Ezekiel 17:16 – “As I live, declares the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die.” When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Judah and Jerusalem, he had to deal with a rebellious people. Eventually, he placed Zedekiah on the throne of Judah. But Zedekiah wasn’t an independent king. He was a king under Babylon’s authority. When Nebuchadnezzar put Zedekiah on the throne, he made him swear an oath that he would remain faithful to Babylon and keep the agreement they had made. But there was a problem. Zedekiah’s character. He was part of a nation that had already demonstrated over and over again that they were unwilling to keep their covenant with God. And if a person ... Read More about Your Character is Showing
Who Is Really Calling the Shots?
Ezekiel 6:14b – “…then they will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel was one of the priests taken to Babylon when Judah was conquered the first time. That would have been difficult enough for anyone. But after living in a foreign land for a while, God called Ezekiel to be a prophet to His people who were living in captivity. And God had a message He desperately wanted them to hear. The problem was, they weren’t listening. So God had Ezekiel do some of the strangest things imaginable to get their attention. These weren’t just bizarre acts. They were living object lessons designed to pierce the hearts of people who had become spiritually deaf. God gave Ezekiel His words and told him to preach hard messages to the Jews in Babylon. He had Ezekiel build a miniature model of Jerusalem and ... Read More about Who Is Really Calling the Shots?
Hope Begins When You Remember
Lamentations 3:19-24 – “Remember my afflictions and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” Jeremiah spent his entire adult life being used by God to attempt to get the people in Judea and particularly living in Jerusalem to repent of their idolatry and wickedness and turn back to God. Though they rebelled against Him, God still loved Israel and tried every way possible to reach their hearts and save them from the horrible punishment that awaited them. But their ... Read More about Hope Begins When You Remember
They Walked Away. God Stayed.
Jeremiah 44:1a – “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt…” For me, Jeremiah chapter 44 has to be one of the saddest chapters in the Bible. God called Jeremiah, as a young man, to dedicate his life to speaking the word of God to the people of Israel, and after all these years and God’s faithful pleading, the people have rejected God. It’s horrible where that rejection has brought them. Their entire country is destroyed and is basically rubble. Their kings and all the royals and nobles are either dead or slaves in a foreign land. Their homes, farms, livestock, vineyards, and orchards are destroyed and given to others. The Great Temple of God is destroyed and burned. And these last remaining Jews have rejected God’s will and run ... Read More about They Walked Away. God Stayed.
Buy the Field
Jeremiah 32:15 – “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” This odd prophecy comes in the middle of an extremely stressful time for Jeremiah and the remaining kingdom of Judah. The most powerful army in the world is surrounding and besieging Jerusalem and the situation is getting desperate. Jeremiah himself is imprisoned in the guard house of the palace because he dared to tell the king and the people that their sins had brought all of this death and destruction on them, and that it was going to get worse. In the middle of this apocalyptic scenario God sends word to Jeremiah in jail that his nephew is coming to the prison to ask Jeremiah to buy his field, which even if he could get out of jail, he couldn’t ... Read More about Buy the Field
When God Tests You, What Will He Find?
Jeremiah 20: 12a - ”O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind…” Jeremiah is having a hard day. Actually, he is having a hard life. God has called him to prophecy to his wicked nation, and they not only have rejected the word of the Lord, but they are ready to kill God’s messenger as well. As Jeremiah is about to ask God to bring vengeance on those who have made Jeremiah’s life so miserable, he begins by reminding himself of a pertinent truth about God’s nature. First, God is the Lord. He rules over all people and all circumstances. Next, He is the Lord of hosts, i.e. the commander of heavens armies. God has the power to do whatever He wants. Thirdly, it is God’s nature to test the righteous. God wants to know if the people who claim to serve and ... Read More about When God Tests You, What Will He Find?