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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.
“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the
prophet. “I will certainly pray to the Lord your God as you have requested; I
will tell you everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.”
Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord
be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with
everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or
unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that
it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God.”
Jeremiah 42:4-6
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The
remnant of Jews from Mizpah had been through a lot. They had endured the
assassination of their governor Gedaliah by a man named Ishmael and his men,
persevered through captivity and near exile to the Ammonites, and experienced
rescue by Johanan, his army officer, and men. But that wasn’t the end of their
trials because ended up heading toward Egypt, afraid of returning to Mizpah
because Gedaliah had been appointed by Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and several
Babylonian soldiers had been slaughtered at the time of the assassination.
In
the midst of all this chaos, you’ll remember the people went to Jeremiah, God’s
prophet, asking him to pray to the Lord asking for Him to provide guidance as
to where he wanted His people to go as well as what He wanted them to do. And
as we see in today’s scripture passage, Jeremiah honored their petition,
leading the people to make an incredible statement of commitment toward the
Lord. Look at these verses again here:
“I
have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray to the Lord
your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the Lord says and
will keep nothing back from you.”
Then
they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us
if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to
tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God,
to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey
the Lord our God.” Jeremiah 42:4-6
Scripture
tells us that Jeremiah indeed would pray for the remnant of Jews from Mizpah
and ask the Lord what they had requested, adding that he would “keep nothing
back” from them. In other words, he would not sugar coat anything the Lord said
but rather give it to them straight.
God’s
word shows us the people were ready for whatever would come their way. We know
this because they pledged their obedience to the Lord whether His message was “favorable
or unfavorable”. They knew that if they complied with God’s will that it would
go well for them as they certainly were well aware of the recent judgment that
has resulted in most of the Israelites being hauled away into exile in Babylon.
They had chosen to disobey God, willingly and willfully sinning in His sight,
and they in turn paid the price for it. The Jews making up the Mizpah remnant
did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past for they knew that the Lord
sees all that is done on earth by His people.
He
is the true and faithful witness of all.
Perhaps
we might want to keep this at the forefront of our minds as we approach each
day that we’re blessed with. For like the Jewish remnant, we should be seeking
where God wants us to go as well as what He wants us to do, and then once He
reveals His purposes to us, be obedient in carrying out His ways. Again, He is
always watching us and keeping tabs on what we do.
For
nothing escapes the eyes of the true and faithful witness of all and we have no
greater accountability mechanism than remembering His eyes are always 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.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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