Seeing The King, Face To Face

Zedekiah was king during this time, yet we see how weak willed of puppet he was when it came to his ungodly officials.

Jeremiah had been given the hard task to deliver the Lord’s warning. At this point in time the former king Jehoiakim was dead and Zedekiah his brother replaced him. Jehoaikim’s son ruled for a very short time but the King of Babylon took him captive and Mattaniah, whose name was changed to Zedekiah replaced him.

At this point, Jeremiah had been faithfully proclaiming the message for considerable time and suffered opposition under the wicked Jehoaikim’s reign.

Now Jeremiah is faced with more opposition during the reign of Zedekiah. Unlike Jehoaikim who outright was an aggressor toward the prophet Jeremiah- Zedekiah was merely more of a passive pushover, a participant of the evil officials who wanted him dead.

Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.” “He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”
Jeremiah 38:4-5 –

Zedekiah could have put his foot down. He chose to passively let evil go on and did not stop it. Sadly Zedekiah chose fear of man over fear of God.

Later on Jeremiah is brought to ask him a question:

Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.” Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.” But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.” Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live. But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from them.’” King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.” “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you: “‘They misled you and overcame you— those trusted friends of yours. Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you.’ “All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will be burned down.”
Jeremiah 38:14-23 –

Zedekiah says “I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

Jeremiah promises Zedekiah that his life will be spared if only he obeys, “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.”

Sadly Zedekiah does the opposite when the Babylonians do lay siege

In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed toward the Arabah. But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. Jeremiah 39:1-7 –

After killing Zedekiah’s sons before his own eyes, Nebuchadnezzar gouges out Zedekiah’s eyes so that was the last thing he remembered seeing. Terrible way to go! Yet Zedekiah let his fear of those nobles imfluence his life- the nobles were killed by the sword in front of him. Zedekiah feared the Jews who Nebuchadnezzar deported. Yet he should not have.

Ironically, none of the people Zedekiah feared became his actual problem, but the King of Babylon did,

Lets rewind earlier on before this: “Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. Jeremiah 32:3-4 –

Zedekiah would see the King of Babylon face to face. Yet if he had only submitted to the King of Babylon, like God commanded, it would have gone well for him. If Zedekiah humbled himself and surrendered, good would come, but no, his end fate was terrible.

Many too will be brought before a great King and speak “face to face” – not the a King of Babylon but the King of all the earth, the Lord Himself. Zedekiah is kind of in a way a lesson for us. Though different times and different situation, we will all one day stand before our Creator at the end of our lives and be face ro face with one who will judge our lives according to His Holy standard.

Like Zedekiah who failed to make peace with Nebuchadnezzar- many will face Holy God at judgement and realize their terrible mistake. Many unfortunately will choose to try to keep the reality of God far from them in this life, like Zedekiah tried to keep the encroaching Babylonian army out of his mind. In vain they will close the door on the knowledge of God and do so all their lives until they see the King face to face.

Yet in this time we are in, there is time to respond. Many will let the people around them talk them out of doing what they know they ought to do- like Zedekiah let his officials do to him. Many fear if they surrender to Christ that they will get persecuted. Zedekiah let his fears of people bring about his destruction.

Yet how will you respond reader? Have you made your peace with a holy God and received his invitation to be at peace with him? Or will you make your heart hard like the walls of Jerusalem under siege? Those walls were forcefully broken through and likewise there is only so long one can keep God out, He will break through in judgement and has the power to set fire! Yet He offers peace to those who open the door and let Him in

People Who Hated Truth But Loved Lies and Oppression

We see here the sad condition of the nation at this time. There were those who “oppress the innocent” and those who took bribes. The courts were overrun with wicked judges who could be bought with bribes. Then it says “The prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil”

And basically I am led to believe that those who did know what was right were afraid to speak truth because they were the minority and most of the people around them were wicked.

Isaiah 59:12-15 described this nation in this way

For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

Isaiah 59:12-15 –

•rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. 

•Truth is nowhere to be found,

•Whoever shuns evil becomes prey

Truth was hated in these times. Those who spoke truth were often victims of “oppression” by these people who “uttered lies” that their “hearts have conceived.

Its also interesting to note that at the very beginning of this same passage, Isaiah 59, we see how the nation was suffering the effect of sins and foolishness. Yet God was not willing to heal their land, why?

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

Isaiah 59:1-4 –

These people wanted their problems to disapear, but were not willing to change their ways. They wanted God to fix their nations problems, but did not want to humble themselves before the Lord and turn from their sin.

