The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 2 October 2019 – To Be Forewarned Is To Be Forearmed

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TOPIC: To Be Forewarned Is To Be Forearmed

READ: Jeremiah 25:1-11 King James Version (KJV)

1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),
2. which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
3. “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the Lord has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened.
4. And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.
5. They said, ‘Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever.
6. Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’
7. Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord , “that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8. “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words,
9. behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord , ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
10. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
11. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

THE MESSAGE:

When we were young, our parents had their special ways of communicating with us. Their communication through eye contact, for example, could signal either their approval or otherwise of whatever we were doing. Daddy, unlike Mummy, could tolerate us for months and this drew us closer to him than mummy. But once he lost his patience, we could be sure deliverance was not near at all.

In today’s passage, God would not punish His people because they sinned but because they took God and His servants for granted by rejecting all warnings and entreaties.

Certainly, when a man sins perpetually, he is simply challenging God to the boxing ring. Please note the instrument of Israel’s punishment and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant (verse 9). This is similar to the method God employed in the book of Joel where locusts are described as God’s servants. Dear reader, do not wait until you receive the rod of your enemy before you repent because you may not win such battle.

PRAYER: Lord, please teach me consistent obedience and may the rod of the enemy never fall on me.