King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Chapters: Jeremiah 41-44
Message: No Escape For The Rebellious
Hello My Friend,
The more you read the Bible the more you begin to understand how God works and that much of the evil we face today is a result of judgments God has placed on nations. A lot of people will discredit, hate, or even deny God exists because they do not agree with what the Bible teaches. People are going to do what they want to do regardless, immorality is such a norm today that it is seen as moral, while morality itself is seen as immoral. I am not the only one who wonders why no one gets it, and makes God even angrier with their false gods, and religion, many of them claiming to be Christians. You know, faithful, saved, born again Christians will suffer for our faith temporarily, but the world is going to suffer much worse as there get caught up in their own evil.“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” – II Timothy 3:1214.
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,” This was the state of Israel, God, after warning them or decades, has placed judgment on them. Most of Judah had been taken to Babylon, but a group of rebels, decided they were going to escape, with the help of ten men, a man named Ishmael, killed Gedaliah, the governor, and all the royals in hopes of taking control himself. Things were getting out of hand, they were conspiring against each other, and they captured the remnant of Judah that remained in Judah, including Jeremiah. Finally, the captives thought they had some help when another names Johanan came to their rescue.
“Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah. Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war. But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon. And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,” – Jeremiah 41:1-3,11-12,17.
“ to go to enter into Egypt,” Now, with everyone in a panic, they want to go to Egypt, Johanan, and the captains find Jeremiah, and asks him to pray for them. “And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:) That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do. 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. Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us. Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” – Jeremiah 42:2-6.
“Whether it be good, or whether it be evil,” The first test of any person who says they want to hear what God has to say is if they are going to obey what He says. God has a path for us, sometimes He wants us to stop and stay put in the midst of the judgments, and it can be frightful, but as long as we listen to Him He will protect us. God wants us to trust Him, let Him lead us, it may not make sense to us, but He knows what is best, and this is where a lot of Christians fall, they refuse to listen to God, thinking their way will be better. Then days later God responded to their plea, but it was not the answer they were looking for.
“And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words, Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there: But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon. So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah; Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.” – Jeremiah 43:1-6.
“obeyed not the voice of the LORD,” If we are going to call of God for help, we need to make sure that we are willing to accept the answer He gives us. Okay, we may not always like the answer, but if we want God to take us seriously, we must take His Word seriously, He will help us out of any situation as long as we take Him seriously. There are three reasons people reject Christ, fear, sin, and pride, they fear what the world will do if they turned to Him, they are living in sin and do not want to remove it, or they are too proud to admit that they are sinners. And here it comes, the real reason they did not want to obey God.
“Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.” – Jeremiah 44:15-17,20-21,27.
“and were well, and saw no evil.” To the world, the way they live is not evil at all, and for the life of me I cannot understand how they can do some of the things they do without shame. I was lost, and when you are lost you do go from one religion or belief to another in search of the truth, but my goodness, some things are just wrong, period. Do you know why so many people fall in the trap of pagan religions? They want the protections of a higher power without the conscious. We may not always understand God’s judgments, but He has a reason for why He does what He does, and to rebel against Him only causes our own hurt. While, saved, born again Christians are not under the Law, we ought to be wise enough to know that when God called it an abomination for the Jews, it is still an abomination for the Christians, who are supposed to be Christlike. It is always, always, always better to suffer as a Christian than as rebel, which is what anyone who rejects Christ is. “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” – I Peter 4:16-17.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “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.” – Jeremiah 42:11.
Today’s Prayer: God, The world is getting more evil by the day, we are fighting over things that have no merit, and innocent people are getting caught up in it all. Lord, soften some hearts, help them to let go of their pride, sin, and or fear, and turn to You. Be with those who are caught up in the middle of Your judgments, bring them to safety, and let them know You are near and will take care of them. Give us Your power, wisdom, and guidance to go where You tell us to go, help us reach some who are in the midst, and give us Your strength to endure the suffer we face for our faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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