Friday, July 09 2010
Jeremiah 42
Verse of the Week: V3 “That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.”
1. God’s Prophet (V1-6)
V4 “Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.”
Prophet Jeremiah preached what God said to him and held nothing back from the people. God’s prophets in the Old Testament as well as God’s pastors in the New Testament must only preach what God says - nothing more, nothing less and nothing else. Yet during the days of Jeremiah till today, some so-called preachers have been preaching on popular messages that people like to hear and have been found guilty of not preaching the truth of the Word of God. Indeed, one day God shall judge and punish these false preachers.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
2. God’s Promise (V7-18)
V11 “Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.”
Prophet Jeremiah encouraged the people of Judah not to be afraid of the king of Babylon as God was with them and He shall surely save and deliver them from their enemies.
3. God’s Punishment (V19-22)
V19 “The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.”
The people of Judah asked God, through Prophet Jeremiah, to show them the way and yet when God told them to stay put in Judah, they refused to obey God. They had already made up their mind to go to Egypt rationalizing and thinking that it was a safer place than Judah. They went to Egypt and God punished them. Many times, we pray to God for His will, yet when God show us His will, we refuse to obey and submit to His perfect will.
V22 “Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.”
Prayer of the Week
Dearest God, please help me to be in the centre of Your perfect will.