In fact whenever God sent messengers to try to get these people to turn from sin, they relied on “oppression” and told the Lord’s messengers to be quiet and “get out of here!”

Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness. For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”

Isaiah 30:8-14 –

•”Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.”

These people did not want anything to do with “right” but prefered pleasant lies over the truth.

•Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”

In essence they were saying “Stop preaching at us and leave us be, stop bringing up the name of God and reminding us of our sins”

Sound familiar? 

Yet God warned them that such disaster was coming and it would cost them dearly,

Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”

The truth is that rejection of truth and the message has a price, whether the people who reject it believe it or not. We see it was about to happen “Suddenly”

So often things do not immediately backfire on us when we are on a sinful course, yet when it does happen it is like that of a terrible collapse. 

There will come judgement. There will be eternal repercussions on top of that- and to reject Christ and His message brings eternal disaster. There comes a point in time where God’s offer of grace and chance to be forgiven run out and He eventual judges sin.

We are wise if we respond while we still have the offer, and not put off that decision.

Greed, Which Is Idolatry

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. Colossians 3:5-6

The Bible puts “greed” as being just as sinful as idol worship. We see how many people will do all sorts of things for money. And truly, if you want to know what someone’s god is, you will know it by whatever they would do anything for.

Idols are not always statues. Idols can even be ideals and agendas people have, idols can be preference. We see that anything, anyone, or any opinion that is contrary to following the One true God.

It is no surprise money can be an idol to a lot of people, but there are many things that can be added to the list. Yet the truth is, to serve the Lord leaves no option for competing gods.

In 2 Chronicles 17:24-40, the King of Assyria invaded northern Israel and deported the people of Israel. After that, he repopulated the land with people from other lands. These people from other places were worshiping idols and their gods- so the “Lord sent lions among them” and when the king of Assyria found out about it, he had one of the priests that were captives of Israel go and teach the new inhabitants what the Lord required

It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.” Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.
2 Kings 17:26-28 –

Unfortunately many of the people resettled their ignored what was taught and

Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. 2 Kings 17:29-33 –

Interesting thing to note is “They worshipped the Lord, BUT they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

When it came down to it, the Lord demands we worship Him as God and not have our side gods and idols in addition. We must choose, Him or the other gods.

That is like being in a relationship asking the person you are with to be ok with you also dating other people on the side. It does not work that way. Either we will be devoted to God or not, and when it came to money, Jesus said, “24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24 –

Siding With The Angry Mob

But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go. Acts 17:5-9 –

What?! The Roman officials sides with the angry Jewish rioters? See what the officials do? They make Jason post bond.

Ah but as we see, the world was not a friend to the early Christians. It was true the Jews hated the Romans, but they hated Christ followers even worse. So when it came down to it, if Roman could be used as a chip to persecute believers, then the Romans suddenly did not seem so bad to the Jews. Yet Jesus warned that if people hated him, they would hate his followers also.

20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
John 15:20 –

We see what happened to Jesus, earlier on, the Jews turned on Jesus, and the Roman authority who presided in that region chose to side with the angry crowd

Pilate, a weak willed Roman govenor saw Jesus’s innocence yet sided with a Jewish mob that demanded his crucifixion. The Jews suddenly changed how they felt about Rome when it helped them accomplish killing Jesus

But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
John 19:15-16 –

We see several things: one Pilatr had authority to release Jesus, and he himself said,

Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
Luke 23:4 –

Yet Pilate let fear of human beings lead him to sin. The Jews threatened him by saying,

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” John 19:12 –

What caused Pilate to reject Christ? Pilate obviously knew who Jesus was. The details of the story show Pilate was afraid and amazed when he encountered Jesus

“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. Mark 15:2-5 –

The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, John 19:7-8 –

Why would Pilate be afraid? Well obviously Pilate was forced to choose between the fear of knowing Jesus was exactly who he claimed to be, versus his fear of doing the right thing and possibly losing his political position as Roman governor.

When the Jews said, ““If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

Pilate finally conceded to their angry demands and allows Jesus to be crucified

When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
John 19:13-16 –

Pilate though he knew full well Jesus was the Christ, still caves and rejects the gift of God. Yet many people too will turn their back on Jesus now even though deep down they do believe. In Pilates case, his fear of losing political power held him back. His fear of how he would look, held him back.

