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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“The people of
Judah have done evil in my eyes”, declares the Lord. “They have set up their
detestable idols in the house that bears My name and have defiled it. They have
built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons
and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my
mind. So beware, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no
longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of
Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. Then
the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals,
and there will be no one to frighten them away. I will bring an end to the
sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the
towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.”
“At that time”, declares the Lord, “the
bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and
prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their
graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the
heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and
consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be
like dung lying on the ground. Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of
this evil nation will prefer death to life”, declares the Lord Almighty.
Jeremiah
7:30-34, 8:1-3
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
In yesterday’s devotion, we learned that the truth had
perished in the lives of the Israelites because they had chosen to abandon God’s
word and stop listening to His direction and guidance. Instead, they opted to
give their full dedication to the very false gods and idols that God had
commanded them never to adopt and worship.
The people of God could not have separated themselves from
Him further but that’s exactly what happens when sin is chosen over
righteousness. Of course, that’s not all that happens because when we decide we
would rather live in wickedness rather than holiness, there are always
consequences that come along with that decision. And as we will see in today’s
scripture passage, those consequences would be harsh as the Lord was bringing
an end to His people’s joy and gladness. Look again at the words of this
passage one more time:
“The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes”,
declares the Lord. “They have set up their detestable idols in the house that
bears My name and have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topheth
in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the
fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. So beware, the days
are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer call it Topheth or
the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the
dead in Topheth until there is no more room. Then the carcasses of this people
will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one
to frighten them away. I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness
and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets
of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.”
“At that time”, declares the Lord, “the bones of the kings and
officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the
people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to
the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved
and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will
not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. Wherever
I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life”,
declares the Lord Almighty. Jeremiah 7:30-34, 8:1-3
We know the people of Judah and Jerusalem had elected to
sin even though they knew God hated it but as we see in this passage, the evil
being committed was beyond comprehension. It was bad enough that Israelites had
set up the very idols that God detested in His temple, defiling their holy
place of worship, but what came next was deplorable beyond imagination. For at
the high places built specifically for the worship of other gods, the people of
God had actually sacrificed their own children, burning their sons and
daughters. It was an indicator of just how far gone they were.
As you can imagine, God had seen enough and His anger would
rage against His people. His people who had slaughtered their children against
the will of God would find themselves massacred in the same place, their
remains given no more regard than the regard given to the sons and daughters
they senselessly murdered. The bones of kings, officials, priests, and prophets
who had sanctioned the illicit worship practices of the Israelites would be
laid out before the very elements they worshipped, not worthy in God’s eyes of
a proper burial.
In the end translation, desolation was coming to Judah and
Jerusalem with the people banished to Babylon for seventy years. Any survivors
of His judgment would wish they had perished instead of having to live in
exile, separated from their homeland and the God who granted it to them.
Indeed, their days of joy and gladness were about to end.
Of course, this is what any people can expect when they
decide to blatantly live sinfully in plain sight of the God who despises it so
much because He will never bring blessings to anyone who decides to live under
the influence of Satan and the wickedness He brings instead of following Him in
obedience and consequently living fully in His righteousness.
And so with this, I ask you today:
Are you living in a way that ensures you will receive the
fullest measure of God’s favor and blessing?
Or are you living in a way that signals your days of joy
and gladness will be over soon?
Only you know the answer.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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