By Pastor Bob Lawrenz
The fall of Jerusalem is complete. Go to Babylon and live, or fight for what you cannot keep, and die. King Zedekiah had rebelled against his nephew, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, so things did not go well for him when the Chaldean Army tracked him down and captured him.
But the situation for God’s faithful Prophet was far different from that of King Zedekiah. Being taken by the Chaldeans, Nebuchadnezzar’s influence in the land had garnered him a tremendous amount of information about Jeremiah. He learned the words of God spoken by Jeremiah as a warning to the Jews. He simply knew that this Prophet of the Jewish God had inroads and insight into the mind of God. A wise conqueror knows those of the enemy camp. He undoubtedly became aware the behavior of the Jews towards this man of God.
This would set the stage later on when King Nebuchadnezzar needed a holy man of the Jewish faith to interpret a dream he had dreamed. Daniel was that man chosen because he feared God and was bold in faith, refusing to worship any God but Jehovah God.
But for the 39th Chapter, Jerusalem is destroyed, just as God had warned. Those that tried to save the City were soundly defeated, and those citizens that went off to Babylon lived to see another day, and eventually prospered. This too was part of God’s will for His Chosen People.
God had a plan that would win for His people, and not fail them. That is always God’s way. Man most often chooses an easy path, and learns the hard lesson that God’s way is better, and is assured of success. His agenda is always supreme, taking precedence in even the smallest of details.
While the natural man plods through his life, the sanctified man puts his trust in God, assured of His expected end for him, and the magnificent lessons to be learned along the way, and reaped in glory!
“And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I scatter them among the nations, and disperse them among the countries.” ~ Ezekiel 12:15 ~
Today's Audio Message: "Choose Life!"
We have finally come to the terrible climax, of which Jeremiah spent years prophesying God’s warnings to the people during the last years of Jerusalem. God’s word had fallen on deaf ears, His warnings unheeded.
Nebuchadrezzar's siege lasted almost 2 years. Food sources diminished and supply lines were cut off, the people’s suffering grew. Yet, in it all, there was a hardness of heart, and self-righteousness. Jerusalem was so strong, that the inhabitants believed the enemy could never enter it. But sin provoked God to withdraw his protection. The long-suffering patience of GOD gives way to judgment and Jerusalem, whose name means "the foundation of peace," is delivered into the hands of the Gentiles.
It is a fallacy to think that great difficulties will result in repentance and obedience. The truth is, God leaves the decision to us. His way, or our own way? Life or death? Jeremiah was covered under God’s protection, and Zedekiah met with a terrible end! We can obey God and live, or suffer the consequences of our own futile actions!
Isaiah 55:6-9
"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
