November 11, 2011
God is in control. He made the heavens and earth, its people, and all the animals. He can decide what He wants to do and when He wants to do it. This time He decided to use His servant Nebuchadnezzar (notice I said "servant" NOT "follower"), as a means to fulfill His purpose. God had delivered the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. He removed them from Pharaoh's control. He gave them the land He promised. He did all He promised and yet the Israelites still continued to wander from Him and refused to obey His commands.
So God decided to put them in captivity again, this time for 70 years. Not every single Israelite refused to obey, but they were all subject to the discipline. It was how they handled the discipline that determined what their outcome would be. If they submitted to God's will (captivity under Nebuchadnezzar) they would live. If they refused to surrender to God's authority they would be destroyed. God was using Nebuchadnezzar to further His agenda. He was God's servant for this period of time. When God was finished using him He would hold him accountable for all the years he had done things against God.
So the Israelites had a choice. Surrender—OR—Disobedience. There were all sorts of prophets who tried to convince them that everything would be fine, they would not need to go into captivity, that captivity wouldn't last long, etc. Hananiah was one of them. Shemaiah was another, and God held them both accountable. God told His people over and over, "Don't listen to them! They are prophesying lies to you. Don't listen to (them)." Some of the Israelites chose to listen to the message they wanted to hear instead of listening to God's truth.
Things happened along the way to show them who was "saying" this was God's message and who was truly giving them God's message, but some of them still chose to believe what they wanted to hear instead of choosing to believe the truth. They refused to surrender to God's authority. A false prophet's message can sound good. It can be close to the truth, but it is not the truth. God (through Jeremiah) kept saying—Listen! Listen to me! You are to surrender to this captivity. I will keep you safe while you are there. And when it it time for it to be over, I will bring you safely out of it and return you to your land. But you must surrender to my authority.
You can be stubborn and refuse to surrender to God's will but that doesn't mean your plans will bring you success or help you to win. Oh, it may appear that you have achieved your goals, and you may think you have won. But, God is in control. What He says will happen—will happen. If necessary He will do what He says in Isaiah 37:29 - "I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. Then I will force you to leave my country the same way you came."
Jeremiah warned Hananiah but he didn't care and arrogantly continued on. Jeremiah told him, "The LORD says, 'I will remove you from the earth...' " and several months later God fulfilled His promise. God's will WILL be done. It will prevail.
Next Entry: Jeremiah 27:1 – 29:32 (Continued)
God is in control. He made the heavens and earth, its people, and all the animals. He can decide what He wants to do and when He wants to do it. This time He decided to use His servant Nebuchadnezzar (notice I said "servant" NOT "follower"), as a means to fulfill His purpose. God had delivered the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. He removed them from Pharaoh's control. He gave them the land He promised. He did all He promised and yet the Israelites still continued to wander from Him and refused to obey His commands.
So God decided to put them in captivity again, this time for 70 years. Not every single Israelite refused to obey, but they were all subject to the discipline. It was how they handled the discipline that determined what their outcome would be. If they submitted to God's will (captivity under Nebuchadnezzar) they would live. If they refused to surrender to God's authority they would be destroyed. God was using Nebuchadnezzar to further His agenda. He was God's servant for this period of time. When God was finished using him He would hold him accountable for all the years he had done things against God.
So the Israelites had a choice. Surrender—OR—Disobedience. There were all sorts of prophets who tried to convince them that everything would be fine, they would not need to go into captivity, that captivity wouldn't last long, etc. Hananiah was one of them. Shemaiah was another, and God held them both accountable. God told His people over and over, "Don't listen to them! They are prophesying lies to you. Don't listen to (them)." Some of the Israelites chose to listen to the message they wanted to hear instead of listening to God's truth.
Things happened along the way to show them who was "saying" this was God's message and who was truly giving them God's message, but some of them still chose to believe what they wanted to hear instead of choosing to believe the truth. They refused to surrender to God's authority. A false prophet's message can sound good. It can be close to the truth, but it is not the truth. God (through Jeremiah) kept saying—Listen! Listen to me! You are to surrender to this captivity. I will keep you safe while you are there. And when it it time for it to be over, I will bring you safely out of it and return you to your land. But you must surrender to my authority.
You can be stubborn and refuse to surrender to God's will but that doesn't mean your plans will bring you success or help you to win. Oh, it may appear that you have achieved your goals, and you may think you have won. But, God is in control. What He says will happen—will happen. If necessary He will do what He says in Isaiah 37:29 - "I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. Then I will force you to leave my country the same way you came."
Jeremiah warned Hananiah but he didn't care and arrogantly continued on. Jeremiah told him, "The LORD says, 'I will remove you from the earth...' " and several months later God fulfilled His promise. God's will WILL be done. It will prevail.
Next Entry: Jeremiah 27:1 – 29:32 (Continued)
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