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
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