Year of Exposure Day 22: When the word of God is chained, destruction follows.

“Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. But the Lord had hidden them.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭36‬:‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

More than once, the religious leaders tried to stop the apostles from speaking the word of the Lord. But the word of the Lord couldn’t be contained.

On one occasion, when the religious leaders saw the great miracles the disciples were performing, they locked them up, trying to stop them, and the word they were speaking, from spreading.

“The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them, “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!””

‭‭Acts 5‬:‭17‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

But—as we see—an angel came and sprung them out and they went right back to speaking the word of life.

On another occasion, when Paul and Silas were thrown into jail, the Lord sent an earthquake to shake loose their chains.

“A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!”

‭‭Acts 16‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s amazing how people never cease to try to stop the word of God. What they fail to take into account is that the word of God cannot return without doing what it was sent to do!

““The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT

As the Lord said to Jeremiah, He Himself watches over His word to make sure it happens.

“And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see an almond branch." Then the Lord said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it."”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭1‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Taking up where we left Jeremiah last time, we see in our opening scripture that after the king scorned the word of the Lord given through Jeremiah, he then sent for Jeremiah and his scribe to be arrested! But we also see that they could not arrest them because the Lord had hidden them.

King Jehoiakim tried to lock up the prophet and his scribe because he didn’t like the message Jeremiah sent. But, not only was he unsuccessful in doing so, he sealed his fate.

“After the king had burned the scroll on which Baruch had written Jeremiah’s words, the Lord gave Jeremiah another message. He said, “Get another scroll, and write everything again just as you did on the scroll King Jehoiakim burned. Then say to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says: You burned the scroll because it said the king of Babylon would destroy this land and empty it of people and animals. Now this is what the Lord says about King Jehoiakim of Judah: He will have no heirs to sit on the throne of David. His dead body will be thrown out to lie unburied—exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. I will punish him and his family and his attendants for their sins. I will pour out on them and on all the people of Jerusalem and Judah all the disasters I promised, for they would not listen to my warnings.’””

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭36‬:‭27‬-‭31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s a fool’s errand to try to restrain the word of the Lord. But so many have to find this out the hard way. Let’s not be found in that number.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!