Obedience
LATESTRENEW
Stephen
7/4/20263 min read
To fulfill our responsibilities faithfully and to excel in any role, whether social, familial, professional, or spiritual, we must recognize that we live and work under authority. Obedience, therefore, is always essential in every sphere of life and. Without it, we risk diminishing the credibility and dignity of our position. Moreover, obedience arises from the respect and honor we extend to the authority under which we serve. At times, carrying out an assigned task can be exceedingly difficult, involving hardship, obstacles, time, and distance. To travel nearly 400 miles simply to place a soiled sash in a crevice of rock would certainly not be an easy assignment.
This event appears to have taken place during the reign of Jeconiah, the son and successor of Jehoiakim, who ascended the throne at the age of eighteen. Jeconiah reigned for three months and ten days, beginning on December 9, 598 BCE. At that time, the Chaldean generals had encamped near Jerusalem, though the city was not formally besieged until Nebuchadnezzar arrived with the main body of the army. It was under these circumstances that the prophet foretold the coming captivity.
The Lord instructed the prophet to purchase a sash, wear it for a few days, and not wash it. Purchasing and wearing a sash from the market was a simple task, and Jeremiah obeyed carefully, ensuring that he did not wash it. Yet he did not know what would follow, and so he waited upon the Lord. Then came the next instruction, one that must have seemed puzzling to him: he was to take the soiled sash, go to the Euphrates River, and hide it in a cleft of the rock. The distance from Jerusalem to the Euphrates was approximately 400 miles. Was it truly necessary to travel so far merely to conceal a dirty sash? Could it not have been hidden near the Jordan, which was much closer? Nevertheless, Jeremiah had no alternative, for the Lord’s command was clear. He was prepared to obey every instruction given by the Lord whom he worshipped. Thus he set out on the journey toward the Euphrates with the sash in his possession. He had to cross the Jordan River and travel through wilderness, much of it desert terrain. The route was far from easy. As indicated in the attached image, he had to begin from an altitude of about 500 meters, descend to nearly 300 meters below sea level, cross the Jordan River, ascend gradually to a height of about 1,100 meters, and then continue descending over a distance of roughly 500 kilometers, passing three peaks before reaching the Euphrates. He also had to carry provisions for what may have been a fifteen-day journey one way. Yet Jeremiah endured every hardship, traveled to the Euphrates, hid the sash, and returned to Jerusalem.
Jeremiah then waited for further instruction from the Lord. In purchasing, wearing, not washing, and hiding the sash, he did not fully understand the meaning of these actions. Yet he obeyed without hesitation. For many days he waited, but no word came from the Lord.
Then one day after long time, Jeremiah heard the Lord’s voice.
“Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.”
Jeremiah simply obeyed the Lord’s word, took every hardship once again, went to Euphrates and took back the sash, ruined, profitable for nothing and returned to Jerusalem. Then Jeremiah received this message from the Lord:
As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth—good for nothing! This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.
Are you filled with pride and not obedient to the Lord or like Jeremiah…..?
