The Jewish Remnant: Doomed Idolaters PT-1 (Jeremiah 44:1-14)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/31/2014 11:06 PM

My Worship Time                                      Focus:  The Jewish Remnant:  Doomed Idolaters PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 44:1-14

            Message of the verses:  We will look at the first sub-point from this last main point from the eleventh chapter of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of Jeremiah.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following at the beginning of his commentary on this section:  “This is Jeremiah’s last recorded message to his people, given in Egypt probably in the year 580 B. C.  If he was called by God in 626, the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign (1:2), then he had been ministering forty-six years.  You can’t help admiring Jeremiah for his faithfulness in spite of all the discouragements that had come to his life.” 

            A seathing indictment (Jeremiah 44:1-14):  “1 The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the land of Pathros, saying, 2  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ’You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them, 3  because of their wickedness which they committed so as to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. 4 ’Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, "Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate." 5 ’But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods. 6  ’Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a desolation as it is this day. 7  ’Now then thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, "Why are you doing great harm to yourselves, so as to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant, 8  provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, burning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to reside, so that you might be cut off and become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9  "Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 “But they have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers."’ 11 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ’Behold, I am going to set My face against you for woe, even to cut off all Judah. 12  ’And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their mind on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach. 13 ’And I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine and with pestilence. 14  ’So there will be no refugees or survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are longing to return and live; for none will return except a few refugees.’"”

            What I am going to write is something that I will not contribute my opinion on, but only state what happened to the Jews who had left Jerusalem to go to Egypt.  God had just judged the nation of Judah because they had worshiped idols and sacrificed burnt offerings to these idols which goes against the attribute of the selfishness of God.  God said the following to the children of Israel in what is called the Ten Commandments:  “3  "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4  "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5  "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6  but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20:2-6).”  This is the very first of the Ten Commandments so we can believe that this was very important to the Lord since He made it the first of these Ten Commandments.

            All of these people who went to Egypt from Jerusalem had already been through a very difficult war and most of them had moved out of the area in order not to be caught up in this war, but none the less had had a difficult time because of the war.  Now Jeremiah had told them not to go to Egypt, something that they had asked him to go to the Lord in prayer to find out if God wanted them to stay or go.  The answer from the Lord was to stay and He would care for them, but they told Jeremiah that he was lying and that the Lord wanted them to go to Egypt.  This of course was wrong and it was not a lie from Jeremiah and so they went to Egypt.  Jeremiah traveled with them and the Lord saw that they not only disobeyed Him by going to Egypt, but they still worshiped idols in Egypt of which they had many to choose from.  Now the Lord was about to send the same people who destroyed Jerusalem to destroy Egypt and so they went from the frying pan into the fire and most of them would lose their lives because of their disobedience of the Lord’s command to them.  Jeremiah earlier had said that this remnant was bad figs that nobody could eat and this is surely coming true.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can see not only God’s wrath, selfishness in this section, but also His longsuffering and so these are three attributes that I can see that belong to the Lord.  I am thankful for the Lord’s long-suffering and desire to live for Him, but sometimes I fall prey to the old nature and have to seek the Lord forgiveness for these failures.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to obey the Lord’s commandments and to serve Him with all of my heart.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-3.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Chris is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you min on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Wars and rumors of war.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died.”

Answer in our next SD.

7/31/2014 11:39 PM

Johanan: a Hypocritical Leader PT-4-5 (Jeremiah 43:1-13)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2014 8:30 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus: Johanan: a Hypocritical Leader PT-4-5

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Jeremiah 43:1-13

            Message of the verses:  I am not sure exactly how far we will get in today’s SD, but we will begin with the first seven verses of chapter 43 of Jeremiah.

            The Arrogant Rebellion (Jeremiah 43:1-7):  “1 But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the LORD their God had sent, had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God-that is, all these words- 2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are telling a lie! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ’You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’; 3  but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon." 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been driven away, in order to reside in the land of Judah- 6  the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah- 7  and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the LORD) and went in as far as Tahpanhes.”

