SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/23/2014 8:25 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
God Discloses the Fate of the Kings
PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah
22:1-9
Message of the
verses: I first of all want to go
back to the last part of the introductory comments that Dr. Wiersbe uses in his
commentary at the beginning of this seventh chapter of his book. He writes:
“In these pivotal chapters (21-24) Jeremiah delivered four important messages
to the leaders and to the people.” We
are beginning today to look at the second part of these four important messages
given to the people and leaders of Judah.
As we begin looking at this second main point we must
understand who the kings were after the 31 year reign of the godly king
Josiah. Three of these kings were his
sons and one his grandson, but all were very wicked kings. Think about this for a moment: How would you like to have your story told in
the pages of Scripture when all you did were wicked things and now the world
can read about you and the wicked things that you have done. Now think about this: At the end of the age, after the remaining
years or months or weeks or days we have left before the tribulation period
begins, and then after that the 1000 year reign of Christ on planet earth there
will be a great white throne judgment as described in the book of
Revelation. It says the following about
this judgment: “11 Then I saw a great
white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled
away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the
small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the
book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in
the books, according to their deeds (Rev. 20:11-12).” What were in these books
that were opened? It is believed that
what was contained in these books were the deeds that people did while they
were on planet earth. Now remember that
those who come before this judgment are all unbelievers and as they stand
before the Lord they will see that they missed the boat so to speak as far as
realizing while they were on planet earth the need to accept the Lord Jesus
Christ as their Savior and Lord. They
did not realize that they needed a Substitute to take their place, which is
what Jesus Christ did on the cross as He took on the sins of sinners so that
they could become saints before the Lord.
These unbelievers will understand that their so called “righteous deeds”
were not what God required of them so that they could enter into heaven, and it
will be as bad off for them as those who have their names written in the pages
of Scriptures who were wicked like the kings that we are about to describe.
“Jehoahaz, or
Shallum, succeeded Josiah and reigned only three months (Jer. 22:10-12; 2 Kings
23:30-33). Pharaoh Necho deported him to
Egypt, where he died.
“Jehoiakim, also
called Eliakim, reigned for eleven years (Jer. 22:13-23); 2 Kings 23:24-24:6)
and died in Jerusalem. He was followed
by his son Jehoiachin, also called
Jeconiah and Coniah, whose reign lasted only three months (Jer. 22:24-30; 2
Kings 24:6-12). Nebuchadnezzar took him
to Babylon where eventually he died.
“The last king of Judah was Zedekiah, who reigned eleven years and saw the kingdom and the holy
city destroyed by Babylon (Jer. 22:1-9; 2 Kings 24:17-25:21). He was blinded and taken to Babylon to
die. As Kipling wrote, ‘The captains’
and the kings depart.’
“Jeremiah disclosed the truth about those four kings, but
then he made a promise about Messiah—the Righteous Branch (King) who would one
day reign and execute justice in the land.”
Zedekiah—callousness (Jer. 22:1-9): “1 Thus says the LORD, "Go down to the house
of the king of Judah, and there speak this word 2 and say, ’Hear the word of the LORD, O king
of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who
enter these gates. 3 ’Thus
says the LORD, "Do
justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from
the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the
stranger, the orphan,
or the widow; and
do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4 “For if you men will indeed perform
this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s
place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself
and his servants and his people. 5
"But if
you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself," declares the LORD,
"that this house will become a desolation."’" 6 For thus says
the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: "You are like Gilead
to Me, Like the summit of Lebanon; Yet most assuredly I will make you like a
wilderness, Like cities which are not inhabited. 7 “For I will set apart
destroyers against you, Each with his weapons; And they will cut down your
choicest cedars And throw them on the fire. 8 “Many nations will pass by this
city; and they will say to one another, ’Why has the LORD done thus to this
great city?’ 9 “Then they will answer, ’Because they forsook the covenant of
the LORD their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’"”
I have highlighted several parts in this section and the
words “do justice” made me think of what the prophet Micah wrote which are
meaningful to all of us today: “He has
told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do
justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8).” The kings we will be reading about in the
next several days did not follow this verse in Micah.
We see that Jeremiah goes to talk to the king of Judah
and it was Zedekiah who he gives this message to in verses 1-9. I want to quote the following from Dr.
Wiersbe to help us understand what the word “house” means. 5/23/2014 9:06 AM 5/23/2014 10:23 PM
“In 2 Samuel 7, there is a dual meaning to the word ‘house’:
a literal building (the temple David wanted to construct for God) and the royal
house (dynasty) God established through David by His gracious covenant. These same two meanings are woven into
Jeremiah’s message: God will destroy
both the royal palace and the Davidic dynasty because of the sins of the
kings. The royal house of cedar would be
cut down and burned as the Chaldean soldiers went through the city like men
chopping down a forest in Lebanon.”
Jeremiah seems to be giving the kings a very small window
of opportunity if they would deliver the city and establish David’s throne as
seen in the fourth verse of chapter twenty-two.
It would not happen as they loved their sin too much to repent.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Jeremiah shows
the long-suffering of the Lord something that I do not want to run out of.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trusted the Lord this morning to get me
through a time that caused me to get nervous and God was faithful in getting me
through it.
Memory verse 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: “David” (2 Samuel 22:2).
Today’s Bible
question: “The Ammonites threatened to
put out the right eyes of the people of what city?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/23/2014 10:35 PM
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