A few key thoughts jumped out to me today
when I was reading through the various passages.
1)
2 Kings 24:3-4 - Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command,
in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and
all he had done, including the shedding
of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the
Lord was not willing to forgive. I
appreciate that this was Old Testament and Christ had not yet died for the
forgiveness of sins, but it really stood out to me that God was not willing to
forgive Manasseh. It does not state whether Manasseh asked for forgiveness or
not but it struck me that a line must have been crossed where God was no longer
willing to forgive. Do I consider the graciousness
of God in granting me forgiveness? Do I take it for granted?
2)
Jeremiah 25:8 & 12- I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land
and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations….“But when the
seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation,
the land of the Babylonians,[b] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will
make it desolate forever. Firstly, it was interesting
that God refers to Nebudchanezzar as his servant. Even though non-believers might not acknowledge
or recognize God as being all powerful and in complete control of all created
things….they are still subject to his authority (hence the word servant).
Secondly, I found it interesting that God can use both those who worship and
call Him Lord to accomplish His will, but He can also use the unbeliever. It was
somewhat ironic that God used the unbelievers to accomplish His will and then
after that he inflicted the punishment on the Babylonians based on their sins /
unbelief. God’s plans are so much
greater than we can see based on our limited perception.
3)
Jeremiah 36: After the king burned the scroll
containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word
of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the
words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. People may not appreciate
God’s Word, and may even try to destroy it…but God and His Word will stand
despite powerful men’s attempts to subdue it.
Prayer- Thank-you Lord for the forgiveness
you grant us through your son’s death.
May we never view the aspect of forgiveness lightly and take it for
granted. I marvel at how You work out Your will through various instruments. Thank-you for your Word which you have
provided for us, and the power it had to bring conviction, the path to
forgiveness, and instructions for living as servants of yours.
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:
3 comments:
Jeremiah 36:23
Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.
I appreciate the point you made Jay, about not being able to destroy God's Word. This verse gives a description of how the king tried to permanently destroy God's Word, but God allowed His servants to remember and rewrite His word, which we still have today! What an awesome display of God's power, that His word was kept.
I had similar thoughts about how the king had been attempting to show no evidence of God's words by burning it in the fire. We cannot over power God or change His plans, but yet we attempt to.
I think we act like the king when we live as though the Bible was irrelevant to our lives. Despite what society, then and now, would like to believe, there is such a thing as absolute truth, and it does not change just because you don't believe it.
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