Thursday, March 6, 2014

Ignoring God's Warnings PT-V (Jeremiah 13:17-20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/6/2014 9:14 AM
My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  Ignoring God’s Warnings PT-V
Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 13:17-20
            Message of the verses:  We are looking at the fifth sub-point from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary and the thing that we are looking at is the fifth vivid image that will depict the judgment that will fall upon Judah.
The Captive Flock (Jeremiah 13:17-20):  “17 But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for such pride; And my eyes will bitterly weep And flow down with tears, Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive. 18 Say to the king and the queen mother, "Take a lowly seat, For your beautiful crown Has come down from your head." 19 The cities of the Negev have been locked up, And there is no one to open them; All Judah has been carried into exile, Wholly carried into exile. 20 “Lift up your eyes and see Those coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, Your beautiful sheep?”  (NASB)
            17  And if you still refuse to listen,  I will weep alone because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock will be led away into exile. 18 Say to the king and his mother, “Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns  will soon be snatched from your heads.’’  19 The towns of the Negev will close their gates, and no one will be able to open them. The people of Judah will be taken away as captives.  All will be carried into exile. 20 Open up your eyes and see the armies marching down from the north! Where is your flock- your beautiful flock- that he gave you to care for?”  (NLT)
            8 ¶ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. 13  He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, just as the LORD had said. 14 Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. 15 So he led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the men of valor, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all strong and fit for war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon. 17 Then the king of Babylon made his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For through the anger of the LORD this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon (2Kings 24:8-20).”
            The portion of Scripture from 2 Kings 24:8-20 was a fulfillment of what Jeremiah was telling the people of Judah before it actually happened to them, showing that Jeremiah was a true prophet of God.  We see again the tears of Jeremiah as he saw what was going to happen to Judah before it happened.  Jeremiah was the weeping prophet and there was no shame in his weeping for the people of Judah for he would have good company as the Lord Jesus Christ would weep over the people of Jerusalem in the future:  41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43 “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation’ (Luke 19:41-44).”   The things that Jesus told would happen to the people and the city happened in 70 AD as Titus and the Roman Legions came into the city and destroyed it.  Titus did not want to destroy the beautiful temple, but there was gold between the stones and the only way to get it out was to take it apart and destroy it.  Daniel prophesized that this would happen for in the 9th chapter of Daniel the prophecy was given as we looked at when we studied the book of Daniel.  Daniel set up what we can call a great stop watch with a total of 490 years on it.  The clock began ticking as seen in Nehemiah chapter two when Nehemiah was given permission to go and rebuild the city and the sanctuary in Jerusalem and 173,880 days later, which was 383 years later Jesus came into the city riding on a colt of a donkey telling the people after He wept over them and the city that because they rejected Him the city would be destroyed.  It happened as I mentioned and the stop clock stopped and will begin again when antichrist makes a covenant with Israel for seven years which will begin the tribulation period ending with the return of Jesus Christ to planet earth to set up a 1000 year kingdom.  Moses also spoke of this dispersion of the Jews in Deuteronomy 28 and said that they would offer themselves as slaves but no one would buy them.  This also happened just as Moses said it would and the reason it happened was because the salve market was overflowing and so the Jews could not even be bought as slaves just as Moses said.
            Dr. Wiersbe quotes Proverbs 16:18 which says “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”  This was true of proud Judah as she listened to the false prophets and the priest who were corrupt. 
            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  My memory verses have to do with being humble, and the example of humility is from the Lord Jesus Christ.  I desire to be humble and not proud for all that I have both in the physical and also in the spiritual was given to me by the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to work on memorizing Philippians 2:5-8 and pray that I will put it into practice.
Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-8
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, 7 but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-slave, and being made in the likeness of men.  8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Paul” (Acts 27:1).
Today’s Bible Question:  “Which New Testament book is composed almost entirely of prophecies of the future?”
Answer in our next SD.

3/6/2014 9:53 AM

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