Footing #4

The Prophet Jeremiah has been a deep and unending encouragement for me. Not because he was a great success by any measure, but because he was always faithful. When left for days in the mire (picture an outhouse hole) he still spoke the words of truth, when threatened with death a every turn he still preached God's authority above all else, when dragged away to Egypt where he knew God said never to go again lest they be cursed he believed God was enough, when God told him never to marry and that his life would be one of loneliness he didn't pull a Benedict Arnold, when all his work was burned by the king's men (chapters and chapters of parchment(picture ancient scrolls) lost in moments--we are talking a whole lotta work here people) he patiently and carefully rewrote what we know today as the book of Jeremiah(its like 52 chapters and that's in English typed not hand written on parchment), when no one--and I mean NO ONE--believed a word he spoke even as his prophesies came true did he sit down and shut up and lose all hope? No, he kept preaching, kept standing, kept moving, kept trusting. And yes he did have his weaker moments, like when he called God to punish the nations, but he then turns around (like moses) and stood in the gap for his people.


Am I at all like this?

Um, yeah--avoids eye contact--well.....

I know where Jeremiah stood, I see it clearly in the word. I also know I tend to be much more of a Peter or a Thomas, not a Jeremiah. I know that I aspire to a faith like he had. His faith could have moved mountains, but that wasn't God's plan. God planned for his people to go into exile and he also planned for Jeremiah to stand in the gap for the people of Israel. God ordains his New Covenant to be wrought in the Book of Jeremiah. Yes, the New Covenant Sealed in the Blood of Christ. Hmmm, why would God do that? Why would God connect a man of sorrows with the New Covenant of the New Testament, of the Savior?! Maybe because he knew what a cost the gospel would take. He knew how the standing in the gap of Jeremiah would resemble the standing in the gap (the ultimate standing in the gap) of Christ for humanity. Did Jeremiah see the connection...I believe He did. He trusted in the Lord and obeyed unto a cursed life in Egypt, but he also ushered (verbally and through scripture) in the greatest covenant God ever made with mankind.

What does standing in the gap look like for me?
 
I read in Ez 22:30 that when the Lord was looking for one many in Israel who was standing in the middle between the Lord and the people. God found no man standing up for the land and thus he planned to move forward with destroying it. I don't see many people willing to stand in the gap for our nation. Am I supposed to live my life in such a way that people will know that I am trying to get between them and destruction, even if that costs me much in this life. Jesus did this for all humanity, but most notably for the Hebrew people. Paul stood in the gap between the gentiles and the devastation of sin. He wrote letter upon letter speaking truths so amazingly forthright and confrontational it would make a present day pastor blush. There have been pockets of people who have done this in church history, they have stood up for the people's best interest so that they may not be preyed upon or that they may not act in unrighteousness. They have "drawn a line in the sand" and have said "this is the marker (obviously this is drawn only from the word of God) I will not be moved".
 
They seek the best for their peoples (or all peoples) and they speak truth in even the hard moments. They show love in a bold and gentle way. Loving in the midst of the most inglorious moments is truly the deepest sort of love, the most selfless and Christ like--loving another when they are the most unlovable. Having the courage to be honest and transparent.  Fearing no man, but fearing God.
 
All I can hope and pray is that my nation will not be left without someone standing there speaking and pursuing truth. I want to stand in the gap, as Christ did, as Paul did, as Jeremiah did, as ten Boom did, as Bonhoeffer did, as Luther did, as Tyndale did, as Renwick did, as Machen did, as Spurgeon did, as Athanasius did, and so many other unknown believers have done throughout the history of true saving faith. I want to pursue the best for my people even when they reject and resent me for it. I stand before no man, I stand before God.