Read: Jeremiah 42:1-44:23; 2 Timothy 2:1-21; Psalm 92:1-93:5; Proverbs 26:3-5
How long will God put up with these people? This is the remnant who were left in their land. Gedaliah has been murdered along with the military presence of Babylon so their leaders were their own people.
They came to Jeremiah asking him to beg for God’s mercy and tell them what they should do. They promised that they would do whatever the Lord said. After ten days, the word came to Jeremiah and he gave it to the people. If they would remain in the land, God would build them up and protect them against the king of Babylon. He would give them mercy but, if they disobey his voice and go to Egypt then the very thing they feared would come upon them. The king of Babylon would come and either take them captive or kill them.
When Jeremiah finished speaking the insolent men told Jeremiah he was a liar and God did not tell him that they shouldn’t go to Egypt. They accused Jeremiah of being a traitor who wanted them to stay there and be killed by the king of Babylon. So they took everyone to Egypt including Jeremiah.
As soon as they got to Tahpanhes in Egypt God told Jeremiah to take some large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement by the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace and tell his people that He would send Nebuchadnezzar to set his throne above these stone he had hidden. He would come and destroy this city with its temples to its gods and take captive those who were destined to captivity and kill those destined to die.
Later, Jeremiah received another word to the Judean’s living in Egypt. He reminded them of the destruction of Jerusalem and told them it was coming to their cities in Egypt. He told them to put away their false gods that they were serving and return to their God who could save them. They refused, saying that these were the gods they worshiped in Jerusalem when everything was going well for them and when they stopped serving them, everything went bad. Jeremiah explained that it was because they worshiped these false gods that everything went bad.
They blamed God for their own sins. We see this in our lives. People blame God because they got sick or they are facing a bad circumstance when it was their own sins or an attack by the enemy that caused the problem, not God. No one wants to take responsibility for their own sins or put the blame on the devil. God is so merciful, all we have to do is repent and God will deliver us out of our troubles.
In Timothy, Paul encouraged Timothy to entrust the truth to those who will faithfully spread it to others. Paul told Timothy that as God’s servants we are to be like good soldiers who are only interested in doing the will of our leader. And we are to be like an athlete who can only win if he obeys the rules of the contest. We are to be like the hard-working farmer who is entitled to eat the fruits of his labor.
Even though Paul was in chains, the word of God is not bound up. Even though we are restricted because of finances or family obligations, or our circumstances, God’s word is still alive and at work. When we release it through prayer and our devotion to God, it can move mountains.
Lord, may we rightly handle your word and may our lives be examples of holiness as we honor You in everything we do.
No comments:
Post a Comment