May it be someone reading this who does not know Christ or has committed to him may consider carefully, “What holds you back? Are you letting fear of people or some other fear cause you to refuse to make a decision you know you need to make.

Even Godly People Have Flaws

Even godly people have flaws and weakness. We see the Bible is full of stories where great people of God had their weaknesses.

Lets just look at a few examples of great leaders in Scripture who did right but had moments of weakness and personal shortcomings

King David, David had been called by the Lord a man after God’s own heart but failed to guard his eyes and it led him to adultery (see 2 Samuel chapter 11)

We see Jehoshaphat king of Judah was spoken of very highly in Scripture, but he made the mistake of getting mixed up with the wrong people a number of times. (2 Chronicles 19:1-3) (2 Chronicles 20:35-37)

King Jotham later ruled and “walked steadfastly before the Lord his God”
Yet he failed as king in removing the high-places in the land (2 Kings 15:35)

Hezekiah later rules as the grandson of Jotham. We see Hezekiah trusted God like no one else, “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.
2 Kings 18:5 –

Yet Hezekiah almost died as the result of letting his heart grow proud, (2 Chronicles 32:24-26)

Later the great grandson of Hezekiah, Josiah ruled over Judah and he did so many wonderful reforms to cleanse the land of idol worship, but fails in a moment by picking a fight with the king of Egypt who is marching that way to face the King of Babylon in battle. Josiah picked a fight he should have stayed out of. (2 Chronicles 35:20-24)

We see that even those who love the Lord and faithfully serve him are not immune to mistakes or weaknesses. We all have them. So we should learn from examples of those we see who lived before us and learn from their mistakes. We should daily meditate on the truths in God’s Word and pray as Jesus taught us to. We should work to strengthen our weaknesses while not getting discouraged that we have them.

As we let God’s Word continue to correct us, and as we respond humbly and submit to what He is showing us, we will continue to grow into what we are called to be!

Social Distancing From Negativity

Some of the best social distancing you will do is from turning off the news and distancing from the negativity. Turn of the TV, enjoy the great outdoors and open your Bible. Social distance from the nonsense you see and fill your day with positive things instead. Many times bad attitudes spread faster then viruses. People open their mouths and cough out gossip and trash talk. Distance yourself from them.

Watching What We Consume In Our Minds

Many people read the ingredient labels on food before they put it in their bodies by eating it. Yet too many people consume just whatever comes through their visual senses and ears. We ought to be just as careful what we listen to and watch as we do what we eat. We can suffer negative physical effects by eating too much junk food. Yet we can suffer ill emotional affects by not guarding our eyes or ears from what we see and listen to.

For example: you going to just eat something a random stranger offers you? Why then should we listen to gossip of someone we hardly know about another person.

We would be wise if we did not automatically believe everything we hear.

The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.
Proverbs 14:15 –

Look closely: “The simple believe anything”

Believe is the verb, anything is the noun

“But the prudent give thought to their steps”

See how the prudent person is examining themselves more then focusing on others. They are more busy examining their own life that they do not have as much time to believe everything they are told about this person, or that thing or exct.

Yet the simple just “believe anything” and are not discerning in what they listen to. So it is true with us, if we are wise and prudent we will give more careful thought to working on ourselves that we won’t have nearly as much time to fault find or believe everything we hear about others.

The Need For True Soldiers

But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. [Philippians 2:25]

When we think of the term “soldier” do we think of someone who is soft, danty, delicate and timid. Do we think of someone who hides in time of battle afraid they may get shot? No. In fact if you become a soldier in the US army, the marines or any military branch. They have a high set of standards for you. They pick quality fighters not weak folks who are timid and scared. They pick people who are willing to get shot, and not cowardly folks.

Likewise being a “soldier” in Christ is not for pansies. It is not for the softies. As Christ followers we must be strong and not let the fear of people or their insults or shrink back and cower in some corner because someone does not “like us”

Jesus warned we would face persecution. American Christianity has kind of grown soft. We are not supposed to be soft- but soldiers.

How do we become more fit? Well, in the army, as far as I know, they have to go through daily physical training and do pushups regularly. This turns a soft soldier into a strong soldier. Likewise, in this time, we too must train ourselves rigorously. We should make a daily exercise of reading God’s Word and prayer.

