Steve Webb 0:00 This was no picnic. Steve Webb 0:09 This is the Lifespring One Year Bible coming to you from Riverside, California and podcasting since 2004. I'm your og Godcaster. Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we reading through the entire Bible in a year. And I'm so Happy to be with you today. It's prophecy Friday, and our reading will be Jeremiah 37 through 41. I'm calling this episode when life is hard. Also, remember that Sunday will be our next time of praise and prayer requests. So if there's something you'd like the Lifespring family to pray with you about or if God is doing something in your life that would be encouraging to the Lifespring family, be sure to go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com right away and let me know. I'll share it on the show and I'll pray for you in my own quiet times. Now before we read, let's pray. Our Father, I ask that You would bless this time together as we gather around your word. Teach us Lord by your Holy Spirit. We pray this in Jesus name, amen. Okay, are you ready? Let's get started. Steve Webb 1:08 Jeremiah chapter 37, Zedekiah son of Josiah succeeded Jeconiah Sana Jehovah is king. He was elevated to the throne of the land of Judah by kings Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Neither he nor the officials who served him nor the people of Judah paid any attention to what the Lord said to the Prophet Jeremiah, King Zedekiah sent Jaya Heugel son of Shala Maya in the priest Zephaniah sent of May a sia to the prophet Jeremiah. He told him to say, please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf. Now Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison, so he was still free to come and go among the people as he pleased. At that time, the Babylonian forces had temporarily given up their siege against Jerusalem. They had had it under siege, but withdrew when they heard that the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt. The Lord gave the prophet Jeremiah a message for them. He told them to tell them, the Lord God of Israel says, give a message to the king of Judah who sent you to ask me to help him. Tell him, the army of Pharaoh that was on its way to help you will go back home to Egypt. Then the Babylonian forces will return, they will attack the city and will capture it and burn it down. Moreover, I the LORD, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonian forces will go away and leave you alone, for they will not go away. For even if you were to defeat all the Babylonian forces fighting against you so badly that only wounded men were left lying in their tents, they would get up and burn this city down. The following events also occurred while the Babylonian forces had temporarily withdrawn from Jerusalem because the army of Pharaoh was coming. Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin. He wanted to make sure he got his share of the property that was being divided up among his family there, but he only got as far as the Benjamin gate. There an officer in charge of the guards named i raija, who was the son of Silla Maya and the grandson of Hannah and I stopped him. He seized Jeremiah and said, You are deserting to the Babylonians? Jeremiah answered, that's a lie. I am not deserting to the Babylonians, but I ride you would not listen to him. I Raja put Jeremiah under arrest and took him to the officials. The officials were very angry at Jeremiah. They had him flogged and put in prison in the house of Jonathan, the Royal secretary, which they had converted into a place for confining prisoners. So Jeremiah was put in prison in a cell in the dungeon in Jonathan's house. He was kept there for a long time. Then King Zedekiah had been brought to the palace they are he questioned him privately and asked him, Is there any message from the Lord? Jeremiah answered, Yes, there is. Then he announced, you will be handed over to the king of Babylon. Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah. What crime have I committed against you? Are the officials who serve you are the people of Judah? What have I done to make you people throw me into prison, where now are the prophets who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land? But now please listen your royal majesty and grant my plea for mercy. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the royal secretary. If you do, I'll die there. Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread be given to him every day from the Baker Street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept in the courtyard of the guardhouse. Steve Webb 4:41 Jeremiah chapter 38. Now shefa Taya son of mattone get Elias and of passur to UKL, son of Shehla, Maya and passur, son of Malka had heard that things that Jeremiah had been telling the people they had heard him say, The Lord says those who stay in this city will die in battle. or of starvation or of disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians will live, they will escape with their lives. They had also heard him say, The Lord says this city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, they will capture it. So these officials said to the king, This man must be put to death for he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things. He's saying, This man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them. King Zedekiah said to them very well you can do what you want with him, for I cannot do anything to stop you. So the officials took Jeremiah and put him in the sister and of Malka one of the royal princes that was in the courtyard of the guardhouse. There was no water in the cistern only mud. So when they lowered Jeremiah into the cistern with ropes, he sank in the mud and Ethiopian II bed. Mielec a quarter official in the royal palace heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern while the king was holding court at the Benjamin gate, EBIT. Mielec departed the palace and went to speak to the king. He said to him, Your Royal Majesty, those men have been very wicked and all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah, they have thrown them into a cistern in the assure to die of starvation there because there is no food left in