Good Morning Friends,
“Again and again I sent all my servants the
prophets to you. They said, ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and
reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live
in the land I have given to you and your fathers.’ But you have not paid
attention or listened to me. … Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty,
the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am
going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I
pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to
them, but they did not answer.’” (Jeremiah 35:15, 17)
Jeremiah proclaimed that disaster was coming
upon the people of Judah. They were to be defeated by Babylon and taken as
captives to that land. It was not by chance that Babylon was coming to attack
Judah. It would not be by chance that Jerusalem would fall into their hands. God
allowed Babylon to attack and God would allow Babylon to defeat Jerusalem. God was
removing His hand of protection from His people and allowing them to be
defeated.
These were God’s own people, why would He
remove His hand of protection from them?
Judah was reaping what it had sown. It had sown
disobedience and it was reaping discipline. Warning after warning had come from
the Lord to listen to His word and follow the ways He set before them. But the
people of Judah ignored God’s word and followed their own way. God had spoken
clearly of the blessings that would come from obedience and the pain that would
come from disobedience. The people did not believe that pain would come, so
they disobeyed. Now, they would reap what they had sown. What God had promised
was coming.
It is a principle of God, as Paul declared, “Do
not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians
6:7)
His, by Grace, Steve
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