            When we read that Johanan told Jeremiah that he was telling them a lie, that they were suppose to stay in the land of Judah and not go to Egypt what we see is that Johanan was calling the Lord a lire, and not just Jeremiah for Jeremiah was a true prophet of the Lords.  We have to give credit to the Jews who became scribes who copied the books of the Bible to include the accurate books and not include the books that may have been written or at least words spoken from false prophets.  The test of a true prophet of the Lord was that he made not one mistake in what he said, for if he made one mistake and what he said did not come true then the children of Israel were to make a rock pile out of him with his dead body at the bottom of the rock pile.  Being a prophet of God was a very serious thing and Jeremiah was a true prophet of God, for all of the things that the Lord told him came true.  We have said that Jeremiah was the “weeping prophet” and so these words must have hurt Jeremiah very much and probably broke his heart.  It is like a preacher today who tells a young lady not to marry that unbelieving man, but she says that she will be used of God to convert this man to Christ, but a few years later she finds out that she should have listened to the wise preacher as her life was not a big mess.  This wise preacher would not boast about the advice he gave her by telling her “see I told you so,” but his heart would be broken at the wasted life that this girl was not living, knowing it could have been better if she would have listened to the Word of God that he spoke to her, Jeremiah probably felt the same way. 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Johanan even accused Baruch of influencing Jeremiah, although it’s difficult to understand what kind of special power Baruch could possibly have had over this courageous prophet.  But they had to blame somebody.

            ‘”So they came into the land of Egypt’ (43:7).  Once again God’s people walked by sight and not by faith.”

            The Timely warning (Jeremiah 43:8-13):  “8  Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9  "Take some large stones in your hands and hide them in the mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of some of the Jews; 10  and say to them, ’Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I am going to send and get Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I am going to set his throne right over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his canopy over them. 11 "He will also come and strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword. 12 “And I shall set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive, so he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely. 13 “He will also shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire."’"

            I first want to quote John Gill again as we have used his commentary on certain verses while studying Jeremiah, and this time I want to look at his commentary on the first part of verse thirteen.  Now he used the KJV of the Bible and so it will be a bit different, but we will still be able to understand it.  “Ver. 13. He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that [is] in the land of Egypt, &c.] Or, "of Heliopolis," as the Septuagint; the "city of the sun"; and so "Bethshemesh" here signifies the "house of the sun"; either it designs the temple of the sun, or the city where it was worshipped; as Heliopolis was famous for the worship of the sun, and for a magnificent temple in it, built for that purpose, and where abundance of persons resorted on that account, as Herodotus {l} observes; here were many images of the sun; and these now should be broke to pieces, when this city should become the city of destruction, as is foretold it should by Isaiah, #Isa 19:18; where the Targum expressly calls it the city Bethshemesh, that is to be destroyed; see Gill on "Isa 19:18". This is the same city that was formerly called On, and had a priest in Joseph’s time, #Ge 41:45.”  I have a “problem” when I am in a doctor’s office of in an office waiting to be seen and I pick up a magazine and it seems I always start from the back and go forward which is what I am doing taking the last verse in this section first and then moving to the front.

            Dr. Wiersbe has been telling us about “action sermons” that Jeremiah has made throughout his book and this is the last of those action sermons as he takes some rocks and puts them on the wall around at the city of Tahpanhes, well actually around the temple that is there, and then he speaks about what he has done in order to make his point, the point that God had given to them, and this would fulfill some of what he had already spoken, or at least reinforce what he had said earlier in the chapter.  What he added was who it was that was going to destroy this temple and other parts of Egypt as it would be God’s servant Nebuchadnezzar who would accomplish this for the Lord, however this time he would be destroying a heathen temple instead of the temple of God, but God’s temple had been made into a heathen temple by the Jews who lived in Jerusalem as seen from the book of Ezekiel.

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes “His victory would be so easy that it would be like a shepherd wrapping his garment around himself!  And yet these are the very gods that the Jews would worship in Egypt, gods destined to be destroyed!”

            We have two more main points to look at from Dr. Wiersbe’s outline and then it should be early in August and I have made up my mind to look at the entire fifth chapter of the other book we have been studying, that is 1 Thessalonians, and the fifth chapter has much in it to look at and that is why I want to take the time to go through all of it, and then we will return to the book of Jeremiah in September, God willing.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Warren Wiersbe wrote that the Jews once again were walking by sight and not by faith, and that is an easy thing to do at times.  When we go against the Word of God we are then walking by sight and not by faith.  I know that there are grey areas in our lives when we can’t go to chapter and verse to find out what to do, but when we can find chapter and verse to tell us what to do and not do it, then we are being like those Jews who were told to stay because God was going to destroy Egypt and did not want them there, but they chose not to listen to the Word of God.  I want to walk by faith and not by sight.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to give me the courage to take care of a few problems that I am exercising!

