Sat.’s Devo - A Picture of the End

Read: Jeremiah 19:1-21:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-28; Psalm 82:1-8; Proverbs 25:7b-10
Jeremiah was told by God to take a clay jar and all the elders and priest to the Valley of Ben Hinnom. There he was to declare their sins that had been committed in that place and tell of the destruction that would happen to them in that place. Then he was to smash the jar to show them that Israel and specifically that place would be irreparable.
This valley was a narrow ravine that separated Mount Zion and a hill they called the Hill of Evil Counsel. It was called the Valley of Decision by Joel. It was the place that Judah burned their children alive to Moloch and Baal (Joshua 15:8). That specific part was called Tophet which had five stoves that they used for this horrid act. After the exile, they would use this place to burn all the idols or garbage there. It was to be kept burning so that it represented hell. Hinnom is called Gehenna in the Greek and Jesus referred to it in Matt 23:33; Luke 12:5 and Matt 5:22).
When Jeremiah did this, the priest Pashhur, the chief officer had him beaten and put in stocks. The next day, when Pashur came to release Jeremiah, Jeremiah had a nice word for him. His name was no longer Pashur which means “increasing of white linen”, but Magor-Missabib meaning “fear from around about”. Instead of increasing his ministry, he would see so much violence and death all around him that he would be terrorized. He had prophesied peace, but he would live to see the destruction that he spoke against and all his friends would see that he spoke a lie. He would go into exile and die in Babylon, a false prophet.
In Chapter 20:7 we read the cry of Jeremiah and see how human he was. He felt deceived by God because he had spoken what he was told and it only brought him ridicule and pain. If he told himself he would never speak another prophecy then the word would be like fire shut up in his bones…he had to let it out. He had his pity-party but this was the time that God had chosen for him to be born.
In Chapter 21, Jeremiah’s popularity changed because what he has prophesied was actually happening. Babylon was attacking! So, the elders come to Jeremiah to see if they could convince him to come up with some kind of better outcome for them, since God had always came through for Israel in the past. But this time, Jeremiah told them He wouldn’t. They needed to stop fighting and surrender. If they fought, they would lose and die. If they wanted to live, they needed to surrender.
In Thessalonians, Paul assured them that they were not the ones God was saying would be asleep and overtaken by the thief. They were children of the light and God does nothing that he doesn’t first tell his prophets. They would have plenty of warning.
This is a comfort to those who come to Jesus after the rapture. The second coming will be something they will be ready for and receive with great expectation and relief. The world will be taken by the thief because they walk in darkness and are blind.
Paul gives us lots of practical ways we are to be walking and it all culminates in loving the things of God like prophecy, the fire of the Holy Spirit, and love for God and one another.
Lord, may we always be found joyful, praying continually, and giving thanks for every circumstance because we know that this is your will for us.