Read the Bible in a Year (20AUG19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, August 20’s Bible reading is Jeremiah 30-31.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, August 21’s Bible reading is Jeremiah 32-34. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD. 

 

JEREMIAH MOMENT – (20AUG19) “The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Write down for the record everything I have said to you, Jeremiah. For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it again. I, the Lord, have spoken!’ ” (Jeremiah 30:1-3). God had plans for Israel and Judah’s restoration after they returned from exile. He told Jeremiah to write the Word that He had given him down so that they would have it to hold on to. The prophetic Word from the Lord that was given to Jeremiah was for the time after their captivity, where they would return home and rebuild the city and temple, the time of the Messiah’s arrival, as well as the time of the Great Tribulation, which is also called Jacob’s Trouble. Therefore, God was going to free them from their captors where they would once again build houses, plant vineyards, and go to His house, but this would all lead to the coming Messiah who would save them from the bondage of sin. Though many of them had fallen by the sword, God was protecting His remnant that would return, for He had to punish them because of their sins against Him. Nevertheless, they would once again sing of the Lord’s goodness and mercy towards them because He had shown them an everlasting love.

Jeremiah’s prophecy has several layers, which are even relevant in the time that is coming upon the land. The Bible says, “All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many” (Jeremiah 30:14). Jesus came to die for the sins of the entire human race. Yet, He has not forgotten physical Israel, but the people of Israel will once again suffer because of their rebellion against the Lord and no ally, including the United States, will be able to help them. In today’s time, Tel Aviv is host to the largest LGBTQ parades every year on the streets of Jerusalem. Not only that, Israel is known to be hostile towards Christians living there, and most of them still reject Jesus as the Messiah. They plan to build a third temple, and have already begun the temple sacrifices for its rebuilding. Sadly, many evangelicals are supporting this instead of witnessing to the Jewish people and telling them that the Messiah has already come and will come again. Their sacrifices are worthless in God’s eyes and is actually a slap in the face to the work that Jesus did on the cross. The Bible says, “You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand—you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings. Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures:  I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart” (Psalm 40:6-8). The Psalmist was prophetic in what was to come when the Lord would have a New Covenant with Israel.

The Lord would no longer require for animals to be sacrificed on the altar of the temple because Jesus would be the ultimate Sacrifice. The Bible says, “ ‘The day is coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.  This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,’ says the Lord. ‘But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people’ (Jeremiah 31:31-33). The Bible tells us that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Lord does not require a new temple to be built. Nevertheless, it will be in accordance to the prophecy that is written in the book of Revelation. This temple will be used by the coming antichrist who will sit as God in it. That is why it is important to witness to our Jewish brothers and sisters, whenever possible, so that they will turn their hearts to Jesus and know that He has already done the work that they are trying to do themselves. The Lord has written His laws in our hearts and minds. When we are one in Christ, we have His mind to do the will of the Father, and no burnt sacrifices can give us that. Something to ponder….

 

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (20AUG19) “Now let me ask you a question:  Do men give birth to babies? Then why do they stand there, ashen-faced,   hands pressed against their sides  like a woman in labor?” (Jeremiah 30:6). The Lord posed this question because the time of tribulation that is to come would be so great that even men would be in pain as a woman who is giving birth. But, there is another layer that I would like to draw attention to in this question. We live in a society that is totally upside down. Society says that men can “choose” to be women and vice versa. They can get hormone injections, cut off or grow organs of the opposite sex, and put on some makeup to become the gender of their choice, or can they? Science is even trying to make it possible for men to carry babies to term, and they have supposedly made it where there are a three-parent split in DNA instead of two. Yet, when we read this single verse, it answers the question as to God’s original intent that men were NOT to give birth to babies, nor take on the role of women when it comes to gender reassignments. So, why is there a Great Tribulation coming to the world? Can we say that SIN is the reason that all tribulation has happened on the earth? Yes!

The Bible says, “Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you” (Jeremiah 30:15). When we sin against the Lord, we can expect His judgments to come down. The Lord will pour out His wrath upon the wicked who have rejected Him across the earth, but His righteous remnant will be protected and provided for. This does not mean that we will not experience persecution and some even martyrdom, but to suffer for Christ is gain. We can therefore take comfort that if we live righteously, the Lord will receive us in the end, and our fate is not the same as that of the wicked. Something to ponder….

JEREMIAH MOMENT – (20AUG19) “After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth” (Jeremiah 31:19). Israel and Judah had gone to exile in Babylon after Jeremiah had spent decades warning them of what was to come. They did, however, eventually return and during the time of Nehemiah and Ezra, they once had a heart to do what the Lord said and were repentant of their sins. The Bible says, “While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites – men, women, and children – gathered around him. They too wept bitterly” (Ezra 10:1). Whereas Israel was once defiant, this new generation, after knowing what had taken place with their parents who may not have lived to return, were of a different mindset to follow the Lord – at least for a while. It was important that they understood how their sins had been grievous to the Lord, and that they were truly sorry for what they had done.

Many people make the mistake of believing that walking down the aisle of a church is a true confession for Christ, or that saying “I’m sorry,” but continuing to walk is sin is acceptable to God. The Lord, however, wants a changed heart, and when we repent of our sins, He wants us to turn away from them. Does that mean that we will not mess up and fall? No! The Bible says, “A righteous man falls seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes” (Proverbs 24:16). The Word of God is clear that the righteous will fall, but we do not stay down. We get back up and keep on striving, whereas the wicked will keep stumbling in their sin, not because they could not get help, but because they loved what they were doing. God, however, wants us to be of a different mindset and take on the mind of Christ. Therefore, when we know that we have done wrong, we are to repent of our sins to Jesus and ask Him to help us be delivered from them. He died so that we do not have to bear the guilt of sin, but we can be free in Him. Something to ponder….