Guided by Light: Daily Devotions for Inspired Living

THURSDAY, 2 MAY 2024

TEXT: Jeremiah 15:1-14

1: Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!

2: And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.’

3: “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy.

4: I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

5: “Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask how you are?

6: You have rejected me,” declares the Lord. “You keep on backsliding. So I will reach out and destroy you; I am tired of holding back.

7: I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the city gates of the land. I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people, for they have not changed their ways.

8: I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. At midday I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men; suddenly I will bring down on them anguish and terror.

9: The mother of seven will grow faint and breathe her last. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. I will put the survivors to the sword before their enemies,” declares the Lord.

10: Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

11: The Lord said, “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress.

12: “Can a man break iron— iron from the north—or bronze?

13: “Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without charge, because of all your sins throughout your country.

14: I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for my anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you.”

(New International Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: 70 YEARS' CAPTIVITY PROPHESIED

Jeremiah opened this message with a prophetic pronouncement of impending judgment upon unrepentant Judah. God had shown them unprecedented love and grace. So, they had no excuse for rebellion.

We should also remember that Judah had witnessed the devastating judgment brought upon the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 15:29; 17:23) about 140 years before the Babylonian siege and captivity.

We cannot continue to take the grace of God for granted by continuing to live in rebellion and expect Him to overlook it He is the same today as in the days of Jeremiah and His standard for purity and righteousness has not diminished. Jesus calls all of us to live by faith in Him.

QUESTION: Do you live your life in the freedom of faith in Christ or in the bondage of rebellion?

PRAYER: O Lord, give me the grace to live in total submission and obedience to Your standard of righteousness, in Jesus name. Amen.