Jeremiah 26:20-21 – Learning from a Legacy of Leaving
20 Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. 21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. Jeremiah 26: 20-21, New King James Version
I'm about to celebrate two months of keeping a New Year's resolution. Yes, it's August. Since June 6 marked my 47th birthday, it turned a new year for me. It was an opportunity to uproot some old habits and, as I believe John Greenleaf Whittier said of the aging process, to grow some new bark.
A recent career change left me with more time to think and write. This in itself was not a sharp turn, as I have found that turning to writing helps consolidate what I read and crystallize my thinking.
But, living life from a wheelchair as a decided introvert, most of my epiphanies have been from the printed page or its electronic equivalent. I have been a steady blogger for many years, but I began to recognize that the readers I hope to reach needed a wider frame of reference to relate to my bookish encounters.
I resolved to ask for help. I resolved to show gratitude for the constellation of real-life relationships in which the Lord had placed me, and His grace in preserving these relationships. That I have any left is a sign of God's goodness, because my frequent attitude toward human interactions has been typified by the Maureen Corrigan book title, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading.
Rather than drop wisdom from my ivory tower and battle indignation that relatively few picked it up, I wanted to find out how actual people already in my life were dealing with the same issues I wanted to write about. I would initiate discussions over time to see if I could encourage and learn from others in the application of the truths we wrestled with.
This, as it turns out, is a step of faith against a pretty old and stubborn human tendency. Flinging society's solutions out the window while passing through, i.e. drive-by evangelism, is older than the car.
It is much older than the social media culture we would like to blame for the shallow relational soil. We see this tendency even within the covers of the Bible, even, perhaps, from a man with legitimate prophetic credentials.
Urijah, referenced in Jeremiah 26:21, was, after all, remembered for singing the same confrontational refrain as Jeremiah himself. That is, he confronted his culture with the stark reality that their current comfort would not protect them against the Lord's judgment. Like Jeremiah, he dared to speak against the land where he was born. The Lord's honor was apparently as precious to him at one point as it was to Jeremiah.
But unlike Jeremiah who continued to rise up early and strive day after day with the culture in which he was rejected, continued to drive the Truth he proclaimed to the point of application despite danger to himself, Urijah was remembered for a legacy of leaving.
That is, he said his piece. He confronted his neighbors. He told them what was wrong with their theology and with the culture they built upon it. He pointed at them, told them to tear it down and start from the studs, and then he left. He told them God's sovereignty was so complete that He would move a people unlettered in the Bible to conquer them. Then Urijah undermined his message with his feet. He left.
Whatever his prophetic format, whether standing in the Temple, or the streetcorner, or posting on Facebook, he fired off his fusillade, but then sought to protect himself in another country as "his" people dealt with the implications of the problems he pointed out. He preferred to watch from a safe distance.
So do I, which is what made this year new. Asking for input from friends, from family, and even, gasp, from new friends I wish to add at this late date, how have you seen the Lord's work on this issue? What beliefs has He challenged lately? How has He grown you to be more like Him? How has gradually coming to understand this about yourself changed your actions?
As these questions go out by text or email, gradually I am able, though belatedly, to invest in lives. A latter-day defector from the Urijah Sermonize and Self-Protect Club, I'm tottering out from behind my book-lined walls to find out what God has been doing among those I have said I care about all along.
The view of God's glory is more compelling as an invested Jeremiah of even a couple of months duration than as an Urijah just passing through on the way to dropping the next Truth bomb from a safe height. I've found eloquence where I didn't expect it. I've found vulnerability from lives in which I thought valor superior to my own was simply inborn. I've gotten to see God's Word, even from my over-complicating lips, take root, challenge people, and watch them acknowledge productive provocation.
Plus, I've gotten to join in the fight. As I send out my question on the application of the verses I am going to be writing about, I get the privilege of praying over these issues and the lives of the recipients, some of whom I know well, and some I trust I will know better in time. Alas, I'm not wired like Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, but empathy is deepening. A patient's advice on the show ER to her doctor who shares my preternaturally introverted and analytical tendencies is proving true. We have to make space for relationships.
Thus stepping out further from my bookish barricades, I wonder who else might be willing to engage. Who else that I don't know already might be willing to get the question I am thinking about. My number is 336-970-9742, and my email is BrianEsh73@Gmail.com. This is a no-obligation offer. I used to call pride humility and not offer rather than risk rejection. Now, I'm doing the opposite. Reach out, and I'll send you the application question I'm thinking about for the verses I'm working on.
Even when I don't get an answer on a given day, praying is a privilege. Even those who answer once in a while, or just once, have made an impact on my work. Should you reach out and then decide this isn't for you in a world of too many texts, you can let me know and go your way with my kind regards.
