Being God’s Covenant people offers no escape from Judgment (Jeremiah 9:7-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/21/2014 10:09 AM

My Worship Time      Focus: Being God’s Covenant people offers no escape from Judgment

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Jer. 9:7-16

            Message of the verses:  We will look at the second sub-point from the third main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s outline in today’s SD.

            Being God’s Covenant people offers no escape from Judgment (Jeremiah 9:7-16):  “7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I will refine them and assay (test or examine) them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? 8 “Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. 9 “Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? 10  "For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone. 11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."  12 Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 The LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14  but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them," 15  therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16 “I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.’”

            As we read through this section of Scripture we can see why Dr. Wiersbe entitled it what he did, for God would not stop from judging His people just because they were His covenant people, and this surely surprised many of the people who believed the lies of the false prophets saying that God would never judge Israel because they our His covenant people.  In fact it was because they were His covenant people that God should expect more out of them for they were given greater advantages because of their position they were given.  After all God called them out of Egypt and gave them the Law and gave them the land they were living in.  He spoke to them through His prophets and they had His Word to read, so yes, they were actually more accountable to the Lord that other nations or peoples.  Jesus says in Luke 12:48 “but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

            I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that my job for 35 years was melting iron in a very large foundry, working for a large car manufacture and when I look at verses like Jeremiah 9:7 it takes me back to the days that I melted iron to make, among other things, engine blocks.  We would take old scrap iron, among other things, and put it into a cupola, which is what we used to re-melt the iron, making it into cast iron.  Jeremiah says that God is going to do similar things to Judah, and we know when this process is finally over that they will come out refined and usable by the Lord.  In my opinion I don’t think that this process will be over until the last part of the tribulation period when Paul writes “All Israel will be saved.” 

            As we read through these verses we see more weeping but this time it seems to be more for the land and the animals, as the cities will now be vacant as the people will go into captivity.  God had given this land to the children of Israel and they were suppose to drive out those who worshiped idols, but they failed to do this and became more like these idol worshipers than worshipers of Jehovah. 

            Dr. Wiersbe finishes his commentary on this section by writing “Why would the land of ‘milk and honey’ become a barren wilderness?  Because the people disobeyed God’s law and turned to idols.  They thought their favored status before the Lord would protect them from judgment.”  We know from history that it did not.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to go back to the verse in the book of Luke that tells me that because much has been given to me by the Lord, much is required of me. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remember that the successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-6

5 Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Cooper, silver, and gold.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What contest did Elijah propose to the prophets of Baal?”

Answer in our next SD

2/21/2014 10:39 AM