LEARNING DAILY

Jeremiah 44:5-6, But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn away from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods. So, My fury and My anger were poured out and kindled to the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.

I end this week of the blog with a stern warning. God’s Word declares in Hebrews 13:8, “God is the same yesterday, today and forever”. The theological term for this is “immutable” – He is unchanging! Throughout the book of Jeremiah, it is written that he spoke prophetically, and the people refused to listen to what God said to them. For example, Jeremiah 25:3, 4, and 7 speak this same message, the people refused to listen to the warnings of their lifestyle and serving other gods. God punished them “through famine and through the sword”. The people ignored the warnings given through Jeremiah, and judgement came. God’s people were taken to Babylon. In Jeremiah 44, Jeremiah warned the remnant to not go to Egypt. The Jews believed that they could change location and be safe from God’s judgment. They did not listen, and God said He would punish them by the sword and through famine as well; they found out that the Lord’s sovereignty is everywhere.

Judah sinned in failing to listen to God’s Word and to take seriously what He said. That statement is easily applied to people today as a great number continue to sin by living selfishly because they ignore God’s Word or treat it flippantly or as a joke. They simply do not believe God means what He says. Read and understand what God did to His people in Judah. “Therefore thus says the lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will set My face against you for catastrophe and for cutting off all Judah” (Jer. 44:11). “They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine. They shall die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine; and they shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse and a reproach! (verse 12b).”  “By their disobedience, rebellion and unbelief, the Jews in Egypt forfeited God’s promises of help and restoration. Therefore, Jeremiah prophesied that God’s judgment against them would be complete; they would all perish” (Life in the Spirit Study Bible).

God does not change; He is immutable, remember! The consequences for rejecting God are repeated over and over in the Word of God and certainly apply to each person today! Scripture provides clear knowledge to what happens to those who turn away from God and live according to their own desires and self-centeredness. Let me be clear that the Word of God states the consequences for rejecting God are spiritual emptiness (that is the present) and separation from God (that’s eternal).

2Timothy 4:3 speaks to the days we live in right now. “The time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine but with itching ears, they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.” Those days are here. People do not want to hear or study sound doctrine (God’s Word) because it interferes with what they want to believe and how they want to act; they only want to hear what pleases them. These people seek affirmation for what they believe and seek no other word that will aid them in living as God desires them to live. Far too many people fall into the description of “people who exchange the truth of God for a lie, worshipping created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). These people believe their self-centered lifestyle, their idolatrous beliefs do more for them than the Lord, their Creator does. Just as those who would not listen to God in the day of Jeremiah, people who do not listen to and follow God’s Word will face punishment and judgment.

The warning is clear – do not be one of those who does not take God and His Word seriously!