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-3.

1 Therefore if we have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your minds on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “By bearing one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “According to Matthew 24:6, what will come to pass, but the end is not yet?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/30/2014 9:20 AM   

 

 

Johanan: a Hypocritical Leader PT-2 (Jer. 42:7-22)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/29/2014 10:07 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: Johanan: a Hypocritical Leader PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Jeremiah 42:7-22

            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the second of three sub-points in our Spiritual Diary today.

            The Divine Answer (Jeremiah 42:7-22):  “7 Now at the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. 8  Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great, 9  and said to them, "Thus says the LORD the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: 10  ’If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you. 11  ’Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the LORD, ’for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand. 12 ’I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil. 13 ’But if you are going to say, "We will not stay in this land," so as not to listen to the voice of the LORD your God, 14 saying, "No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there"; 15 then in that case listen to the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "If you really set your mind to enter Egypt and go in to reside there, 16 then the sword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. 17  "So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence; and they will have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them."’" 18 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "As My anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach; and you will see this place no more." 19 The LORD has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, "Do not go into Egypt!" You should clearly understand that today I have testified against you. 20 For you have only deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the LORD your God, saying, "Pray for us to the LORD our God; and whatever the LORD our God says, tell us so, and we will do it." 21 So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the LORD your God, even in whatever He has sent me to tell you. 22 Therefore you should now clearly understand that you will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence, in the place where you wish to go to reside.”

            When the fighting was going on in Jerusalem and the other cities in Judah some of the people moved to other countries in order to avoid the fighting, and now that it was over they came back to the land of Judah and this is where most of these people that we are reading about came from.  There was no problem with them returning to Judah, for God had told them to stay in the land and He would care for them, but as we learned the man that the Babylonians put in charge of this remnant was killed and then the people who did the killing were run out of town by Johanan which was a good thing, but he turned out to be a bad leader and wants to move this remnant out of Judah and take them to Egypt.  He came to Jeremiah and asked him to pray about this and in our Scripture verses for today we see that the answer came from the Lord for them to stay in Judah and God would surely care for them, which is what God had been telling the Jews for a long time, but these people were afraid because of the killings that had been going on, thinking that the Babylonians would kill them because of the murders that had taken place.  God said He would care for them, and actually tells them that He knows that they will leave and go to Egypt where they will all be killed.  In our next SD we will learn that God is sending Nebuchadnezzar to Egypt to attack and destroy them which is where these Jews wanted to go. 

            I want to focus in on verse ten for a moment and look at the word “relent.”  “’If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you.”  John Gill writes “not that he had done any unjust thing to them; or that he changed his mind concerning them; but that he had compassion on them, and would change his way and course of providence towards them, according to his unchangeable will.”  We have gone over this word in earlier SD’s but it was there so I thought that I go over it again.  One of the attributes of God is that He is immutable, He cannot change His mind, and it kind of sounds like He does change His mind in this verse and others similar to this verse, but as John Gill states He did not change His mind.

            Why do you suppose that the Lord kept them waiting for ten days?  Perhaps He wanted them to think about this decision, and perhaps He wanted them to see that He was caring for them during these ten days, after all one would think that if the Babylonians were going to do something about those murders they would do it right away, but they did nothing because God would not allow them to do anything.  God is in control. 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes that there are three parts to the answer that God gave to them, and the first one was a promises as seen in verses 7-12, and the second part was a warning which comes from verses 13-18, and then the last part is an exposure of their hearts which is found in verses 19-22.

            Part one:  God promised that if they would stay in the land that He would care and build them up.  God was in charge of the Babylonians along with everything else, so His promise was true.

