ECWA Food for the Day 2023

SUNDAY, 12 MARCH 2023

TEXT: Jeremiah 5:12-30

12. They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we sees sword or famine.

13. The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!

14. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.

15. Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.

16. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors.

17. They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword.

18. But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you.

19. And when your people say, Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us? You shall say to them, As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.

20. Declares this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah:

21. Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.

22. Do you not fear me? Declares the LORD; Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

23. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away.

24. They do not say in their hearts, Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.

25. Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.

26. For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.

27. Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have-become great and rich;

28. they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

29. Shall I not punish them for these things? Declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?

30. An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:

(English Standard Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: GOD WILL CERTAINLY PUNISH EVERY REBELLION

Today’s text opens with an indictment on Israelites for turning a deaf ear to the prophet’s warnings. They had the guts to “have lied about the Lord; they said, ‘He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine’” and instead, they mocked the prophets saying, “the prophets are but wind and the word are not in them; so let what they say be done to them” (verses 12-13).

God responded with the prophetic pronouncement of the impending invasion by Babylon and the subsequent captivity. Some of them lived to go through the fulfilment of this prophetic judgement.

Today, many churchgoers’ responses resonate with verses 12-13. Preachers, teachers of the Gospel and evangelists continue to call on people to repent and surrender to Jesus so that they might be saved and delivered from the future judgement of God.

Unfortunately, many church members feel that a loving God can’t punish rebellion and ungodliness. If you persist in sin and rebellion against God, He is warning you, “Should I not punish them for this? … Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?”

QUESTION: Why do you persist in sin and rebellion against God and His Gospel?

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, help me to remain faithful and obedient to Your Word at all times. Amen.