Thurs.’s Devo - The Future and the Hope

Read: Jeremiah 30:1-31:26; 1 Timothy 2:1-15; Psalm 87:1-7; Proverbs 25:18-19
I don’t know how long Israel and Judah have been in captivity but God began to encourage them of their future. He had just promised to give them one and now he was giving Jeremiah a picture of it. He would bring them back to their own land, give them a leader from their own people, and heal their wounds. The time in captivity would be to discipline them and turn them back to their God and they will repent.
When they returned, God would restore everything they had lost. They would plant and harvest fruit and sing for joy. God would bring them back weeping, praying and singing to their homeland. God would turn their mourning into dancing and give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. He would feed the priests and bless them and the people would be prosperous.
Jeremiah was shown all this in a dream and awoke and felt refreshed. He now had a message of hope for the people.
In reading Timothy it is important to realize the setting. He is in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus was a Greek city that worshipped the goddess Dianna (Latin) or Artemus (Greek), the fertility goddess who fell out of heaven. This was probably a meteor that fell and their explanation of it since they were so superstitious. Anyway, they worshipped women which made the women in that city much different from the Jewish women that had no rights and were considered property. Women in Ephesus reigned, so Timothy had to address the new believers about how to dress and how to behave in church. The Greek women were used to ruling over their husbands, so they had to learn the proper authority.
Paul told them first that they needed to pray and give thanks for those in authority in order to live peaceful and safely in the land. They were living with a very hostile ungodly government. They were not to oppose it but to pray for it and keep peace so it would go well with them.
Prayer is the most efficient way to get change. God has an army that can uproot and tear down governments in a moment. We need to appeal to God when we don’t like the things that are happening and obey what he tells us to do. We are not to tolerate evil in our cities but stand against them in prayer.
Lord, teach us to war with our spiritual weapons and bring your kingdom in heaven down to earth.