the city. Then the king gave a bad meal like the Ethiopian the following order. Take 30 men with you from here and go pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies. So the bed Mielec took them in with him and went to a room under the treasure room in the palace. He got some worn out clothes and old rags from there and let them put down ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern II bed. Milic called down to Jeremiah put these rags and worn out clothes under your armpits to pad the ropes, Jeremiah did is he bed, Mielec instructed, so they pull Jeremiah up from the cistern with ropes. Jeremiah, however, still remained confined to the courtyard of the courthouse. Sometime later, Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entrance of the Lord's temple. The king said to Jeremiah, I would like to ask you a question. Do not hide anything from me when you answer. Jeremiah said, does that a kya? If I answer you, you will certainly kill me. If I give you advice, you will not listen to me. So King Zedekiah, made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, as surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, I promise you this, I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you. Then Jeremiah said does that Aqaba, the Lord, the God who rules over all the God of Israel says, You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared. But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them. Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians, the Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me. Then Jeremiah answered, You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the Lord by doing what I've been telling you, then all will go well with you and your life will be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, the Lord has shown me a vision of what will happen. Here's what I saw. All the women who were left in the royal palace of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon, they will talk to you saying, your trusted friends misled you, they have gotten the best of you. Now that your feet are stuck in the mud, they have turned their backs on you, all your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from them, but will be captured by the king of Babylon. The city will be burned down. Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, do not let anyone know about the conversation we've had. If you do, you'll die. The officers may hear that I've talked with you, they may come to you and say, Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you. Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we'll kill you. If they do this tell them I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan's house. All the officials did indeed come and questioned Jeremiah, he told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard house until the day Jerusalem was captured. The following events occurred when Jerusalem was captured. Steve Webb 9:35 Jeremiah chapter 39, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the 10th month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah is 11th year. On that day they broke through the city walls. Then near Gousha reserve Sam gar Niebo circum, who was the chief Officer Nero Gousha Reser, who was a high official, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters in the middle gate. When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night, they took a path through the king's garden and passed out through the gap between the two walls. Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. But the Babylonian army chased after them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and captured him. They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Haman and Nebuchadnezzar pass sentence on him there. There at Riblah, the king of Babylon had Zedekiah his sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon also had all the nobles of Judah put to death. Then he had Zedekiah Zeis put out and had him bound in chains to be led off to Babylon. The Babylonians burned down the Royal Palace, the temple of the Lord in the people's home, and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Royal Guard took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city, he carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him. But he left behind in the land of Judah, some of the poor people who owned nothing. He gave them fields and vineyards at that time. Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had issued orders concerning Jeremiah, he had passed them on through Nebuzaradan, the captain of his royal guard, find Jeremiah and look out for him Do not do anything to harm him, but do with them whatever he tells you. So Nebuzaradan captain of the rail guard nebbish Shas ban who was a chief officer near Gousha Reser, who was a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon sent and had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guard house. They turned him over to get Elia the son of a hike him and the grandson of shaven to take him home with him. But Jeremiah stayed among the people. Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse. Go and tell the bed Melech the Ethiopian, the Lord God of Israel, who rules over all says, I will carry out against this city what I promised, it will mean disaster and not good fortune for it. When that disaster happens, you will be there to see it. But I will rescue you when it happens. I the LORD affirm it. You will not be handed over to those whom you fear, I will certainly save you you will not fall victim to violence, you will escape with your life because you trust in me, I the LORD affirm it. Steve Webb 12:28 Jeremiah chapter 40. