Choose Life 08.27.08

Hello My Friend/Guest,

Today we are continuing our studies on the book of Jeremiah, please read Chapters 41-44 in your Bible or Click Here to read. Cut & paste to your browser: biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2041-44&version=9

Today, we will read and learn about Gedaliah's assassination; Jeremiah being taken to Egypt; and the unhappiness of Judah from idoltary. Today's message focuses on the importance of realizing that whether or not we choose to sin against God is a choice that we consciously make, but by choosing to believe His Word and not sin, we choose life. Many people, including Christian's are lead to believe that if they choose God they can not enjoy life, but they are further from the truth. God blesses and rewards all who follow Him.

Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Israelite kingdom of Judah, fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah by destroying Jerusalem. He made Gedaliah governor over the poor people left in the land. Earlier, Gedalaih was warned of an assassination plot, "Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not." (Jeremiah 40:13-14). He foolishly refused to believe that the threat was real and two months later was murdered. "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." (41:2).

The Israelites who remained in the land feared for Nebuchadnezzar and expected him to strike. The captians spoke to Jeremiah, "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." (42:2-4).

Jeremiah prayed to God and ten days later He answered, "And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him; If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. 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." (42:9-11).

However instead of listening to God they later escaped to Egypt forcing Jeremiah to go with them. "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. So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes." (43:4-7).

Nothing could have been more distressing to Jeremiah than being forced into Egypt as a prisoner of his own people, but that did not stop him from staying faithful to God and telling the Isrealites what they were about to face. Jeremiah watched the Israelites sink further into sin as they worshiped the Egyptian goddess Ashtoreth. Between seventy and eighty years old he delivered his last prophecy concerning the soon-coming defeat of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. "For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape." (44:13-14). Because of their sins and rejection of the Word of God, faith in the living God did not exist. Like so many today, they distorted the truth and made their own decisions on what they think the true word of God is, making up their own gods.

Instead of finding ways to prove that God is who we want Him to be or that Jesus was not God we need to stick to the truth and learn to understand the true Word of God and the only way to understand God's Word is by receiving the Holy Spirit (Ghost) through Jesus Christ as we accept Him into our lives. "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." (I Corinthians 12:3). We will never know what a wonderful life that is in store for us nor will we be truly alive until we are filled with the spirit of the living God.

Have a great and blessed day!
God Bless You,
Christina

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