Jeremiah 50
COMMENTARY:
: 6 MY people has been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. (8582 “astray” [ta’ah] means to cause someone to wander from a proper belief or course of action, to stagger, err, to go astray, be confused, mislead (mentally and morally), or deceive oneself.)
DEVOTION: Here we read of the nation of Israel going in the wrong direction. They were on a path that would take them further and further away from the LORD. They had leaders who were looking at the pleasure of sin for a season and though it was good to cause the rest of the nation to go in the same direction.
The religious leader was doing the same things as the other people of the nation. They were moving further away from the LORD.
The LORD sent captivity their way to show them they were going in the wrong direction but it didn’t seem to matter to them.
This even happens today. Those who claim Christ as their Savior seem to think that the church and their pastors are leading them in the right direction when many of them are leading them in the wrong direction.
It seems that entertainment is more important than the preaching of the Word of God. The services in many churches are forty-five minutes of entertainment and fifteen minutes of preaching.
Many of the message in the church that claim to be followers of the LORD are only a few minutes long with very little conviction of sin and service. So many people leave the church without a challenge to witness to others or grow in their personal lives.
So many of those who claim to be believers are not opening their Bibles between Sundays. So many are not reading the Bible or any other devotional book each day. It is hard to witness for the LORD if there is no growth happening each day in their spiritual life.
CHALLENGE: The LORD wants us to attend church each Sunday with the goal of growth in each Christian’s personal life. HE wants them to reach their world for the LORD during the week as well as grow themselves. If this is not happening in your life it is time to change!! Don’t be like the children of Israel – living in captivity.
: 20 In those days, and in that time, says the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. (5545 “pardon” [calach] means forgive, spare, release, or remove guilt.)
DEVOTION: Jeremiah uses this word nine times in his two books. In the midst of the LORD pronouncing judgment on Babylon, HE promises a future and hope for some of the children of Israel.
There is a group that is going to survive the captivity. This group is going to have their sins forgiven. The LORD is going to remove their guilt. HE is going to restore them to the land. It is a great promise to people who are in captivity.
The LORD throughout Scripture gives hope in the most trying circumstances to HIS people. HE never leaves them alone. HE never forgets them. They always have HIS attention.
We have the same promise in Christ. The LORD is going to remove our sin and guilt from our lives and give us a new life in HIM. This new life includes forgiveness of past, present and future sins because of the blood of Christ on the cross.
We truly have something to PRAISE THE LORD for each day of our lives. HE has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. As I talked with a couple today they were relaying how they thought they were poor until they realized how much the LORD has given them.
They have the Holy Spirit within them witnessing to them the great LOVE of God. They have the promise of a mansion in heaven. They have someone to turn to during hard times. They have many earthly possessions to thank the LORD for each day. They have a wonderful family, and jobs that provide a weekly income.
Do we realize all we have in Christ? We have a place reserved for us in heaven! Are we a thankful people? Just think about the word “forgiven.” The children of Israel needed to hear that the LORD was still with them. We need to hear the same thing.
CHALLENGE: We need to be thankful for what the LORD has provided for us in HIS salvation.
: 34 Their Redeemer is strong; The LORD of hosts is his name: he shall thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. (1350 “Redeemer” [ga’al] means kinsman, ransom, deliver, purchase, buy back, or reclaim.)
The book of Ruth illustrates what it means to have a kinsman who can provide for us. Ruth was a foreigner that came to the home town of her husband’s family. Her husband had died. She was with her mother-in-law in a strange land.
The book also shows the providence of God for HIS people. Boaz became her kinsman and married her and provided a line for the birth of King David.
God is the deliverer of the children of Israel from the Babylonian captivity. The Israelites went into captivity because of their disobedience. The LORD continued to tell them that HE was going to bring them back into the land of promise. They were going to have to be in captivity for seventy years.
HE was pleading their cause. Our advocate is Jesus. HE is the one who pleads out case before the Father. We are going to have rest for eternity with HIM in heaven. During this time period in the history of Israel their rest was found in the Promised Land. During the Millennium with Christ on the throne all those who are alive will be delivered to a thousand years of time when Christ will reign.
Babylon represents the world without Christ. Babylon is said to fall in the end times. God is in control of our world.
CHALLENGE: LOOK for the coming Kinsman Redeemer when the trumpet sounds.
: 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. (4114 “overthrew” [mahpekah] means destruction, the termination of a people or ruler, always of Sodom and Gomorrah, overturning, demolishing, or ruin.)
DEVOTION: The LORD wants us to look at history to see how HE acts in certain situations. HE wants us to know that HE is longsuffering but HE will punish in just the right time and in just the right way.
HE was judging Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin against HIM. HE had put up with it to the point that HIS longsuffering was over and it was time to act. HE will do the same to the nations who were used to judge Israel and Judah for their sins. HE had put up with their sin long enough and had to send judgment to show the world that HE wanted HIS people to serve HIM correctly or they would be judged.
Now we are living in a time period where there are men of God who have tried to warn us that we are killing innocent blood and are not honoring HIS word regarding marriage. HE is again longsuffering but there will be a day of judgment for any nation that disobeys HIM. HE seems to still be longsuffering toward nations that used to honor HIM with their prayers and offerings.
Obedience is what HE wants and expects from those who are genuine believers. HE will forgive if we repent and change our ways. We need those who are genuine believers to be witnesses to those around them regarding the truth of the Word of God and the judgment that is probable if we don’t turn from our evil ways and repent. No nation is too big to be terminated by the LORD!!
CHALLENGE: Do we want our nation to end up like Sodom and Gomorrah and the children of Israel through the judgment of God. Pray for revival!! First in our own hearts and then in the hearts of believers around the world.
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