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Royal Guard had set him free at Rhema. He had taken him there in chains, along with all the people from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried off to exile in Babylon. The captain of the Royal Guard took Jeremiah aside and said to Him, the Lord your God threatened this place with disaster. Now he has brought it about, the Lord has done just as he threatened to do. This disaster has happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey Him. But now Jeremiah, today I will set you free from the chains on your wrists. If you'd like to come to Babylon with me, come along and I will take care of you. But if you prefer not to come to Babylon with me, you're not required to do so. You are free to go anywhere in the land you want to go, go wherever you choose. Before Jeremiah turned to leave, the captain of the guard added go back to get Elia the son of a hiker and grandson of shaman whom the king of Babylon appointed to govern the towns of Judah. Go back and live with him among the people or go wherever else you choose. Then the captain of the guard gave Jeremiah some food and a present and let him go. So Jeremiah went to get Elias and have a hykeham at Mizpah and live there with him. He stayed there to live among the people who had been left in the land of Judah. Now some of the officers of the Judean army and their troops had been hiding in the countryside. They heard that the king of Babylon had appointed get Elias and have a hykeham to govern the country. They also heard that he had been put in charge over the men, women and children from the poor classes of the land, who had not been carried off into exile in Babylon. So all these officers and their troops came to get Elia it Mizpah the officers who came where Ishmael son of Nathan, Iowa, Joe Hainan, and Jonathan the sons of Korea, Surya, son of 10, human, the sons of E five and a tuffite. And Jasmine is son of the macrophyte get Elia, the son of a hykeham and grandson of shaman took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. Do not be afraid to submit to the Babylonians settle down and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you. I for my part will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians whenever they come to us, you for your part, go ahead and harvest the wine, the dates the figs and the olive oil and store them in jars. Go ahead and settle down in the towns that you've taken over. Moreover, all the Judeans who were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all the other countries heard what had happened. they heard that the king of Babylon had allowed some people to stay in Judah and that he had appointed get Elia the son of a hykeham and grandson of shaman to govern them. So all these Judeans returned to the land of Judah from the places where they had been scattered. They came to get Elia it Mizpah. Thus, they harvested a large amount of wine and dates and figs. Jo Hainan at all the officers of the troops that had been hiding in the open country came to get Elia it Mizpah they said to him, are you at all aware that King Bayless of Amman has sent Ishmael son of Neff and I had to kill you, but get Elias and have a hike and would not believe them? Then Joe Hainan son of Korea spoke privately to get Elia there at Mizpah. Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Neff the nya before anyone knows about it, otherwise he will kill you and all the Judaeans who have rallied around you will be scattered, then what remains of Judah will disappear. But get alias and have a hike and said to Joe Hainan, son of Korea, do not do that because what you're saying about Ishmael is not true. Steve Webb 16:01 Jeremiah chapter 41. But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Neff, Anya and grandson of Alicia, who was a member of the royal family, and had been one of Zedekiah. His chief officers came with 10 of his men to get alias and of a hykeham it Mizpah while they were eating a meal together with him there at Mizpah Ishmael son of Neff, Anya and the 10 men who were with him stood up, pulled out their swords and killed get Elia the son of a hykeham and grandson of Shaffer and thus Ishmael killed the man that the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country. Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with get Elijah at Mizpah and the Babylonian soldiers who happened to be there. On the day after get ally had been murdered before anyone even knew about it. At men arrived from Shechem Shiloh and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves to show they were mourning. They were carrying grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. Ishmael son of Neff and I went out from this pot to meet them. He was pretending to cry as he walked along. When he met them, he said to them, Come with me to meet get Elias son of a hykeham. But as soon as they are inside the city, Ishmael son of Neff, Anya, and the men who were with him, slaughtered them and threw their bodies in a cistern. But they were 10 men among them who said to Ishmael, do not kill us for we will give you the stories of wheat, barley, olive oil and honey we've hidden in a field, so he spared their lives and did not kill them along with arrest. Now the sister and we're Ishmael through all the dead bodies of those who had killed was a large one that King ASA had constructed as part of his defenses against King Basha of Israel. Ishmael sent him Neff and I have filled it with dead bodies. Then Ishmael took captive all the people who were still left alive and Mizpah. This included the royal princesses, and all the rest of the people in Mizpah that Nebuzaradan the captain of the Royal Guard had put under the authority of God Elias and of a hykeham. Ishmael set of Neff and I took all these people captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites. Joe Hainan, son of Korea, and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the atrocities that Ishmael son of Neff, Anya had committed. So they took all their troops and went to fight against Ishmael said of Neff Anya, they caught up with him near the large pool at Gibson. When all the people that Ishmael had taken captive saw Joe Hainan, son of Korea, and all the army officers with him, they were glad all those people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned and went over to Joe Hainan, son of Korea, but Ishmael son of death and I managed to escape from Johanna and along with eight of his men, and he went on over to Amman, Johanna and son of Korea and all the army officers who were with him let off all the people who had been left alive at Mizpah. They had rescued them from