Freedom Given and Guided by the Spirit
See the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it is good and right to go. (Jeremiah 40:4b)
Jer. 40:1-6 and 38:17-18; Prov 4:18; Is. 61:1; Rom. 8:2, 21, 28; II Cor. 3:17
What Is God Saying?
Our text comes from the times immediately after the fall of Jerusalem. It was a shrewd policy of the Babylonians to deport all the rich and influential people while leaving many of the poor behind. In that way, they would better be able to make the impoverished remnant do obeisance to them and be grateful for any slight paternalistic gestures. Jeremiah was taken with other promising people part-way to Babylon. At Ramah, early in the long trek to Babylon, a Captain of the Guard gave him the liberty to make a choice. This was done by order of Nebuchadnezzar (37:11-14) who wanted Jeremiah to be rewarded for seeming to favor Babylon over Jerusalem. The prophet, who had frequently warned Judah of the folly of resisting the Babylonians, could stay in this part of the world and travel freely or go with his compatriots to their bondage in Babylon.
The Babylonians knew that Jeremiah's imprisonment in Judah had labelled him as a traitor to Jerusalem and therefore a friend to the Babylonians. They knew he had counselled against resisting the invasion, predicting their victory. Jeremiah decided to go back to Judah. It would have been easier for him in Babylon because the enemy viewed him as a quisling on their side, but Jeremiah needed to go back to Judah, unwanted and hated. He needed to make it clear that he was not a traitor but a true patriot who had sounded a clear note on the trumpet.
How Does This Apply To Us?
This is the background for the words of Nebuzaradan, the Captain of the Guard, but as we read the words that offer liberty to Jeremiah, there is an interesting parallel that comes to mind. It has to do with our liberation brought about by the Spirit of the Lord. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (II Cor. 3:17). We have been held by the chains of sin. We have been on the road to bondage, but now we are liberated by the Spirit of the Lord. We now are free to ‘see the whole land that is before us.’ We are free to ‘go wherever we think it good and right to go.’ We are freed by His grace, led by His wisdom, we want to do His will, and we are ruled by the guidelines of His love. That is true freedom.
Pray With Me
Lord, the words spoken to Jeremiah by the Captain of the Guard are the very words that are spoken to me by Your Spirit. They have a different meaning but they convey a valid truth. In Christ I am free. I am free to go out into the land, the whole land. All of life with its adventure, beauty, unexplored wonder, and untapped abundance is before me. There are great experiences to be enjoyed. There are people I have never met who will be sharing with me riches I have never seen. Places are waiting to be visited. Good books are waiting to be read. There is great music I have never heard. The whole land is before me and, in Christ, I am free. I am free to go or come. I am free to wait. I am free to be the real me, anywhere and all the time, because I am His and not my own. Thank you for life at its best and for the best of the life that is yet to come.
There is yet more in these words. When they come to me from Your ever-present Spirit, they speak of conditions which (if observed) will bless and (if neglected) will harm. In the freedom of the whole land, I must go always and only where it is good and right to go. I am not free to do as I please. I am free to do as I ought. In that spirit, I go into the whole land and embrace the whole of life.
To the glory and praise of Jesus Christ who has set me free. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Life can be filled with surprising joys. Pray that you will be kept in the path of the righteous. That path is ‘like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until full day’ (Prov. 4:18). The whole land is before us. We move around in that land with perfect freedom, but for this liberty to last, we must do what is good and right. Prayer sheds light on all this and helps us to know and to choose what is good and right.
