And here is what you are to tell this people: ‘Adonai says: “Look! I am presenting you with the way of life and the way of death.” Jeremiah 21:8
“Look! I am presenting you today with on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil.” Deuteronomy 30:15
As I mentioned in the part one about Jeremiah, his ministry spanned the rule of multiple kings and chapter 21 begins with a request from Judah’s final king, Tzidkiyahu to Jeremiah, asking him for a prophecy to see if Adonai would deliver them from the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar. But this request wasn’t just for a prophecy, it was one to see if Jeremiah would pray on his behalf. For years Jeremiah had been warning the kings, the priests, and the people that this attack was coming, and for years he was persecuted. It was when the fulfillment of the judgement was on his doorstep that the king cried out for help. He didn’t get the answer that he was hoping for. [4] This is what Adonai, the God of Isra’el says: “I will make the weapons of war that you have in your hands ineffectual in your fight against the king of Bavel and the Kasdim who are outside the walls besieging you. Instead, I will gather them inside this city; [5] and I myself will fight against you with my hand stretched out and with a strong arm, in anger, rage, and great fury. [6] I will strike the inhabitants of this city, humans, and animals alike, and they will die of a terrible plague. [7] “Afterwards,” says Adonai, “I will hand over Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, his servants, the people, and anyone remaining alive in this city after the plague, war and famine, to N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel and to their enemies, to those who seek their lives; and he will put them to the sword. He will not spare them; he will have no pity, no compassion.” [8] And here is what you are to tell this people: ‘Adonai says: “Look! I am presenting you with the way of life and the way of death. [9] Anyone who stays in this city will die by sword, famine, and plague. But he who leaves and surrenders to the Kasdim besieging you will stay alive; his own life will be his only ‘spoils of war’. [10] For I have determined absolutely that this city will have evil and not good.” Says Adonai. “It is going to be handed over to the king of Bavel, and he will burn it to the ground.” Jeremiah 21:4-10
What is interesting to note, is that Moses prophesied that this exact situation would happen should the Children of Israel ever turn away from Adonai and the Torah. It is truly remarkable to read and see Adonai make good on promises that were made before they ever entered the promised land. 23[24] then all the nations will ask, ‘Why did Adonai do this to this land? What is the meaning of such frenzied, furious anger?’ 24[25] People will answer, ‘It’s because they abandoned the covenant of Adonai, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 25[26] They went and served other gods, prostrating themselves before them, gods they had not known and which he had not assigned them. 26[27] For this reason, the anger of Adonai blazed up against this land and brought upon it every curse written in this book; 27[28] and Adonai, in anger, fury, and incensed with indignation, uprooted them from their land and threw them out into another land – as it is today.’ Deuteronomy 29:23[24]-27[28]
Deuteronomy 30 continues about the blessing and the curse that was presented to them, and due to space, I am not including it in its entirety, but I strongly encourage that you read it for the full context tying it to Jeremiah. However, here are some of the key verses. [1] “When the time arrives that all these things have come upon you, both the blessing and the curse which I have presented to you; and you are there among the nations to which Adonai your God has driven you; then, at last, you will start thinking about what has happened to you; [2] and you will return to Adonai your God and pay attention to what he has said, which will be exactly what I am ordering you to do today – you and your children, with all your heart and your being. [3] At that point, Adonai your God will reverse your exile and show you mercy; he will return and gather you from all the peoples to which Adonai your God scattered you.” Deuteronomy 30:1-3
[15] “Look! I am presenting you today with on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil – [16] in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. [17] But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; [18] I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess. Deuteronomy 30:15-18
Life and death. In the natural, life and death are points in time that all of us meet. However, spiritual life or death is a choice that is presented to each of us, and we are each responsible for our own choice. We are given a span of time in this natural life to choose the road we are going to walk. “Go in through the narrow gate; for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road broad, and many travel it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 From cover to cover, the Word contrasts life and death and that they are the only two options that we have when it is all said and done. Romans 6:23 says, “For what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.” Sin brings death, Yeshua is life. In Hebrew, the word life is chay (khah’ee)חי and death is mareth (maw-veth) מות. The meanings behind the letters of both of these words are beyond telling for each. Chay is spelled with the letters Chet, meaning “joining of man to God”, and Yud meaning “creation”. Life is the creation of God being joined to the Creator. Maveth on the other hand, when looking at the shadow meanings for each letter paints a different picture. Mem means “chaos or drowning in sorrow”, Vav, “hook or anguish”, and Tav “to seal, disorder, destruction.” The chaos of sin, causes us to drown in sorrow and anguish, leading to disorder and then destruction. With one wrong choice, sin and death found an open door into the lives of mankind. Generation to generation we have lived under this curse. I recently heard a message by Johnathan Cahn that made me see something from Genesis that I had never seen in that light before, and never will again. In Genesis 3:22 it reads, “Adonai, God, said, ‘See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, to prevent his putting out his hand and taking also from the tree of life, eating, and living forever –“ Had man eaten from the tree of life while in a fallen and sinful state, he would have lived forever in a sinful state. Adonai drove them out of the garden not to protect the tree as much as to protect Adam and Eve from having to live forever separated from Him. The plan of salvation and redemption was set into motion from the foundation of time. “The Messiah redeemed us from the curse pronounced in the Torah by becoming cursed on our behalf; for the Tanakh says, ‘Everyone who hangs from a steak comes under a curse.” Galatians 3:13
Jeremiah’s entire ministry was one of entreating the people to chose life, to return to Adonai, to live in the blessings and life that He had called them to. His next prophecies after his response to King Tzidkiyahu would be about each of the kings that had sat upon the throne of David in the years leading up to the Babylonian invasion. He had implored each of them to do right and just, to rescue the wronged from their oppressors, to not do wrong or violence to strangers, orphans, or widows. Yet, each king did not heed the words from Adonai. They chose the wide road, and it cost the nation seventy years in captivity.
Yeshua said, “I AM the Way – and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 Having looked at the word life in Hebrew, let us now do so with “way” and “truth”. Way in Hebrew is orach (o’-rakh) ארה Aleph meaning “Adonai”, Reysh meaning “Turning Point” and Hey meaning “mercy”. Truth in Heberw is emeth (eh’meth) spelled Aleph, Mem, and Tav אמת. Aleph again means “Adonai”, Mem in this context is “completion” and Tav means “perfection”. He is the turning point to mercy and He is completion and perfection.
May we listen to and hear the words of Jeremiah and incline our hearts towards Adonai that we may have life and have it more abundantly. Not just in this world, for it is not our home, but that we may live life eternally with our Savior.
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