Ishmael scent of death Denia after he killed get Elias and have a high can they lead off the men, women, children, soldiers and court officials whom they had brought away from Gibson. They set out to go to Egypt to get away from the Babylonians but stopped at gear with Kim him near Bethlehem. They were afraid of what the Babylonians might do because Ishmael son of Neff, Anya had killed get Elias and have a hykeham whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country. Steve Webb 19:19 Well today in chapter 38, Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jehucal and Pashhur, who were princes of Judah, did not like the message that Jeremiah was preaching: “The Lord says, ‘Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives.’" 3 They had also heard him say, “The Lord says, ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. They will capture it.’” They told king Zedekiah, “This man must be de-platformed, for he is spreading misinformation." Okay. That's a very loose translation. Actually, what they said is even worse: “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. This man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.” Was Jeremiah trying to harm them? Of course not. First off, Jeremiah was telling the people exactly what God told him to say. And the message God gave Jeremiah was their only hope of survival! How is this message harmful? It isn't. And then, these princes, these paragons of truth, so full of courage, when the king wimped out and gave in to them, saying, "Very well, you can do what you want with him. For I cannot do anything to stop you”, didn't even have the guts to shed Jeremiah's blood. They wanted him dead, but they were too cowardly to do the deed. So they had him lowered into an abandoned cistern, where he would die of exposure, starvation or disease. This is how the mob often works. Cowards. And what of Jeremiah? He was following God's will implicitly, yet he was put in this terrible place. Yes, we heard that the Ethiopian official ultimately rescued him, but let's not negate Jeremiah's time in the pit. This was no picnic. It was dark, it was miserable. He was standing in a foul, disgusting muck for some period of time. Beloved, just because we are doing God's will does not mean that we won't have to stand in the slime from time to time. Don't let anyone tell you that you're out of God's will when the situation is hard. I can tell you from personal experience that when you are doing your best to follow God's leading, that is the time that the enemy attacks. That's when friends will turn against you. That's when your health might fail. That's when finances go in the dumper. That's when the most unexpected things happen. If you're seeking God, fear not! Don't be discouraged. Hang on to God. He is always faithful when circumstances look bleak. In Jeremiah's case, the Ethiopian, Ebed Melech come to the rescue and pulled him out. I can't promise you'll be rescued in the same way. But I do know that God is sovereign, and your circumstances are not beyond His control. He knows what you are going through, and He does use difficulties to strengthen you and shape you into the man or woman He wants you to be. Just because things get hard does not mean it's time to give up. When things get hard, it's time to look up. If you're going through a hard time right now, why not go over to prayer.lifespringmedia.com and tell us about it so we can pray with you about it. And if you'd like to share some other thoughts, call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1-951-732-8511 Or comment via boostagram. You can also go to comment.lifespringmedia.com dot com I do read every comment. And as a good chance you'll hear your comment on the show. Tomorrow will be gospel Saturday, we'll read Luke three and four. Steve Webb 23:37 If you're new to the show, I want you to know that you are family. We don't have listeners here we have family, the Lifespring family. And in a well functioning family family members participate. They contribute ideas and talents when called for. They share when they're hurting and they rejoice together over Happy events. That's what we do here. We share prayer requests and praises. And when those come in, I pray for each one in my quiet time. And I share them here on the show. So we can agree together as we take them as a family to God. Another thing is you won't hear any advertisements on the show. Why? Well because advertisers are uncomfortable with the discussion of the uncompromising Word of God. Advertising invites censorship and I'm not going to change the message just so some people won't have their toes stepped on. So with no advertisers, the only way this works is value for value. If the show has value for you, all I ask is that you decide how valuable the show is to you then convert that to a number. The number is up to you. Pray and ask the Lord what he would have you do and then go to live string mania dots comm slash thoughts and if you have one of the new modern podcast apps, you can stream support directly to me in the form of Satoshi as you listen. Once you set it up in any podcast app that you could find at new podcast apps.com It just happens out medically you hardly have to even think about it again. My personal favorite apps right now for streaming SATs is fountain and pod verse fountain even pays you as you listen, and it's one of the easiest to set up for streaming SATs and sending boosts and booster grams. Check them out. If you try one out and you don't care for it, try one of the other ones you'll find there. Steve Webb 25:26 Today's show art is by Jason Paschall. Thank you, Jason. And also Thanks to Sister Denise who does the transcript Michael Haner. Who does the chapters Scott Snider, who also does RT, and Brittaney Who does the newsletter. If you're not signed up for the newsletter yet, go on over to news dot Lifespringmedia.com. Of course it's free and I'll never share your information with anybody. And now until tomorrow may God bless you richly. Thank you for making me a part of your day. My name is Steve Webb. Bye. Boost. Lifespring media bringing the message of hope, love and good news since 2004. Transcribed by https://otter.ai