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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 scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Therefore this is what the Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and
to destroy all Judah. I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined
to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall
by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die
by sword or famine. They will become a curse and an object of horror, a curse
and an object of reproach. I will punish those who live in Egypt with the
sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. None of the remnant of Judah
who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of
Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few
fugitives.”
Jeremiah 44:11-14
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As
we have studied the story of the Jewish remnant of Mizpah, we have seen two
main things arise.
First,
God gave them a proposition, a proposition they asked for through the prophet
Jeremiah. You’ll recall the people wanted God to tell them where He wanted them
to go and what He wanted them to do, all as they were already inclined to go to
Egypt. You’ll remember the Jews wanted to flee to Egypt out of fear that King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would punish them for the way Gedaliah, the
Babylonian appointed governor, and several Babylonians soldiers who guarded him
were slain by Ishmael.
In
answering the Jewish remnant’s request, God told His people what He wanted them
to do. They were to remain in Judah and settle there with the assurance God
would keep them safe from Nebuchadnezzar if they would just be obedient to what
He called them to do.
They
had asked for God to tell them where to go and what to do. God had honored
their request and all the people had to do was comply with His way. And just in
case they thought they would do something else, God even warned them to expect
His judgment if they disregarded His call to stay in Judah.
So
what did the Jewish remnant do?
Well,
as we know from the scriptures, they wanted to have it their way and so they
rejected God’s plan and instead took matters into their own hands. God’s word
tells us they entered Egypt, taking Jeremiah and his secretary Baruch with
them, advancing into the country as far as the city of Tahpanhes. Once there,
the Lord reminded them of the consequences He promised, consequences they had
asked for by wanting to have things their way instead of His. Look at today’s
passage from Jeremiah 44:
“Therefore
this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to
bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah. I will take away the remnant of
Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish
in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the
greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become a curse and an
object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach. I will punish those who
live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. None
of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive
to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none
will return except a few fugitives.” Jeremiah 44:11-14
Note
here that the days of the remnant were numbered. God had warned them of His
judgment if they went to Egypt and they defied His warning. That was a big
mistake for look at the penalties they would suffer for their decision:
1.
Disaster would be brought on them with all of Judah destroyed. The
Lord would remove the remnant and take them away.
2.
Those in the remnant, from the least to the greatest, would perish in Egypt, dying
either by the sword or from famine. No one would be spared and thus no one
would survive and be able to return to Judah.
3.
The legacy of the remnant would be that they would become a “curse and an
object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach.” Not the way anyone should
want to be remembered.
And
to think that the Jewish remnant actually asked for all that. They did so when
they chose to have it their way.
Friends,
I’m afraid there are many believers today who are doing what the members of the
Jewish remnant did more than 2,000 years ago. They hear of or read about the
way the Lord wants them to go but when it’s all said and done with, they decide
to have it their way, even if they know it places them fully in the crosshairs
of God’s displeasure and consequences.
Our
devotion should lead us to ponder several important questions:
When
will we learn that God will only stand for our complete and utter obedience,
our full submission to His will and way and word?
How
many times does God have to send consequences on His people for disrespecting
and disregarding Him, for not listening to Him even when He warns them to stop
sinning against Him?
and
How
long will we seek to have it our own way before we’ll figure out it does
nothing but bring God’s judgment upon us?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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