            Part two:  It seems that when Abraham went to Egypt to avoid a famine which was something that the Lord did not tell him to do and this was followed by his son doing the same thing that many other times the children of Israel went to Egypt showing a lack of faith in the Lord.  This time was no difference.  When God destroyed Egypt before the Exodus and took Israel out of there some of them still wanted to go back when times got hard.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “God knew that Nebuchadnezzar would enter Egypt and punish the land, which he did in 568-567 B. C. (See Jeremiah 46:13-19),”

            Part Three:  Jeremiah knew that these people were trying to deceive not only him, but the Lord, for they never wanted to stay in Judah, and always wanted to go to Egypt, and just wanted God to tell them to go, but He would not. 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “This event is a warning to us not to be insincere as we seek the will of God.  In my itinerant ministry, I’ve frequently met people who wanted my counsel, and when I asked them if they had talked with their own pastor, the answer was often ‘Well, no, but he really doesn’t’ know me or understand me.’  ‘But I’m a total stranger to you’ I’d reply.  ‘Yes, but you seem to understand things better.’  Flattery!  

            “My conviction is that these people have gone from one speaker to another, looking for somebody who will agree with what they already want to do.  When they find him, they’ll let their pastor know that a ‘man of God’ gave them wise counsel.  It’s the Johanan syndrome all over again.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have written many times in this slot of my SD that I want God to continue to teach me contentment, and one of the things that I am not content with is living where I am, but it seems that this is where God wants me and so I better stay here until the Lord desires for me to move to another place, as He may have some work for me to do here.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be content with where I am living.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-3.

1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Day” (Genesis 1:5).

Today’s Bible question:  “How may we fulfill the law of Christ?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/29/2014 10:48 AM   

Johanan: a Hypoctritical Leader PT-1 (Jer. 42:1-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/28/2014 8:24 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  Johanan: a Hypocritical Leader PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Jeremiah 42:1-6

            Message of the verses:  Because of the lateness of the day due to people coming to work on my cable system I will only do the first sub-point under this third main point for today’s SD.

            The insincere Request (Jeremiah 42:1-6):  “1 Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great approached 2  and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please let our petition come before you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, that is for all this remnant; because we are left but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us, 3  that the LORD your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do." 4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to the LORD your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which the LORD will answer you. I will not keep back a word from you." 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the LORD your God will send you to us. 6  "Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God."”

            I want to look at verse two and particular the words:  “to the LORD your God.”  Now I want to quote John Gill and what he has to say about them saying that the Lord was the God of Jeremiah:  “as if they were conscious of their own inability to pray for themselves, and of their unworthiness to call God their God; and as if they had a high opinion of, the prophet, as having an interest in God, and great power with him in prayer, whom he could not well deny anything.”  Now I want to look at verse six and the words “the LORD our God.”  We will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; this was well spoken, had they been sincere in it; and had they implored and depended on the grace of God to have enabled them to obey; but they spoke not in the uprightness of their hearts; and, did they, it was with too much confidence of their own strength, and the power of their free will:   that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God; they spoke as if they knew their own interest; for so it was, that it was well or ill with those people, as they obeyed or disobeyed the voice of the Lord; and yet they acted not according to it; and, what was worse still, did not intend it. What a wretched scene of hypocrisy is here!”  These two notes also come from the pen of John Gill.

            As we look at this passage from verses one through six we can see that the people had already made up their mind, which was that they were going to Egypt and wanted Jeremiah to check in with the Lord to see if this was His plan for them.  Now we must remember that God had been telling this small remnant to stay where they were, but they were afraid over what had just transpired, which was the killing of many men including the man that the Babylonians had put in charge of them along with some Babylonians too.  They were afraid that the Babylonians would come in and kill them over this incident.  However their faith was lacking not in the Lord, but in their own ability of making up their own minds.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says “5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (KJV).”  The highlighted word “delight” is the same word that is used when Hezekiah had brought water into the city of Jerusalem and directed the path in which the water should flow.  God will do the directing in our lives in the same way if we ask and trust Him.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “They had their minds already made up to go to Egypt, and they were hoping Jeremiah would agree with them.  Sometimes God’s people take this false approach in discerning the will of God.  Instead of honestly seeking God’s will, they go from counselor to counselor, asking for advice and hoping they’ll find somebody who will agree with their hidden agenda.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Proverbs 3:5-6.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to do a better job in trusting the Lord, and that means that I want to read more and watch less TV so that I can learn and grow up in the Lord more.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-3.

