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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, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I
have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the Lord Almighty, the
God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who
are prophesying lies to you in my name:
“I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. Because of
them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May
the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in
the fire.’ For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed
adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in My name they have uttered
lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the
Lord.
Jeremiah 29:20-23
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Anyone who knows me knows that I served a long time in the
United States Navy, twenty-eight and a half years to be exact. The last seven of those years was spent as a
Command Master Chief and it was a privilege to be able to lead a lot of young
Sailors, many of which were just starting their military careers.
One of the things I would talk about with my Sailors,
particularly when they were reporting to my command was the matter of legacy. I
wanted them to consider how they would serve during their tour early on,
especially in regard to how they would or wouldn’t make a difference and what
that would mean to their professional reputation. In other words, I wanted them
to think about how they would be remembered after their assignment was over and
the way I saw it, they could fall into one of three categories:
Category 1: They would be remembered for being successful
during their time onboard the command, having strived for and found success in
their endeavors. Their hard work and initiative would have made a difference
and left a lasting impact on the command.
Category 2: They wouldn’t be remembered at all because they
didn’t really do anything good or bad. They just showed up and did their job
every day, doing just what was required of them but nothing out of the
ordinary.
Category 3: They would be remembered for all of the wrong
reasons because all they did while they were at the command was get in trouble and
show they were a disciplinary problem.
Given all this, as we turn to the scriptures for today and
our verses from Jeremiah 29, we see a situation where two men, Ahab and
Zedekiah, fell under the aforementioned “Category 3” and decided to sin against
God, leading to them being remembered for all of the wrong reasons. Look again
at this passage:
Therefore, hear the
word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to
Babylon. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son
of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my
name:
“I will deliver them
into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death
before your very eyes. Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in
Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab,
whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’ For they have done outrageous
things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and
in My name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a
witness to it,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah
29:20-23
The word of the Lord clearly called out Ahab and Zedekiah,
broadcasting His displeasure with them to all the exiles He sent away from Jerusalem
to Babylon.
What did they do to earn God’s wrath?
First, they prophesied lies in His name, lies that He did
not authorize. It wasn’t that the Lord never used men to share His messages
because He did. He just didn’t choose Ahab or Zedekiah who took it upon
themselves to fabricate communication from the Lord and then pose as if they
were legitimate spokesmen.
Lying wasn’t the only transgression these men committed in
plain sight of the Lord for God said they had done other outrageous things in
Israel such as committing adultery by paying with their neighbor’s wives even
though the Lord had clearly commanded for His people to not commit adultery
(Exodus 20:14).
Well, it was well known then (and now) that the Lord
despises sin and would bring judgment on anyone who blatantly committed it. It’s
what earned the Israelites seventy years of exile in Babylon and it’s what
would lead to execution for Ahab and Zedekiah, both who would be burned in the
fire by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Such would be their legacy as any
recollection of them would be for all the bad things they had done and the
punishment they received, so much so that their very names would become synonymous
with the Israelite exiles in Babylon asking for God’s judgment on others by
saying:
“May the Lord treat
you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.”
The two sinners would have the memory of their iniquities
and subsequent death penalties live on long after they perished. Not exactly a
great way to be remembered.
So that leads us to where we are today and the question the
Lord wants you to consider:
How will you be remembered in regard to your spiritual life
and work for the Lord?
Will you be remembered for all the good things you have done
in obedience to the word, will, and way of God, modeling the life of His Son
Jesus?
Or will you be remembered for your sinfulness and how you
violated God’s word and will in the way you lived?
Today’s scriptures would serve as a warning regarding what
could come if we choose the latter for we may find ourselves experiencing
treatment like Ahab and Zedekiah who found themselves in the crosshairs of God’s
judgment and that’s nowhere that anyone should want to be.
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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