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Thoughts of...Extreme Obedience
Some people have a soft heart for the Lord and are open and eager to hear from Him. However, most people have a hard heart toward Him and are willfully deaf, determined to not hear His Word. Jesus loves them all (, ).
Since that is undeniably true, the Lord sometimes asks those with soft hearts to do something extreme in order to communicate His love to those with hard hearts. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?
The Lord sent the prophet Jeremiah to warn His beloved people, the rebellious nation of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, that judgment was forthcoming, unless they repented of their idolatry. The hearts of the people were hard with a determined deafness. So the Lord commanded Jeremiah to get and to wear a fine linen belt, which would be both functional and ornamental, symbolizing His people and His desire for them (). Jeremiah obeyed, undoubtedly in full sight of those in Jerusalem, for they were undoubtedly watching him. Then the Lord further instructed Jeremiah to walk to the Euphrates River, a journey of approximately 375 miles and about 20 days to the place up their future captivity, to hide this expensive belt in a hole in a rock in the river. Jeremiah heard and obeyed (). Presumably, the Lord’s faithful servant walked the 375 miles home, until he was commanded to go the 375 miles back to the Euphrates to retrieve the now worthless belt, which had in the meantime been destroyed by the water and covered by silt (). Returning home with the belt and the reason for these extreme measures (), Jeremiah perhaps had a more attentive audience for the Lord’s message () than on previous occasions. What was the role of the Lord’s servant? Extreme obedience.
About ten years later, the Lord sent another extreme message to His people, this time using the prophet Ezekiel. Before the eyes of the citizens of Jerusalem, Ezekiel was commanded to “play charades” of the coming siege against the city (). To communicate the degree of suffering the hard-hearted citizens would endure, the Lord commanded Ezekiel to lie on his left side for 390 days and then on his right side for 40 days. He was not to move during that time (). While “under siege”, God’s servant was instructed to prepare his meals over a fire fueled by human dung to portray the extreme hardship in Jerusalem’s near future (). Grieved by such defilement, Ezekiel appealed for and was given grace by the Lord, and allowed to use cow dung instead (). For 430 days Jerusalem observed this “charade”, an instance of extreme obedience by a faithful servant of the Living God.
About 200 years earlier, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sent a startling message to His people, who had determined to turn a deaf ear to Him. They were unfaithful to Him, their loving Husband, by whoring after the false gods of the pagan nations around them. To make personal His message of heartbreak and everlasting love for them, the Lord commanded Hosea to marry a whore. Hosea obeyed (). Hosea and Gomer had three children, and the Lord named them as part of His message (). Later, after Gomer had returned to her whoredoms and was utterly wasted and undesirable, Hosea was instructed to go to the slave market to redeem her and to lovingly restore her as his wife (Hosea 2:1 – 3:5). Truly, this was extreme obedience by a faithful servant of a God with an extreme love for His people.
The Lord took extreme measures to communicate with Gentiles as well. About 70 years after Hosea, in an unmistakable message to the Egyptians and Ethiopians, the Lord commanded the prophet Isaiah to literally walk around naked for three years (). Would your obedience to the Lord’s command be as extreme as Isaiah’s?
Getting a message through willfully deaf ears requires extreme measures, which the Lord will take because of His great love for His beloved creature. His message of extreme love came to man most clearly by the extreme obedience of Jesus Christ on the Cross (). Jesus suffered and died for hard-hearted, willfully deaf people. He was buried, but death could not hold Him down, and on the third day He rose from the dead to defeat the penalty of sin and the power of death (, Is 53, , , , , , ). For those who hear with soft hearts, Jesus gives the gift of His eternal life (, , ).
Have you determined to not hear the Word of God? Will you look to the Cross and to the empty tomb to “hear” how much God loves you? There is nothing more He can do to say, “I love you.” You can hear, but will you? Will you commit an act of extreme obedience…to humble yourself in surrender to such extreme love, and believe?
If you already have surrendered to God’s selfless, sacrificial love, have you determined to not hear Him calling you to serve Him? Do you really understand what happened on the Cross…and that it happened for YOU? Will you not deny yourself, pick up your Cross, and follow Jesus? Are you experiencing freedom in disobedience? There is only freedom in obedience to the Lord your God. Why not make your obedience extreme – give Jesus Christ all you are, all you have, and all you ever hope to be? Something extreme will happen!
Pastor Doug
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