Sat.’s Devo - The Coming Judgment

Read: Jeremiah 19:1-21:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-28: Psalm 82:1-8; Proverbs 25:9-10 God told Jeremiah to go and buy a clay jar and take it to the place where they sacrificed children to Baal. He told them that this place would become a place of slaughter. They would be slaughtered by foreign armies and Jerusalem would be reduced to ruins making it a monument to their stupidity. They would be besieged and end up eating their own sons, daughters, and friends. *** He was to break the jar and tell them that as this jar scattered when it broke, so their nation would be scattered and shattered beyond repair. There would be so many dead bodies to bury they would run out of room to bury them. *** The priest, Pashhur, who in charge of the Temple heard what Jeremiah was saying and had him arrested, beat and put in stocks at the gate of the Temple. He was released the next day. *** Jeremiah told Pashhur that the Lord had changed his name to “The Man Who Lives in Terror”. God would send terror upon them and his friends and they will watch as they are slaughtered by the swords of the enemy. All their wealth will be taken to Babylon also. He and all his friends will die in Babylon and all will know that his prophecies about how everything was going to be all right will be proven false. *** Jeremiah goes through great internal conflict as he is persecuted for all his words. He feels like he has shamed his family and himself but can not keep the words the Lord gives him to himself. *** When Jeremiah’s prophecies began to come true and Babylon came and attacked Judah, King Zedekiah sent Pashhur to him to ask him what God was saying. Amazing how conflict and fear brings humility. They were hoping for God to deliver them. *** No such luck. Jeremiah told them that their weapons would be useless against the Babylonians and when they fought, they would be fighting against God. King Zedekiah and his staff would be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar and everyone would die of disease, war or famine. There would be no mercy. *** The only hope they would have would be to the ones who surrendered and let them take them to Babylon. They would live while Jerusalem would be reduced to ashes. *** He told the royal family to begin giving justice to the people and help the oppressed. This will help them when they are judged. *** Paul warned his people of judgment also. One day the Lord would come like a thief to the world. It will not be that way for those who are children of the day. They will be protected by their faith. God is not coming to judge the righteous, but the wicked. *** We are to live lives of diligence, love for one another and peace. We are to be bold and tenderly care for those who are weak. We are not to make fun of or treat lightly prophets or their words. We are to avoid all and every kind of evil. *** Lord, may your peace make us holy in every way and may our whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless until Jesus Christ comes again.