1 Therefore if we are raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Our God” (Matthew 24:36).

Today’s Bible question:  “What did God call the light?” 

Answer in our next SD.

7/28/2014 12:11 PM

Ishmael, a Deceitful Traitor PT-3 (Jeremiah 41:1-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2014 8:56 PM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Ishmael, a Deceitful Traitor PT-3

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Jeremiah 41:1-18

            Message of the verses:  We are going to look at the last sub-point from this second main point in Warren Wiersbe’s outline from his 11^th  chapter of his commentary on the book of Jeremiah in today’s SD.

            The deceitful murderer (Jeremiah 41:1-18): “1 In the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they were eating bread together there in Mizpah, 2  Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. 4  Now it happened on the next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, 5  that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the LORD. 6 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!" 7 Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him slaughtered them and cast them into the cistern. 8 But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, "Do not put us to death; for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil and honey hidden in the field." So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions. 9 Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedaliah, it was the one that King Asa had made on account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of Ammon.

    “11 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. 12 So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the great pool that is in Gibeon. 13 Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon. 16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were soldiers, the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17 And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.”

            We can be pretty sure that none of this tragedy would have happened if Gedaliah would have listened to the counsel that he was given about Ishmael going to kill him.  However we can see the kind of man that Ishmael was for he did his killing at the table where they were breaking bread.  This was something that should not have happened in the Middle East at this time for eating at a person’s residence was suppose to be a time of fellowship.  Dr. Wiersbe writes this about Ishmael:  “He was a cunning and ruthless man who would stop at nothing to get his own way.” 

            Now in verse five we see something about the 80 men who came to worship the Lord by offering sacrifices to the Lord “in the house of the Lord.”  The following is part of a note from John Gill’s commentary on the statement about going to the house of the Lord:  “to bring [them] to the house of the Lord; but the temple was now destroyed; wherefore either they thought there was a tabernacle or sanctuary erected at Mizpah for divine service and sacrifice; or they intended to offer these offerings on the spot where the temple of Jerusalem stood; and where they hoped to find an altar, if only of earth, and priests to sacrifice; though the Jewish commentators, Jarchi and Kimchi, observe, that when they first set out, they had not heard of the destruction of the temple, but heard of it in the way; and therefore came in a mourning habit; but before knew nothing of it; and therefore brought offerings with them, according to the former; but, according to the latter, they had heard before they set out of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the people; but not of the burning of the temple, until they were on their journey.”

            Now we learn more about Ishmael when he comes out weeping as seen in verse six.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “To his terrible breach of hospitality he added hypocrisy, weeping before the eight Jewish pilgrims who had come to worship, and then killing seventy of them.”

            Next we see the bravery of Johanan as he had heard about all the killing and the kidnapping so he gathers men and rescues those who had been kidnapped, but failed in killing Ishmael in the process. However after doing this brave thing he fails to trust the Lord and fails to trust the words of Jeremiah which came from the Lord by wanting to run off to Egypt.  We will see more about this in the chapters ahead, and tradition says that Jeremiah was killed in Egypt by the Jews he went there with.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In life it is hard to trust the Lord over certain things, things like being afraid of what could happen to you if you stand up to doing what the Lord teaches us in His Word.  When we look at the words “testing and temptation” they are the same in the Greek, however we must learn that God never tempts, but He does test, and Satan always tempts us.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord when He tests me.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-3.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Rebekah” (Genesis 24:1-67).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who knows when the rapture will occur?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/27/2014 9:33 PM

Ishmael, A Deceitful Traitor PTs 1-2 (Jermiah 40:7-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/26/2014 10:11 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Ishmael, a Deceitful Traitor Parts 1-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Jeremiah 40:7-16

            Message of the verses:  In yesterday’s SD I mentioned through a quote from Warren Wiersbe that we would be looking at a number of men who would be part of a drama which is covered in chapters 40-45 of Jeremiah, and we looked at Jeremiah in that SD.  Today we will begin and even perhaps finish looking at Ishmael who is a traitor and also a murder.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes at the beginning of his commentary on this section:  “When the good news got out that Gedaliah was in charge of affairs in Judah, the people who fled and hidden because of the siege began to come back to the land (Jer. 40:7, 11-12).  Gedaliah was a good man from a good family, although events proved that he was very naïve about practical politics.”

