SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/8/2014
10:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Nation’s
Disgrace PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Lamentations
1:1-11
Message of the
verses: The Nations Disgrace
(Lamentations 1:1-11): “1 How lonely
sits the city That was full of people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the
nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced
laborer! 2 She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are on her cheeks; She
has none to comfort her Among all her lovers. All her friends have dealt
treacherously with her; They have become her enemies. 3 Judah has gone into
exile under affliction And under harsh servitude; She dwells among the nations,
But she has found no rest; All her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of
distress. 4 The roads of Zion are in mourning Because no one comes to the
appointed feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests are groaning, Her
virgins are afflicted, And she herself is bitter. 5 Her adversaries have become her masters, Her
enemies prosper; For the
LORD has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions;
Her little ones have gone away As captives before the adversary. 6 All her
majesty Has departed from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like
deer That have found no pasture; And they have fled without strength Before the
pursuer. 7 In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers
all her precious things That were from the days of old, When her people fell
into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her,
They mocked at her ruin. 8 Jerusalem
sinned greatly, Therefore
she has become an unclean thing. All who honored her despise her Because they
have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away. 9 Her
uncleanness was in her skirts; She did not consider her future. Therefore she has fallen
astonishingly; She has no comforter. "See, O LORD, my affliction, For the
enemy has magnified himself!" 10 The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things, For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded That they should not enter into Your congregation. 11
All her people groan seeking bread; They have given their precious things for
food To restore their lives themselves. "See, O LORD, and look, For I am
despised."”
From our study in Jeremiah we have learned that the
Jewish people loved the city of Jerusalem, a city where the temple of God was
located, and it was for this reason, and also because of the covenant that God
had with David that the Jewish people thought that God would never allow
Jerusalem to be destroyed, let alone the temple of God. However when we look back at 1 Samuel we say
that the children of Israel were using the Ark of the Covenant as a “good luck
charm” and took it out to battle and not only lost the battle, but also lost
the Ark of the Covenant. God reminds
them of this in Jeremiah’s writings. Dr.
Wiersbe writes “But God would rather His city and temple be destroyed by pagans
than to have His name disgraced by the wicked lives of His people.” God proved this in the story referred to in 1
Samuel.
Jerusalem is referred to as a princess and other feminine
names like, “The daughter of Zion” “The daughter of Judah, “and the daughter of
Jerusalem.” Dr. Wiersbe writes the
following in an end note: “How Jeremiah could call the apostate city a ‘virgin’
in 1:15 and 2:13 is a mystery to us. A
virgin daughter was a very valuable member of the family and held in high
esteem, and the Jews had polluted themselves with foreign alliances and foreign
gods. Such is the grace of God! Though He chastened His people, He never
forsook them. One day, the nation shall
be restored to her Husband, the Lord (Jer. 3; Hosea 2:14-3-5).” Yes the grace of God is a marvelous attribute
of God, and no one on planet earth could ever have the hope of going to heaven without
God’s grace.
God had made a covenant with Israel when she came out of
Egypt as seen in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, and she had
forsaken and broken that covenant, and so God had no choice but to discipline
His children, but God never broke the covenant that He had with Abraham or David
even though when we read through this book of Lamentations and see how dreadful
this scene looks. Jeremiah will write
the most famous words of this book to show that God is forgiving when he writes
“22 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never
fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
The people of Judah did not trust the Lord and turned to
other gods, and other nations for their help, but God was their husband as
described in the end note above, and God had to punish them because of His
name, and the covenant that He made with them, and we see the result of this
punishment in this book that Jeremiah’s pens.
We see from this section of Lamentations that many of her young people had
been taken into captivity, and among them were Daniel, and also Ezekiel, men
that God used mightily while living in exile.
We see in this section that Jeremiah grieves over the
fact that people use to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts that were
held there, but now the temple was gone and even the city was destroyed so this
was not happening.
I know that the people who lived in Jerusalem were surprised
that God had allowed the city and the temple destroyed, but they should not
have been. Just a thought and that is
would people in our country be surprised to see our country destroyed by an
attack from another nation, by a natural judgment from the Lord like a volcano
erupting, or because of our financial house is not in order. Many people do not know that we have a
volcano in Yellowstone that if it erupted to its full force could devastate our
country. There is another way that this
country could be destroyed or devastated and that is if the Rapture of the
church happened, for then there would be many people in this country would be
gone and those who remain would not be of high moral value. As we have studied the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah
and not Lamentations I have been wondering where our country was as I looked at
these three books. My thought is that we
are in the time line of Jeremiah.
Yes as we look at these verses we can see the disgrace
that was found in Judah, and Jerusalem, and sometimes it takes a person or city
or nation to go way down to realize why they got in that position and then the
only way to look is to look up.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: My hope and
prayer is that I am never in the position that the people of Jerusalem were in
as described in this book. My prayer is
that I will continue to serve the Lord and even though there is a battle going
on in my life, like the lives of all believers that I will win those battles by
the power of the Word of God and the Spirit of God.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to cause me to win the battles
that are going on in my life.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:1-8.
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. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden
with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who
is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your
earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed,
which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it
is because of these things that the
wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience ; 7 and in them you once
walked, when you were living in them. 8
But now you also, put them all aside; anger; wrath, malice, slander, and
abusive speech from your mouth.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Aaron” (Exodus 4:14).
Today’s Bible
question: “What was called ‘food from
heaven’?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/8/2014 11:03 AM
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