I Don't Believe You
- Justin Ray
- Aug 24, 2020
- 4 min read
Jeremiah 43:1-7
Have you ever told someone the truth and they did not believe you? That has probably happened to all of us more than once. It is frustrating when you provided facts upon facts that they believed but you come to one detail and all of a sudden the listener doesn't trust you. It is even worse when it is more than facts that they ignore, but when they decide to not believe warnings. Of course, we have all been on the wrong side of this as well. We too have ignored warnings that ended badly for us. Such is the case for our text today.
And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words, 2 Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there: 3 But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon. 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah; 6 Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.
Jeremiah 43:1-7
I cannot imagine how incredibly frustrating Jeremiah's ministry must have been. He proclaimed the Word of God his entire life and very few ever believed a single word he said. His ministry was much like that of Noah's. Noah preached for 120 years and no one believed him. In both cases judgment was poured out of the unbelievers. It is the sad reality for those who proclaim God's word. John and Paul quoted Isaiah's words:
Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
John 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
So, what was this warning that they ignored? Jeremiah told them to remain in Jerusalem and they would be safe. However, if they fled to Egypt, they would die. Everything that Jeremiah had prophesied had come to pass. The people had seen it happen. They had even told Jeremiah that they would believe him and God this time. However, they had developed such a pattern of unbelief that once they heard the message, they rejected it yet again. They had developed such a pattern of rebellion against God that they yet again rebelled against Him.
When God's Word speaks clearly about a subject and we say that we "don't believe that", we are saying that we do not believe God. God and his Word cannot be separated. To call the Word of God a lie is the call God Himself a liar. We may not like to hear this but John said that Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:14).
A word is an expression of what the hearer wants the listener to know. In God's case, His Word is the expression of what he wants us to know about Himself. Jesus is the ultimate expression of what God has revealed to us about Himself. He was not only the spoken word, but the visible Word as well.
The writer of Hebrews says of Jesus:
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
Hebrews 1:3
The word translated "Express Image" is "Charakter" which means "to mark" or "engrave". He became the mark or engraving of what God wanted us to know and see of Himself. He is the "character" of God. He is not pretending to be someone he was not, he was portraying Himself. If you were to see a list of credits at the end of a film, it would say "God - played by Himself". While no man has seen God the Father, Jesus was how he physically revealed Himself to us.
The point of all that is we cannot divorce the Word of God from God Himself. They are one and the same. To say God's Word is not true is to call God a liar. Paul said, "...which God, that cannot lie" (Titus 1:2). Paul said, "God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar..." (Romans 3:4). So, we have to ask ourselves, "Why do I not believe God?" Also, "When has God ever lied to me?" If we are honest, God has never lied to us, so why do we not believe Him now? That is faith. Faith is trusting God to do what he says he is going to do. It is trusting in the character of God. It is believing in His honesty and integrity; in his holiness.
Father, help me to believe your word. You have never once lied, so I have no reason to doubt you. Even when the message seems unbelievable, I can and must believe it. Thank you for being honest so that we never have to question your integrity.
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