Scripture & Discouragement (Jer 38)

Before I comment, read this short passage of Scripture from Jeremiah 38:1-5:

"Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, Thus says the LORD, 'He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.' Thus says the LORD, 'This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.'" Then the officials said to the king, "Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm." So King Zedekiah said, "Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you."

What were the words Jeremiah was speaking to them? In case we skimmed and missed it (like I do all the time), "Thus says the LORD" is stated twice in three verses so that we know the source of his words. The source of Jeremiah's words was God (cf. 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:19-21).

Now, why did the officials pass the death sentence on Jeremiah? What does it say? They wanted him dead for discouraging people!

So, what is an expected result of speaking God's Word? It's not the winning of friends or the influencing of people. Here, it got Jeremiah public rejection because it discouraged people. No wonder so many churches avoid the Bible.

God's Word still does this to people today because God wounds before He heals.

The irony is that these words of "discouragement" were only for the well-being of the people, something they could not see because they were blinded to it by their feelings of discouragement. What about you?