I'm about to celebrate two months of keeping a New Year's resolution. Yes, it's August. Since June 6 marked my 47th birthday, it turned a new year for me. It was an opportunity to uproot some old habits and, as I believe John Greenleaf Whittier said of the aging process, to grow some new bark.
A recent career change left me with more time to think and write. This in itself was not a sharp turn, as I have found that turning to writing helps consolidate what I read and crystallize my thinking.
But, living life from a wheelchair as a decided introvert, most of my epiphanies have been from the printed page or its electronic equivalent. I have been a steady blogger for many years, but I began to recognize that the readers I hope to reach needed a wider frame of reference to relate to my bookish encounters.
I resolved to ask for help. I resolved to show gratitude for the constellation of real-life relationships in which the Lord had placed me, and His grace in preserving these relationships. That I have any left is a sign of God's goodness, because my frequent attitude toward human interactions has been typified by the Maureen Corrigan book title, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading.
Rather than drop wisdom from my ivory tower and battle indignation that relatively few picked it up, I wanted to find out how actual people already in my life were dealing with the same issues I wanted to write about. I would initiate discussions over time to see if I could encourage and learn from others in the application of the truths we wrestled with.
This, as it turns out, is a step of faith against a pretty old and stubborn human tendency. Flinging society's solutions out the window while passing through, i.e. drive-by evangelism, is older than the car.
It is much older than the social media culture we would like to blame for the shallow relational soil. We see this tendency even within the covers of the Bible, even, perhaps, from a man with legitimate prophetic credentials.
Urijah, referenced in Jeremiah 26:21, was, after all, remembered for singing the same confrontational refrain as Jeremiah himself. That is, he confronted his culture with the stark reality that their current comfort would not protect them against the Lord's judgment. Like Jeremiah, he dared to speak against the land where he was born. The Lord's honor was apparently as precious to him at one point as it was to Jeremiah.
But unlike Jeremiah who continued to rise up early and strive day after day with the culture in which he was rejected, continued to drive the Truth he proclaimed to the point of application despite danger to himself, Urijah was remembered for a legacy of leaving.
That is, he said his piece. He confronted his neighbors. He told them what was wrong with their theology and with the culture they built upon it. He pointed at them, told them to tear it down and start from the studs, and then he left. He told them God's sovereignty was so complete that He would move a people unlettered in the Bible to conquer them. Then Urijah undermined his message with his feet. He left.
Whatever his prophetic format, whether standing in the Temple, or the streetcorner, or posting on Facebook, he fired off his fusillade, but then sought to protect himself in another country as "his" people dealt with the implications of the problems he pointed out. He preferred to watch from a safe distance.
So do I, which is what made this year new. Asking for input from friends, from family, and even, gasp, from new friends I wish to add at this late date, how have you seen the Lord's work on this issue? What beliefs has He challenged lately? How has He grown you to be more like Him? How has gradually coming to understand this about yourself changed your actions?
As these questions go out by text or email, gradually I am able, though belatedly, to invest in lives. A latter-day defector from the Urijah Sermonize and Self-Protect Club, I'm tottering out from behind my book-lined walls to find out what God has been doing among those I have said I care about all along.
The view of God's glory is more compelling as an invested Jeremiah of even a couple of months duration than as an Urijah just passing through on the way to dropping the next Truth bomb from a safe height. I've found eloquence where I didn't expect it. I've found vulnerability from lives in which I thought valor superior to my own was simply inborn. I've gotten to see God's Word, even from my over-complicating lips, take root, challenge people, and watch them acknowledge productive provocation.
Plus, I've gotten to join in the fight. As I send out my question on the application of the verses I am going to be writing about, I get the privilege of praying over these issues and the lives of the recipients, some of whom I know well, and some I trust I will know better in time. Alas, I'm not wired like Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, but empathy is deepening. A patient's advice on the show ER to her doctor who shares my preternaturally introverted and analytical tendencies is proving true. We have to make space for relationships.
Thus stepping out further from my bookish barricades, I wonder who else might be willing to engage. Who else that I don't know already might be willing to get the question I am thinking about. My number is 336-970-9742, and my email is BrianEsh73@Gmail.com. This is a no-obligation offer. I used to call pride humility and not offer rather than risk rejection. Now, I'm doing the opposite. Reach out, and I'll send you the application question I'm thinking about for the verses I'm working on.
Even when I don't get an answer on a given day, praying is a privilege. Even those who answer once in a while, or just once, have made an impact on my work. Should you reach out and then decide this isn't for you in a world of too many texts, you can let me know and go your way with my kind regards.
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