“Not Carried Away Captive Into Babylon” (Jer 40:7)

“Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon” (vs7).

God will save the poor. We can be sinners, rebellious saints, frustrated, and proud, and He will save us, if we come to Him. But, if we rebel, argue with God, and declare Him unjust in afflicting us, seeking help other than faith in Christ, we’ll be damned forever.

The way is DIFFICULT for sure, impossible with men, but God does all that it takes to save the HELPLESS. This doesn’t require anything but faith: do you and I believe what God has promised (eternal life), God is able to do without your help and strength? If so, then you and I shall be saved by God who saves sinners, helps the feeble, and does good to people who should be damned.

Jeremiah despised God’s counsel and yet obtained more mercy and grace: we are similar. We squander mercy, murmur when life is hard, and complain, even calling God a liar, when He is perfect and just.  Jeremiah said, “Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Will you be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail“ (Jer 15:18)? … What pity and patience God shows in restoring us. He told Jeremiah, “I will make you unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you: for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says the Lord”  (Jer 15:19-20).  This pity and FAIRNESS/justice in God draws us to Himself, as we see that He is right: He hasn’t asked more than He gives, the reward is so worth the time of pain down here, and the SALVATION is from hell eternal - “And [Nebudchadnezzar, God’s instrument of pain] burnt the house of the Lord, and the king‘s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every GREAT man‘s house burnt he with fire“ (2 Kings 24:9).

Don’t be discouraged that you’re afflicted; know the afflicted are those whom He saves, even as only the poor remained in the land when terror came. God’s word says, “Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O Lord, and teaches him out of your law, that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug for the wicked” (Ps 94:12-13), and again, “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked” (Ps 58:10-11), and again, “the four and twenty elders”, God’s elect, “and the four beasts”, those who lead them in worship, the preachers of Christ, “fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia”, as the smoke of the wicked eternally ascends from hell (Rev 19:3-4).

We have GREAT reward coming, so it is WORTH following God here. He is MERCIFUL, gracious, generous, pitiful, compassionate, and good.  He does only right, and He will save ALL that call upon Him, not by works of righteousness that we’ve done (merit), but by love and compassion that He gives.

Afflicted, Poor, and Believing (Zeph 3:12)

I will also leave in the midst of you an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. (vs12)

First, God’s people are afflicted and poor, and by this, we trust in the Lord. No one wants these two things (soul trouble and spiritual poverty), but they are needful, if we will have Christ. We won’t take the Savior, if we don’t need the salvation, so God gives us AFFLICTION and conscience POVERTY, so we can be saved. Those things you hate about yourself must be REVEALED, because He saves sinners – “And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician: but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32). And only sinners need Christ.

Salvation is free, but sinners hates it, until we are taught our need - (Luke 14:23) “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled”. Then, we take freely what the Lord gives, because we can’t provide for self and have need. Need is necessary to Christ, for by this need being cured, we love God. Zacchaeus, that sinner who stole from others, was received by the Lord. The Lord said, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down”, and He could have said, “For I have seen your sins, and I will punish you”. But, instead He says, “for today I must abide in your house”, so that salvation came, swept up the sinner, paid for his crimes, and then put LOVE in his heart as the result (Luke 19:5-6). Zacchaeus, a sinner called to repentance, “said unto the Lord”, not to impress people, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold” (Luke 19:7-8).

Secondly, this affliction and poverty remains in us. Zeph 3:12, says, “I will also leave in the midst of you”, so that these afflicted and poor remain. They don’t outgrow it, when they grow in Christ. It is not something that I was; I am is poor and afflicted, day by day. Paul said, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom 7:24).

God in grace keeps us trusting Christ, lest the gospel lose its luster. He keeps us believing by removing everything else that we have. I may not be afflicted outwardly by circumstance, and I may have much wealth in family, friends, and coin, but God will make me and you trust Him by REMOVING everything else that I would trust from my point of view. I can be rich like Bill Gates, but I will be poor in my own sight, helpless, and filled with sin.

Thirdly, along with the poverty, He gives healing. He says, “and they SHALL trust in the name of the Lord” (Zeph 3:12). We are not those that mourn without comfort or repent without change. God grants us GROWTH in Christ, love to people, and humility. But, He does these things by uprooting the flesh, destroying self confidence, and causing us to bring fruit of faith, rather than self. He REMOVES all hope in self, so I can bring the fruit of Christ.

Love comes from forgiveness, so He removes the sins that He’s revealed. Power comes from faith, so He disturbs us to make us believe (Eph 3:16-17). And, in all things, He works for our good, though He uses things that hurt. In Mark 6, the disciples forgot God’s power, so He sends a storm, walks on water, and reminds us again – “And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened (Mark 6:51-52).”

Lastly, don’t be afraid to admit your condition and hear the gospel. He keeps you and me poor and afflicted, so we can meet, hear, encourage each other, and serve in NEWNESS of Spirit, rather than the oldness of flesh – “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom 7:6). He removes hope in self, to give hope in Christ, to give the love that FAITH brings.

He is FOR you and me, when it appears that He should be against, because this makes us adore and honor Him.