“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. . . It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.” (Jeremiah 27:4–5, ESV)
I have recently written and published a book titled, “Through the Valley,” covering my battle with cancer. As the author, I can purchase copies for the cost of printing and shipping. Like other books that I have written since retirement, I will give many of these away. Others will be available for purchase. Now, as the creator of the writings, I own the copyright of them and thus have the right to give them as gifts to anyone I choose. It is the creator’s right to do with the work created according to his will.
Here Jeremiah is to send a prophetic message through envoys from the nations under Babylonian dominance. The envoys were likely in Jerusalem in an attempt to seek a coalition that might overthrow the domination of Babylon. The Lord’s message to them was that He created all and gave what He created to whom He desired. The Creator has the full authority to do with His creation as He chooses. He chose to give these nations to Babylon.
Jeremiah’s message to the envoys included an object lesson so they would not forget. The Lord had the prophet put a yoke on his neck to visually demonstrate the yoke of Babylon that was placed upon the neck of the nations.
The point of this prophetic word was that the nations were to remain under the yoke of Babylon. They would remain in that state until the Lord chose to judge Babylon.
This record has many applications for us today. It all revolves around our Creator’s sovereign authority over all. Many in our world today are under the deception that they are in full sovereign control of everything. They cannot understand that God exists and that He is the one who raises up and takes down kings and kingdoms.
This humanistic deception has taken hold of all people, in government, in business, and even us in the church. We believe that we will make all things happen according to our human ingenuity and might.
The result of this hidden agenda of the world system influences the church by eroding true faith. We find a general lack of prayer as a major symptom. We make major decisions without seeking the Lord who is sovereign over all. When we do pray, we end up telling the Lord what we think He should be doing rather than seeking to join Him in His sovereign program by faith.
We need to have a change in mindset with regards to our Creator. We must realize that the world system has warped the way we think and operate and realize that the Lord, omnipotent and omniscient, is creator and sovereign over all. We must live by faith and reject our own feeble abilities.
Renewing the Heart 