Read Jeremiah 21 and 22
Verses choses for devotion - Jeremiah 21:1-6
21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence.
Reflect
The King and people of Judah have sinned and rebelled against God. They have also disobeyed God’s instruction to serve the Babylonians in order to survive and live. Again they trusted in themselves and human alliance to rebel against the Babylonians. As the result, the Babylonians laid siege on Jerusalem with King Zedekiah and his officials captured, and his sons killed in front of him and his own eyes were put out and kept in captivity until his death. There was no intention for the King and his people to obey God’s command but yet they expected God to help them to keep Babylonians attack at bay (v2). Also it may be unimaginable for the people of Judah to envisage how God would destroy what he created and cherished. But God is determined to turn Jerusalem into a wasteland.
Relate
Do we sometimes disobey God’s instruction even when we know the consequences? Human has the tendency to test the limit by doing wrong things intentionally such as beating the traffic light, crossing the speed limit, lusting, coveting so on and so forth…We know what is the right and wrong in God’s eyes but we choose to do the latter. So when we are faced with the consequences of our own actions, we start to be on our knees pleading for God’s help. If we believe that God is all powerful and His word is prosper us then why do we continue to disobey and put Him to the test?
As per the passage above God is very determined to turn against the nation he loved and cherished. Why did God create them in the first place knowing that all these human wickedness and waywardness, and ultimate destruction are inevitable? Many times I was asked why God created men in the first place when He already knew they would sin, rebel and walk down the path of destruction? God created us for His glory (Isaiah 43:6-7) and His pleasure (Rev 4:11). He wanted us to love and obey Him out of our own will. He gave us the freedom to choose but sadly men choose sin (Adam and Eve have abundance in the Garden of Eden but they choose to consume the fruit from the only forbidden tree). We have many options today to live our lives abundantly but many times we choose to commit sins out of our own pride and hunger for pleasures. But it is not God’s plan to destroy us. He has a redemptive plan for us (through our Lord Jesus) - Romans 5:8.
God’s plan for Israel (referring to the chosen passage above) is not to destroy them too. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” Jeremiah 29:11. No matter how hopeless and helpless we are in our flesh, God’s redemptive plan is always there to reconcile us back to Him!
Rest
“Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me
'Father, forgive them, ' my Savior prayed
Even while His lifeblood flowed fast away
Praying for sinners while in such woe
No one but Jesus ever loved so”
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