            The Faithful Governor (Jeremiah 40:7-12):  “7 Now all the commanders of the forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. 8 So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, both they and their men. 9 Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, "Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon that it may go well with you. 10  "Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, gather in wine and summer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken over." 11  Likewise, also all the Jews who were in Moab and among the sons of Ammon and in Edom and who were in all the other countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. 12 Then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven away and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance.”

            God blessed those who had stayed in Judah, for they were very fortunate to still be alive because many kingdoms would have killed all of those people whom they had captured, but God blessed his people in that there was appointed a governor who treated them well, but as we will learn and actually have seen he was naïve.  Jeremiah had told the people who were living in Jerusalem and Judah that if they would have given up to the Babylonians and served the king of Babylon that the city and the temple would not have been destroyed, and now that the people did not listen to Jeremiah the city and the temple were destroyed.  Now we see Gedaliah tell them the same thing and people from other lands who were Jews began to come back to the Land.  Jeremiah also told the people who had been taken to Babylon to do the same thing that is build houses and settle down into the place where God had sent them and to serve the king.

            The Concerned Captain (Jeremiah 40:13-16 ):  “13  Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14  and said to him, "Are you well aware that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?" But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. 15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, "Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?" 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael."”

            It seems that I had missed a very important item in this section of Scripture as I had gone over it before and that is the king of the sons of Ammon was behind the plot to kill Gedaliah.  Ammon had been a long time enemy of Israel so it is not surprising that Satan would use the to bring disorder to those who stayed in Judah. 

            I think it best to quote Dr. Wiersbe to help us understand what was going on here.  “Why did Ishmael want to kill Gedaliah?  The fact that the king of the Ammonites had hired him (40:14) suggests that he was making money, but much more was involved.  The ammonites had been a part of the ‘summit conference’ in Jerusalem, where the nations allied with Judah had planned to break the Babylonian yoke (27:1-3).  As a friend of Zedekiah and the king of Ammon, Ishmael didn’t want to see the Jewish people submit to Nebuchadnezzar even after the war had ended.  He was a patriot who used his patriotism to promote his own selfish purposes.

            “Perhaps the key factor had to do with pride and selfish ambition.  Ishmael was a descendant of David through Elishama (41:1; 2 Samuel 5:16), and he no doubt felt that he should have been named ruler of the nation because of his royal blood.  Who was Gedaliah that he should take the place of a king?  The way the Babylonians had treated Ishmael’s relative, King Zedekiah, was no encouragement to submit to their authority.” 

            Gedaliah should have listened to Johanan about the threat, for it proved to be true, however he was right in not wanting him to kill Ishmael.  He should have gathered men who were faithful to him to guard him and certainly not allowed Ishmael to come near to him as he later did.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at what has unfolded in these verses there is one thing that comes out strong in my mind and that is that even though Ishmael was kin to David that did not give him the right to do what he did, for what he was doing was surely not in the will of God for God had told both Jeremiah and even perhaps Gedaliah that He wanted the people to submit to the king of Babylon.  A good ruler always has to realize that he is second in command, that is that God has appointed him and he should submit to the Lord. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I must always remember that God is in charge of things that go on, on planet earth, and that means in my life each day.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-2.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ Jesus, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth. 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Nineveh” (Jonah 3:4).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was brought from a far country by a servant of her future father-in-law?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/26/2014 10:52 AM  

Jeremiah the Faithful Shepherd (Jeremiah 40:1-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/25/2014 10:28 AM

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  Jeremiah the Faithful Shepherd

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 40:1-6

            Message of the verses:  We begin to look at the 40^th chapter of Jeremiah and also begin the 11^th chapter of Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Jeremiah.  He entitles this chapter “Tragedy Follows Tragedy,” and it covers chapters 40-45 of the book of Jeremiah.  We will first look at the introduction and then began to do the commentary on the first six verses of Jeremiah chapter 40.

