BUT YE TURNED AND POLLUTED MY NAME

God loves faithfulness and is always ready to honor His name. According to Jer. 34:8-22, the people of God (Jews) came into the house of God in the days of Zedekiah, king of Judah in Jerusalem. In verse 8-10, king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maid servant, being a Hebrew or Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit of a Jew his brother. Now all that had entered into the covenant including princes and all the people obeyed and let them go.

Now in verse 13-14 God reminded the prophet Jeremiah the origin of the covenant; saying “Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother a Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ears.” Examine yourselves and see how you have dealth with not just a Hebrew but more so a child of God who has believed the gospel as you. How do you treat such people and for how many years before you set them free on a path of good success. God is watching all these scriptures as they apply to us today. If you have a house ‘help’, you are duty bound to see that Christ is formed in them. Plan for their exit because God expects them to be free at a certain time. Can you imagine having a house help who you do not bring to the house of God? That is wickedness, because you deny her or him the spiritual food, the good news and the opportunity to hear the gospel and be saved. Some keep these maids who came at a tender age of 4-5 years old and kept them to 18-23years old with neither education nor skills learned. God the righteous judge is always watching. You have no plans for them but you have plans for your children. When will you let them go free and ready to succeed if you did help them correctly and especially their salvation. The coming King of kings and Lord of lords is watching and everyone will get their rewards according to their deeds.

God praised them because their fathers did not keep the covenant, but they in the day of Zedekiah king of Judah decided to keep and obey the covenant as recorded in verse 10. Also in verse 15, it reads, “And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me, in the house which is called by my name.” So sad the joy was short lived. Verse 11 reads, “But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.” They all forgot that the covenant was initiated by them (may be to please or bribe God because of the crisis of war and famine facing the nation), in the house of God and in the Name of the Lord. Many of us vow and never fulfill it. We generally initiate the vow or covenant because of a situation, we use the Name of the Lord and in many cases in the house of God or on our knees. But it is so sad when we want to treat our God as man or try to outsmart God even in this helpless age; when our hope should be in God alone.

These Hebrews under king Zedekiah, in verse 16, reversed their praise worthy deed as unfortunately stated, “But ye turned and polluted my name ( think for a moment how many things you have prayed or promised or agreed in the name of the Lord and you suddenly went contrary; without even consulting the Lord whose name you used), and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he  had set at liberty at their pleasure ( you initiated their freedom based on the word of God and you used the name of God to set them free in a covenant, it was at your free will to be godly), to return and brought into subjection, to be unto you for servant and for handmaids.” Remember Exodus 14:5, “And the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this; that we have let Israel go from serving us?” This was a similar spirit with what happened in Zedekiah’s time; worse for Zedekiah, being a Hebrew, he knew that he initiated and reminded God of the covenant of proclaiming liberty and entered into this covenant in the house of God and in his holy Name. Never get yourselves into such a corner because judgment often accompanies it.

We are in the last days and need to be careful to be faithful with our Lord and our God. In many countries people are praying in different ways and to different gods. But Christians are praying to the Living and True God, the Creator of all things. God was dealing with the Jews directly in the Old Testament by the prophets. In Jer. 42:1-3, A groups of captains of the forces in Judah and all the people small and great including, Johanan of the remnant that were not carried into captivity by Nebuchadrezzar. They came unto Jeremiah the prophet, “And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all these remnant;(for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:) That the Lord thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.” And after ten days the word of the Lord came to the prophet in answer to their prayer request.

Just in these last days we have many, supplications, petitions, requests before the Lord. Some are individual prayers and some are group prayers and some with fasting; desiring answers from God. Very often we make our presentations like the Jews in the days of Jeremiah the prophet; saying, “That the Lord thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.” In these days of coronavirus and starting persecutions many Christians are worried, confused and looking for a sense of direction. Jeremiah gave the remnant of the Jews in Judah the answer from God after ten days, Jer. 42:7-22. The prophet said, “The Lord hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.” When you get an answer that you were not expecting (because you did not have an open heart) then you act like the Jews in this scripture. You see even Christians behave like those in Jer. 43:2, they say, “Thou speakest falsely: the Lord our God hath not sent thee, to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there.” In verse 7, “So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord.” Many today, obey not the voice of God.

Let us in these last days be careful, what we pray about, and what is in line with the will and plan of God. The antichrist and all his co-workers are falling in place to go through the great tribulation: But God is gathering His bride for the translation. This is the end of days. Watch your prayer whether individually or collectively, for you need must obey God’s response to prayer. Remember Jer. 45:5, “And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.” Remember these words of admonition from the Lord, the God of Israel through Jeremiah the prophet to faithful Baruch. Where ever Baruch went to he remembered the word of the Lord unto him. The Lord in John 14:1-3 promised us by his word like unto Baruch, so always apply Psalm 119:49 to your life in dealing with the Lord our God. Get this blessing by going to thetranslationalert.org, library, video, “The Holy Spirit overcoming temptation”, pay attention to 13 to 15 minutes zone. Or if you have the video or DVD watch and listen. Remember bro Frisby said, watchfulness is a quality found in the elect at the end of time. Amen.

100 – BUT YE TURNED AND POLLUTED MY NAME