The stories we hear today will serve as an illustration

They illuminate a line from the prayer Jesus taught us
- you know it and you’ve prayed it–maybe many times
• it is one-third of a petition
“hallowed [revered] be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:9-10)
• it is that last line I hear in these two stories
◦ one teaches us what happens when we resist God’s will and the other when we surrender to his will
- I don’t expect you to remember the names of the characters, so I’ll give their brief biographies
• the three key figures are Jeremiah the prophet and the two kings Jehoiachin and Zedekiah