            As we begin to look at these six chapters in the book of Jeremiah we are looking at the post war Judah, as the nation has already been beaten by the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar has allowed a remnant to stay in Judah.  Now he may have done this in order to feed his soldiers that were there, but as I read through this it seems to me that the leaders he left in charge were trying to do right for the people, but the problem was that the people did not learn from what they just went through, and that is that God had punished them because of their sins, mostly it was idolatry that God punished the for.  We must remember that one of the attributes of God is that He is a jealous God, and this jealously is not like the kind of jealousy that people have for others, but God is perfect and He wants His children to worship only Him and not an idol.  Now the idols that the Jewish people were worshiping during this time were idols of gold, silver, and wood that they had made, but the idols that the Church worships today in our society are different but they are still idols.  We worship what we see on TV, sports figures and teams, making a great deal of money, we worship sex; we worship many things that take our worship away from the Lord.  All people worship something, every minute of their lives, as worship is not just our singing of our songs to the Lord on Sunday morning and listening to a sermon, this type of worship should come from what we have worshiped throughout our week that we spent with the Lord looking at His Word and perhaps reading books that move our hearts towards the Lord, or even listening to sermons on the radio or on CD, but we must realize that worship is 24/7/365, and we must worship the true living God.

            As we look at these chapters we will realize that the bad thing about learning from history is that we don’t learn a bit from history as we continue to do the same things over and over and it is foolish to do this because the outcome is always going to be the same.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The drama was a tragic one with a cast of characters that is seen in every age.  The script of history may change a bit from time to time, but the characters are still the same.”  We will be looking at different characters in these six chapters and the first one is Jeremiah, the Faithful Shepherd as seen from the first six verses of chapter forty.

            “1 ¶  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. 2 Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, "The LORD your God promised this calamity against this place; 3 and the LORD has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the LORD and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. 4 “But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will look after you; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, never mind. Look, the whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go." 5 As Jeremiah was still not going back, he said, "Go on back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go." So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ration and a gift and let him go. 6 Then Jeremiah went to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.” 

We actually looked at these verses briefly as we concluded the last SD from chapter 39 of Jeremiah, and what we learned when we looked at these verses is that there was a mix up in that Jeremiah was being taken to Babylon when he was suppose to be released which is what we see in these verses, for he is given a choice as to whether to go to Babylon or to stay with those who were staying in Judah.  The town he is going to is a little ways north of Jerusalem.

Why do you suppose that Jeremiah did not go to Babylon, as it would have been better for his to do this?  Well the answer is in the heading of this section which tells that Jeremiah is a faithful shepherd, and that means he did not want to leave his sheep, even though these sheep were a troublesome flock as we will see as we look at these six chapters.

The Babylonian captain of the guard preached a pretty good sermon to Jeremiah, but this sermon was like preaching to the choir, as Jeremiah had been preaching this sermon all of his life as a prophet to the Jews to no avail.  One of the reasons it is hard to witness to Jews in our day is because they see a Gentile trying to tell them that their Messiah has already come and because they don’t believe this because they were the ones that God gave the Scriptures too, along with all the other things necessary to worship the Lord, so they won’t listen to those who come to tell them the truth.  Paul wrote the following to go along with what I have just written:  “1 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2  that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen (Romans 9:1-5).

Jeremiah chose to join Gedaliah who was the one that Nebuchadnezzar had appointed as the governor of the land of Judah, but the problem is that most of those who stayed would not be satisfied with just living in the land for they still wanted to disobey the Lord as we will see. 

Dr. Wiersbe writes in conclusion to this first main point:  “Jeremiah made difficult choices at the beginning and the end of his ministry.  It would have been much easier to serve as a priest, but he obeyed God’s call to be a prophet, and it would have been much more comfortable in Babylon, but he opted to remain in the land of his fathers.  Jeremiah was a true shepherd and not a hireling (see John 10:12-13).”  “"He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep (John 10:12-13).”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:   I have often thought that as I see the problems beginning to take their toll in our country that the best thing for me would be to either move to a different place where I could survive better in case things get really bad in this country, but it seems to me that God wants me right where I am, and this has always been a problem for me as I am not content living where I live, but perhaps that is how the Lord is teaching me contentment.  Jeremiah did the will of the Lord in staying with those troublesome people because it was the Lord’s will for his life and so I must do the same.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue on my journey of learning contentment.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-2.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right  hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The angel of the Lord” (Matthew 2:13).

