My Names Project has slowed down the past month or so. I have been focusing on other Bible studies and other books of the Bible. Earlier this week I went back to Jeremiah and got back to work. I was reading in the thirty-ninth chapter about the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. In the fortieth chapter we are told that Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem after the initial deportation of God's people. Then in the forty-first chapter God tells the story of how Gedeliah, the appointed Governor, was murdered. That is the back story for what happens in the forty-second chapter.
God's people have been left in Judah. These are "the poor people who owned nothing" (Jeremiah 39:10). The people are distressed and anxious. They are few in number and their Governor has been murdered. They come to Jeremiah and ask him to please pray to "The Lord your God" on their behalf. Did you catch that? "The Lord your God". Twice they ask the question and both times they refer to Him as Jeremiah's God. Jeremiah hears their request and he answers and agrees to pray to "The Lord your God". Isn't that wonderful? He is reminding them WHO God is; He is not just the God of the prophet Jeremiah ~ He is THEIR God. The people then respond to Jeremiah and promise obedience to whatever "The Lord your God" tells them through Jeremiah. I was on the verge of rolling my eyes and thinking, "Didn't they get it?!" when I went on to verse 6. There they promise Jeremiah that they will obey whatever "The Lord Our God" tells them to do. Twice they affirm that God is not just Jeremiah's God; He is Their God too!
The remainder of the chapter, and the next chapter too, are not encouraging. Things don't get immediately and remarkably better for God's people. In fact, for another season of time, they get worse!
But there was one moment when the sun shone through the clouds and God's people saw that one little patch of God-Light.
It is my prayer today that you and I may boldly claim to everyone around us, "The Lord is MY God".
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