Thursday, August 22, 2013

Jeremiah 44 - Denying/Rejecting God's Mercy

Do not mistake God's mercy for blessings of false idols. He endured the sins of the remnant for long enough as they worshipped their false idols. And, now they are willfully turning their backs on Him saying: "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LordWe will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine." (Jer 44:16-18 NIV)

God's own people, the little remnant that God allowed to remain in Jerusalem and care for the temple; care for the land, have decided instead that they will give up their inheritance. They will go to Egypt; and they will worship this false goddess. They have chosen to ignore God's blessings. Rather than give Him the glory; they will give thanks to and glorify this "queen of heaven."

And... they will be lost.... The LORD will not stand for His people turning away from Him in this manner. He will send Nebuchadnezzar to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar will overthrow them. The people who were once God's people, who worshipped in His temple, will not be able to return to the home they turned their backs on.

Do not, I pray, turn your backs on the LORD, our Maker and Redeemer. Return to Him, giving Him (and no other) glory for all that He has done.

God's Peace - Pr. J

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