Today’s Bible question:  “Jonah prophesied that what city would be overthrown?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/25/2014 11:21 AM

God's Word Fulfilled PT-3 (Jeremiah 39:11-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/24/2014 8:58 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  God’s Word Fulfilled PT-3

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Jeremiah 39:11-18

            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the last sub-point from the last main point in the tenth chapter of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of Jeremiah, which has three more chapters in it.  I have mentioned in many of my Spiritual Diaries that I do follow the “Be” series that Warren Wiersbe has written on each book of the Bible to help me to better understand what the Word of God has to say.  I have also mentioned from time to time that I love reading Wiersbe’s commentaries for it has been said of him that he puts the cookies on the shelf where one can reach them.  Now it looks like that we will do one more chapter in following his writing on Jeremiah which will cover six chapters in the book of Jeremiah which will take around twelve days to complete and then we will spend the rest of the month looking at the 5^th (the last) chapter of the book of 1 Thessalonians, a book that I have been following both Warren Wiersbe and John MacArthur, and hopefully we can complete that chapter by the end of August where we will then go back to the book of Jeremiah and also look at the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians. 

            God’s care for His servant (Jeremiah 39:11-14):  “11Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, 12  "Take him and look after him, and do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you." 13  So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris, and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; 14 they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.”

            First I want to mention that we will look briefly at the remaining four verses after we look briefly at these four verses that have to do with the welfare of Jeremiah after Jerusalem has fallen.

            Let us look at a few verses from the earlier part of the book of Jeremiah that show us that God had promised to care for him even through the Babylonian conflict:  “17  "Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. 18 “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. 19 “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD (Jeremiah 1:17-19).”  “20 “Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you," declares the LORD. 21 “So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent’ (Jeremiah 15:20-21).”  Now we have been looking at in this last section from Jeremiah how God’s Word was fulfilled, and this is another example of it being fulfilled in His care for Jeremiah.

            Dr. Wiersbe has this endnote on this section:  “The contradiction between Jeremiah 39:11-14 and 40:1-6 is only on the surface.  When the Babylonians entered the city, they released Jeremiah and took him under their protective custody.  He was free to move about and minister to the people.  Apparently through some blunder, he was taken captive with the prisoners going to Ramah, but when the mistake was discovered, he was released and allowed to do as he pleased.”  The following is Jeremiah 40:1-6 which will help us understand what Dr. Wiersbe has written about:  “1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. 2 Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, "The LORD your God promised this calamity against this place; 3 and the LORD has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the LORD and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. 4 “But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will look after you; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, never mind. Look, the whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go." 5 As Jeremiah was still not going back, he said, "Go on back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go." So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ration and a gift and let him go. 6 Then Jeremiah went to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.”

            Dr. Wiersbe closes this tenth chapter of his commentary with a quote from G. Campbell Morgan, which is from his commentary on Jeremiah.  “We in our security need to be reminded that for us also there may come the eleventh year, and the fourth month, and the tenth day of the month, when God will hurl us from our place of privilege, as He surely will, unless we are true to Him.”

            Now let us look at verses 15-18 of Jeremiah chapter 39:  “15  Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying, 16  "Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ’Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. 17 “But I will deliver you on that day," declares the LORD, "and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. 18 “For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me," declares the LORD.’"”

            We have meet Ebed-melech earlier as he was the man with great courage who went into see King Zedekiah and secured Jeremiah’s release from the well where he was left to die.  God surely remembered this man for his faithfulness and also because he knew the Lord and feared and trusted Him. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Ebed-melech is a man that is good to emulate as He loved the Lord and as he stood firm on his convictions and as he had the courage to follow out his convictions.  I have a great deal of respect for him and will one day when I am in heaven want to meet him to tell him how much I respect him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to give me the courage to do as He desires me to do.  Yesterday I had the great opportunity to speak to a man about the Lord.  I prayed to the Lord and told Him that if He opened a way for me to talk to him that I would do so, and I must admit that I also told the Lord that I did not really feel like doing it as I was under some stress, but I was faithful to the Lord as He opened up a way to talk to him and I pray that the Lord will no bring this man to our church where I can continue to minister to him.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-2.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “By our fruits.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee to Egypt’?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/24/2014 9:42 AM