Monday, October 16, 2017

Mon.’s Devo - The Kingdom is Advancing

Read: Jeremiah 28:1-29:32; 1 Timothy 1:1-20; Psalm 86:1-17; Proverbs 25:17
Hananiah, the prophet, prophesies that they will only be in Babylon two years then they will return to Jerusalem with all the articles that were taken from the temple and Jehoiakim will return with the exiles. This is the opposite of what Jeremiah had prophesied. When Hananiah and Jeremiah met, Jeremiah had a wooden yoke on his neck to show the people that they would be under the yoke of the Babylonians 70 years. Hananiah took this yoke and broke it to prove his point of their breaking their yoke of slavery in two years. Jeremiah returned with a yoke of iron to prove his side. He also told Hananiah that since he prophesied lies that he would die within the year. He died in the seventh month, which was two months later. The seventh month is always a feast month of deliverance. They were delivered from the lies of the enemy.
Jeremiah sent a letter to those in exile encouraging them to settle down in Babylon because they would be there for a while. He also told them to beware the false prophets and to not listen to their words. After 70 years, God would bring hope and bring them back from captivity. He had wonderful plans for their future but now they must endure the hardship they brought upon themselves.
To the people who didn’t go into exile,and the king of Judah, God was going to send sword, famine and plague against them and they would be severly punished for not listening to what the Lord told them to do. Then Jeremiah called out the false prophets: Ahab and Zedikiah, and Jeremiah of Anathoth, and Shemaiah. They would receive their just reward.
We will always have false prophets. Paul also had to fight the lies of these men. In his day the false prophets taught the people about myths and genealogies. They promoted controversy instead of unity and love. There is so much out on the internet about what was going to happen in September and it is now October and none of it happened in the natural. It is not the time of destruction but of building for our churches, our nation and our Lord. We are advancing the kingdom on the earth so let’s not get distracted by wanting to beam out of here. We have a work to do and the fields are ripe unto harvest!
Lord, help us to see the kingdom and walk in it.

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