Daily Bible Study

Tweet

Day 22 Jeremiah 22 22:1 Thus says the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, 2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sit upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: 3 Thus says the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the LORD unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. 7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, everyone with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. 8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city? 9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. 10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. 11 For thus says the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: 12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. 13 Woe unto him that builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and gives him not for his work; 14 That says, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cuts him out windows; and it is paneled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. 15 Shalt thou reign, because thou close thyself in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? says the LORD. 17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. 18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! 19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. 20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed. 21 I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou said, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyed not my voice. 22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. 23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that make thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! 24 As I live, says the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; 25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. 27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. 28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? 29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. 30 Thus says the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. Have you given ultimatums to your children? Have you told them the consequences should they continue in the behavior that goes against everything you taught them? God has ultimatums for his children as well. He no longer pleaded with Judah to turn from her wicked ways. He told them when they would go into exile, and who would come against them to take them away from their homes. As Christians, you know the time is short when Jesus will return for his bride, and God will judge the earth, and Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, and all those who followed him, hanging on his every word, refusing to acknowledge God and Jesus, his Son, as their Savior and Lord. You know the time is short because the earth is wearing out like an old garment. Isaiah 51:5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. 8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation. God gives us a wonderful promise about his soon return, and we have nothing to fear as the time grows short. However, such was not the case with Judah. Her time grew short before she went into exile, when Babylon would come against Jerusalem and take away all the inhabitants into captivity. What is holding you captive that isn’t allowing you to see God’s salvation? Time is growing short, Jesus is coming soon. Are you ready? Let’s pray: Father, when I look around at everything going on in the world today, I see the signs of your Son’s soon coming, the time when you will judge Satan, and cast him into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. Help me be a light for you as the time grows near. Help me stay close to you. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 10 November 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay