Jeremiah 26:24 – A Show of Hands
Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. Jeremiah 26:24, New King James Version
"Public discontent is credulous," admits Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. "Private knowledge is bold."
This is the sort of contrast on display in Jeremiah 26:24. The culture Jeremiah confronts is convicted, and the enemy of men's souls would distract from that. Better, he designs, to have them in league against God's messenger, inflamed by misdirected anger, than to have them individually considering their offenses against the glory of God. As a mob mentality takes hold and begins to obscure the flimsiness of the reasons the country would lay hold of its evergreen intercessor, one man stands in opposition.
We don't even know what Ahikam did or said. This isn't Acts, with Dr. Luke faithfully transcribing impassioned speeches. Instead, the Holy Spirit sees fit to move us directly to the RESULTS of boldness steeled by private knowledge, to the ends God grants when one man stands by his conscience rather than the easier move in the moment of acceding to the passions of the multitude.
Would we know the outcome, then, before we stand stodgy in opposition to the gossip prevailing in an office corner? Would we count noses before we confront a swirling spirit of slander? Would we trace the precedents of Satan's progressive victories in a given arena before we decide to risk our influence? Jeremiah, after all, had often been ignored and derided before. Would we count the absence of memorable, pre-prepared, words and gestures as our reasons for not standing with the apparently outnumbered right?
We would, then, miss our moment to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. We would forgo a chance to pass on a treasured testimony of faith to those who come behind us. What bestirs the culture in today's equivalent of Jeremiah 26:24 will likely be quickly forgotten, but what God does through one calm contrarian may not.
Somebody was watching either Ahikam's reaction or his reflections on it. The chamber of his son Germariah was a haven wherein Baruch's scroll from Jeremiah could be read. What's more, another son, Gedaliah, was the governor of Judea after the destruction of Jerusalem.
When we seem to stand alone, then, much is at stake in our being a thermostat which changes the temperature in a setting rather than a thermometer which records its rising. We may prevail, being used to further God's work in a man's life. Likewise, we may leave a legacy which outlasts the pressures of the moment and proves an inspiration when there seems little continuity left in the culture.
"Public discontent is credulous," admits Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. "Private knowledge is bold."
This is the sort of contrast on display in Jeremiah 26:24. The culture Jeremiah confronts is convicted, and the enemy of men's souls would distract from that. Better, he designs, to have them in league against God's messenger, inflamed by misdirected anger, than to have them individually considering their offenses against the glory of God. As a mob mentality takes hold and begins to obscure the flimsiness of the reasons the country would lay hold of its evergreen intercessor, one man stands in opposition.
We don't even know what Ahikam did or said. This isn't Acts, with Dr. Luke faithfully transcribing impassioned speeches. Instead, the Holy Spirit sees fit to move us directly to the RESULTS of boldness steeled by private knowledge, to the ends God grants when one man stands by his conscience rather than the easier move in the moment of acceding to the passions of the multitude.
Fitting that the language of in Jeremiah 26:24 personifies to compare hands. We would tally the might on each side, determine the pragmatic course based on how many will stand for a given position. Here, though, by the grace of God, the hand of Ahikam is enough to stay the joined hands of the people.
One hand raised an brave objection breaks the spell of cascading collusion, the temporary, expedient allegiance of anger. The words or gestures themselves are forgotten. What the Lord would have us remember, apparently, is Ahikam's resolved by faith and what He chose to do with it.
Would we know the outcome, then, before we stand stodgy in opposition to the gossip prevailing in an office corner? Would we count noses before we confront a swirling spirit of slander? Would we trace the precedents of Satan's progressive victories in a given arena before we decide to risk our influence? Jeremiah, after all, had often been ignored and derided before. Would we count the absence of memorable, pre-prepared, words and gestures as our reasons for not standing with the apparently outnumbered right?
We would, then, miss our moment to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. We would forgo a chance to pass on a treasured testimony of faith to those who come behind us. What bestirs the culture in today's equivalent of Jeremiah 26:24 will likely be quickly forgotten, but what God does through one calm contrarian may not.
Somebody was watching either Ahikam's reaction or his reflections on it. The chamber of his son Germariah was a haven wherein Baruch's scroll from Jeremiah could be read. What's more, another son, Gedaliah, was the governor of Judea after the destruction of Jerusalem.
When we seem to stand alone, then, much is at stake in our being a thermostat which changes the temperature in a setting rather than a thermometer which records its rising. We may prevail, being used to further God's work in a man's life. Likewise, we may leave a legacy which outlasts the pressures of the moment and proves an inspiration when there seems little continuity left in the culture.
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