The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 44:24-26,
"Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, 'Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah in Egypt. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have done what you said you would do when you promised, "We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven."
Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! But hear the word of the Lord, all you Jews living in Egypt,,,'"
"Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, 'Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah in Egypt. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have done what you said you would do when you promised, "We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven."
Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! But hear the word of the Lord, all you Jews living in Egypt,,,'"
What that word was from the Lord was that most all of them would die by the sword, famine or plague, just as he warned them before they left Jerusalem in an attempt to find safe haven in Egypt. They sought their refuge, their protection by fleeing to the Egyptians, rather than seeking God's help against the Babylonians. In their move to Egypt, the Jews continued to worship idols in their rejection of God.
Israel was God's chosen people. Their patriarch, Abraham, manifested the kind of faith God had determined he would base his redemption and salvation of mankind upon. God has chosen for himself all who will embrace him in faith, the kind of faith in God that Abraham displayed in his life. Because of this faith of Abraham, God determined he would use the offspring of Abraham to engage the world in his program of redemption.
Israel's usefulness to God for this purpose was predicated upon their continuing in the faith of their progenitor, Abraham. When Israel rejected God and turned to false idols, their usefulness to God became lost as they were no longer useful to him to bring his program of redemption to the world. This prompted God to intervene in the life of the nation, to bring a tremendous disruption to their wandering from him, in order to pursue the unfolding of his plan of redemption of all mankind. This disruption was his terrifying judgment of them.
I find a personal life lesson here for myself. If I find and give myself to the purposes of God, I will be blessed with a fulfillment that can only be found by those who give themselves to his purposes. The richest of a life of meaning, purpose and fulfillment. On the other hand, if I reject God's purposes for my life, I will only find the kind of personal destruction these Jews did who rejected God, fled to Egypt and worshiped idols.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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