, those employed in dangerous work situations — the verses of Psalm 107 speak to us and give comfort.

I was especially struck by verses 33 to 35 today. God transforms geography to suit what He wants to accomplish. He turns rivers into a desert and a “fruitful land into a salty waste.” But then He might also turn a desert into “pools of water.” In other words, God can take away plenty if He deems it necessary; on the other hand, He can also give plenty even when it seems like there are no resources available to bless you.

After reading Jeremiah the past couple of weeks, I appreciated verse 40’s comment that God “pours contempt on princes.” 🙂

As the psalmist concludes in verse 43, “Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the LORD.”

Father God, I thank you for the many ways you deliver us from trouble. No matter what our situation is, you are able to rescue us and give us what we need — even if it means transforming the world. Thank you that you do give us food and shelter, breaking our chains, bringing light, giving us health and wellness, and bringing us safely home. Thank you.

Father, please do give us boldness to speak in the name of Jesus. May we be faithful to what you call us to do, even as Jeremiah was faithful to prophesy. Enable us to speak the most timely words ever as we bring the gospel message to those who are lost. In Jesus’ name, Amen.