A TERRIFYING ORDER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

 “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. I am going to give the order, declares the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take it and burn it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”

Jeremiah 34:21-22

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Think about the power of God for a moment.

Then remember that it is even infinitely greater than the strongest instance in which He has put in on display for us to witness.

Could anyone stand against that power if He chose to unleash it?

The right answer is absolutely not.

With this, ask yourself why so many people decide to put themselves at risk by downright daring God to use His power against them, people who know God hates sin and yet choose to do it anyways?

It’s a complete mystery to me…and yet so many people do it.

The Old Testament Israelites during Jeremiah’s days were a perfect example. For despite knowing how powerful God was and how He hated sin, they chose to worship false gods and idols in His sight as well as breaking other covenants with Him like the one we looked at in yesterday’s devotion, a reneged promise to release the Hebrew slaves in their seventh year of servitude. You’ll recall the Israelites did release them but then changed their minds, enslaving them all over again.

Bad idea.

For in today’s devotion, we find the Lord rendering a terrifying order, one that when carried out would bring judgment on His people for their sins. Look here at the final two verses from Jeremiah 34:

 “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. I am going to give the order,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take it and burn it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”  Jeremiah 34:21-22

God was fed up. Any chance the Israelites had to reconcile with Him and avoid punishment was out the window. The wrath of God would soon be unleashed through the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces, a wrath that would see the city destroyed and burned to the ground. The devastation would be so brutal that the towns of Judah would be left uninhabitable. But of course that wouldn’t matter anyways as the Israelites were going to a new home, a home far away from Judah and Jerusalem.

They had decided to abandon God. Now they would see what it feels like to be abandoned and left alone.

Friends, we had better be paying close attention to this message from the Lord today. For He expects our absolute obedience, a total commitment to His will and way and word that will show Him the kind of honor and respect He deserves. A life like this will always bring His favor and blessings instead of His consequences.

However, if we choose to go down the path of the Old Testament Israelites, disrespecting and disregarding God, then we can fully expect the fullest measure of His anger and power against us as He once again issues a terrifying order to bring us judgment.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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