He Is the Lord
Opening Prayer
God of all, open my eyes so that I may see You as You are. Open my heart to know You, to worship You in spirit and truth.
Read Jeremiah 43:1-13
[1] When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God-everything the LORD had sent him to tell them- [2] Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ [3] But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.” [4] So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD’s command to stay in the land of Judah. [5] Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. [6] They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan-the men, the women, the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah along with them. [7] So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes. [8] In Tahpanhes the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: [9] “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. [10] Then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. [11] He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. [12] He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd picks his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart. [13] There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.'” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How would God bring about his purposes in Egypt?The further people’s hearts have turned from God, the less afraid they are to rebel against him. The root of the Jews’ rebellion was fear: they were more afraid of Nebuchadnezzar than of God. They were more impressed by the king of Babylon’s power to punish them (3) than by God’s ability to save them out of his hands (42:11). And although they had called Jeremiah a liar (2), they still took him along for the ride as their lucky charm or spiritual insurance policy (6,7). What an evocative picture: under God’s direction, Jeremiah buries some large stones at the entrance of, not just anybody’s abode, but Pharaoh the king of Egypt’s palace (8-10). The time had come for God’s judgment to fall on Pharaoh and his people for the false gods they idolized, worshiping the created rather than the Creator (11-13; cf. Rom. 1:25). But God would do this in a shocking and confusing way (10). The servant whom God would use to enact the judgment was Nebuchadnezzar–a Gentile king, not a worshiper of the Lord. Here, as throughout the Bible, we see the sovereign hand of God at work through all people, places, and events.
Apply
Are there things today that you find difficult to accept from God? Talk to him about them now.
Closing prayer
Lord, Your ways are not my ways. They often do not make sense to me. But You are Lord and I trust You. I will follow You.
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