Messy Methods
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Messy Methods
Messy Methods
Jeremiah 38:1–13 (ESV)
1 Now Shep-ha-tiah the son of Mat-tan, Ged-a-liah the son of Pash-hur, Ju-cal the son of Shel-e-miah, and Pash-hur the son of Mal-chiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people:
2 “Thus says the Lord: He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live.
3 Thus says the Lord: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.”
4 Then the officials said to the king, “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.”
5 King Zed-e-kiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.”
6 So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Mal-chiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
7 When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate—
8 Ebed-melech went from the king’s house and said to the king,
9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.”
10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes.
12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so.
13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Intro -
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God Provides! The clothes, food, shelter, God Provides.
Do you ever wonder how ? Do it cross your mind what had to happen? How many chickens had to give birth for eggs in the morning? How farmers had to be on their job to make sure those steaks make it to your local store before hitting the dinner table. God Provides. That somebody went through some mess to make sure your daily comsuption was met.
I thank God for those who are willing to do some of those messy jobs to make sure things go as plan. The coal miners , the pest control, garbage collectors, dairy farmland, and of course the pay dont add up to mess they deal with daily. You even had Mess specialist. Who will look inside of your mess to make sure theres nothing going on on the inside thats harming you.
Dirty Jobs
Hotel soap recycler
deer urine
King Henry the 7th - Create a position in the royal bathroom call the Groom of the Stole. Seeing every aspect of the king bowel movement.
1. The King - Delayed Detriment - (disadvantage/damage/disservice)
The King had multiple chances to take heed and obey Gods word. v2 v17 v18 God speaks at the right time, in other words the very moment God speaks to you is the very moment God wants you to respond. Some of us assume that we have the next few months to think about it and to try to decide whether this is really God’s timing. The moment God speaks to you is His timing. That is why He chooses to speak when He does. He speaks to His servant when He is ready to move.
And I don’t know any parent who likes a Delayed Response. In our world a delayed response is an immediate reaction. The king in the text heard the word but tried other ways. and cared about the words of others. He weighted his options. Should I obey God and be called out by people, Who should i make happy? Surviving on my own or Life? How would I be looked at as a King?
This aint the first time this King reneged on a promise… Jer. 34 he reneged on a promise to god that he would let all the hebrew slaves go. He did and later captured them again and made them slaves.
Here is another oath. to surrender under the babylonies but listening to people again, he wanted to break that oath and fight.
Issue here is that you think there are other options. other opportunities. / Those other options are the reason we are in the shape that we are in. Your Options are Opponetts To God. Stands against what God is doing, stands against what God has planned. When your options get in the way of Gods word for your life, that puts you at a disadvantage. Your place your faith on opinons.
v.17 - God(Elohim) You surrender you will Live
v.19 - Options - I fear that if i do that ill die in the hands of those who have surrendered.
He choose Fear over Faith. / When God allow things to get messy, Fear is not an Option. You will miss your oportunity to live. To overcome. to outlast. God has not given us the spirit of Fear.
2. The people(Nobles) - Denied Duty (ignored the word of God.) The worse thing you can do is commit spiritual suicide. They didn't Delay they Denied it. Rejected it. Refuse to play their role in their deliverance. That's what you are really doing, when you reject God's voice.... You reject God's plan for your protection, peace, and your plight. Truth is they wanted a word, just didnt like what they heard. Jer.28 There was a false prophet named Hananiah.
This message of surrender is the opposite of that given by the prophet Hananiah, who claimed in the temple to the priests and people that Yahweh would break the yoke of the king of Babylon. That Hananiah also prophesied the return of the former king leads to questions about whether King Zedekiah would really want this to happen, or whether Zedekiah really desired to be king. Jeremiah mocked Hananiah’s message and his claim that all this would happen within two years. On account of Hananiah’s causing the people to listen to lies, he was killed by Yahweh.
They wanted a word just not the one from God. We all want a word, thats suitable, thats likeable, thats easy, that requires no sacrfices on my part, that dont call me out, that dont expose me.
\With that false prophet no where did it show the role that you play.
Method - Isreal marching around the walls of jericho (March instead of Fighting) Joshua 6
Method - Namann bathing in dirty water to become cleanse of Leporsy. (Unclean plus Unclean equals Clean. 2Kings 5
Method - Mark 8 we see another unclean method used to heal, when Jesus took spit and mud and put on the eyes of a blind man.
I can take God messy methods, when the message is you shall live.
Because lets be real, its the mess god allowed that made you pray more.
The messy co workers / the messy credit, the messy relationships, the mess allowed me to see what i was really missing. The relationship i was neglacting, the work that i was place here to do. God will use some messy methods to show you what you have been missing.
God will allow you to play a role in your own deliverance. But you can be distracted, or discouraged by His methods. His ways are not ours, His thoughts are not like mine or yours, there is a huge gap in between, east from the west, in other words in night and day. The role in the text was SURRENDER. Take off your shields, lay down your swords, remove your helmets, take off your armour, expose yourself. Surrender - Abort / To leave/ Change Residence.
This world is not my home
im just passing by
if heaven is not my home
then lord what shall i do
the angels are beaconing me
for heavens opened doors
and i cant feel at home
in the world anymore.
That’s if you want to live. Rather you want to or not, you have a role to play. You play a role in your delieverance or you damnation. its either obedeince or oppression. Everybody on the team has a role. give illustration.
Even Evil has a role to play. From Pharo to the Babylonies.
Even when you dont understand or even agree with Gods Method, Trust Him at His Word.
Ebed-Melech - Declare Delight in the law of the Lord. The nameless one, the foreign one, the black one.
- Didn't standby when Injustice was performed. Didn't Delay.. bible says. "When he Heard" God expects you at some point in life to move from Crowd Participation. At some point you have to come to the conclusion that Hearing God's word isn't enough.
- How he handled the Messenger tells a lot of what he thought of the Message. The message ought the be handled with care.
Message shouldn't be killed but preserved. Message shouldn't be mishandled mismanaged. We should handle God's word with Care. Tertullian and African Scholar quotes.. "Truth engenders (sparks up) hatred of truth. As soon as it appears, it is the enemy." If you want to make someone mad tell the truth. If you want to make someone better tell the truth. Truth challenge where there is comfort.
But to those who love Truth gain God as a friend. Show me how you handle the truth, that says what you think of God.
- The black Cushite gained God as a friend. He lived up to his name. Servant of the King. As Christians are we living up to ours??? The only title that matters is Servant. If you are a follower of Christ you are a servant of God. Servants don't sit idle. But they get to work once they hear the word of God. But that's not all.... Because God made a promise to this servant. Your Life with be Saved. Famine, War, drought, but your life will be saved. Where you should have died like the others.... The word of God gave Life.
You life shall be a prize of war. Because you have trusted in me.
Keep serving because somebody is listening
Somebody is watching
Somebody is willing
Somebody is waiting
He may not be many but there is one willing to trust God.
Don't be discouraged because God didn't use the one you thought or wanted him to use. God has a Ebed-Melech in waiting. To serve His purpose.
God knew servants was the best term, because God sometimes get messy. Muddy situations, places only servants are willing to go. Messy Methods, where only servants are willing to speak. Knowing the backlash they will receive. God aint looking for Chefs and line cooks but for bus boys, table washers. God aint looking for batmans, or robins, but God want Alfreds. The messy method of God was to allow Gods people to surrender to Gods Enemy. So that God can show His people what happens when you dont Surrender to Him.
Dont miss the message in the mess. YOU CAN LIVE! You can overcome. Recover. You will heal.
They were worried about giving up there houses and land, Just surrender because God says you will Recover. ( Get better) (Take back) (Reclaim)
I thank God for Messy Methods. Because it saved me. it redeemed me,
His messy Methods Cleansed My Soul.
The stains - made me whiter than snow
the scars - healed me
the wounds - mended me
God used Mess - to Create something Beautiful
Watch God use that mess-
But when God needed to serve his ultimate Purpose for the World. He used himself. He wrapped up truth in flesh. Became the Living Word. Just like in Jeremiah the truth was mishandled the truth was mismanaged the truth was denied the truth was spat on the truth was presented as a liar. the truth was imprisoned The Truth was on the way to Calvary. And God used another black man.... On the way to Calvary.
Truth Rose
Truth shall Stand.