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 –

We see here Paul uses the word train yourselves. To do what, “be godly” and Jesus said that we must “If anyone would come after me they must deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me”

Self denial? Yes we are called to through God’s enabling Spirit deny the pulls of our sinful nature. We must deny ourselves by letting people or the culture around us shape us to fit their mold, just to like us. Self denial included being willing to stand true to our convictions and what we hold true, even if we lose friends, get laughed at or even sorely persecuted.

We have I feel to some degree as Western Christians gotten to comfortable with the lack of persecution we have faced. Yet in this time more then prior times, we need to be firm and resolute to what the Bible says is true. We should not let fear of the people of the world firing shots at us for our commitment. We should not let the world and rapidly decomposing culture around us cause us to compromise. We should speak truth, gently, with respect, but uncompromisingly as well- not letting fear of insults or ridicule deter us.

In this time we see this playing out. We see so often if you voice a contrary belief on this or that, you become a “bigot” or “a hater”

Yet if you spoke the truth in kindness it does not matter what they say or what they think of you really, and if they say that, and ones conscience is clean- then that makes such people liars. For it says “You shall not bear false testimony against your neighbor” so if you speak in love and kindness and people slander you because they do not like the truth.

Its one thing to speak what is true in harshness or a condescending tone- that we should not do, yet if we keep clear conscience and season our words with gentleness and kindness- while saying what is true then we are considered blessed

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
1 Peter 3:15-17 –

Soldiers are tough. So that means that abuse we get verbally from the world- we should be strong and respond meekly. Unflinching and stick to our resolve to continue to follow Christ

Sermon: When God Abandons A Nation To It’s Sinful Devices

“Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” Jeremiah 50:17 –

We see here for the stubborn sin filled nation, Assyria was “the first to devour them” and “the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

We see how poetically worded these disasters God allowed were, and what was the problem with these people?

Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
Jeremiah 5:3 –

They kept resisting the message of the Lord and “refused to repent”

We see trouble in our times also, in our nation the first calamity that has taken this world by surprise was a virus. Yet there are other severe things crushing our nation right now, we see mass riots all across the USA and destruction, chaos, animosity between people and alot of blaming going on.

Yet hopefully it won’t be said of us what God said of His nation Israel,

Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. By the wrath of the Lord Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire; they will not spare one another. On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring: Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
Isaiah 9:18-21 –

What does God do with this nation that once was his “chosen people”- do to their rejecting him and turning to other gods, God gave them over to the stubbornness of their own sinful hearts.

When a nation for a large part rejects the knowledge of God and turns it’s back on Him, we can expect this to happen

“But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
Psalm 81:11-12 –

We could see it was not working out for them that well. We see “Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”

Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah were all tribes within Israel at large. Through the forsaking of the law of the Lord their God, we see violence toward eachother, their own people escalated and increased! What do you know about that? These people who one time unanimously were “God’s people” were at violent odds fighting and devouring each other through bloody civil conflict.

Yet America can too learn from such an example. After all, if God did not spare His own prized possession he once delighted to free from bondage in Egypt, what makes our country think it’s any more favored then these traitors.

Truth be told, any nation that rejects God and desires nothing of His ways, cannot expect his favor, blessings or peace. Lets look how God responded when the people cried for God to fix their problems, without any desire to change their ways

Isaiah 57:13 says “When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”

God is saying, why do you ask my help now you have pushed me out of your nation? No! Cry out to those useless idols you abandoned me for, let them save you, and you know, you will find that they wont.”

Yet God leaves the door open for someone who sincerely repents of their sin and turns to Him, thats what the gospel is all about

“If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,” declares the Lord. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ then the nations will invoke blessings by him and in him they will boast. ” This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it. Jeremiah 4:1-4 –

Our nation may not collectively as a whole repent, but anyone who does can be saved and forgiven. God is merciful toward each of us who turn from sinful ways and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ

37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
John 6:37 –

Reader if you are reading this today, please take heart what I have written. There is no sin too great that Christ cannot forgive, the only unpardonable offense is to reject Jesus entirely and go on in sin. Yet if you turn to Him for your cleansing, you will be healed.

Lesson From The Ninevites

Though Jonah at first tried to bail his assignment, eventually through hard persuasion he reluctantly goes.
Jonah finally obeys the Lord and goes proclaiming through Ninevah what God was planning to do. They respond as a large city in repentance:

Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah 3:4-10 –

Imagine that? This was a very large city, extremely populated. To get a better understanding in our modern sense how big this was- lets imagine someone like Jonah going through some place big like New York City, or Los Angelos, or a place like San Fransisco or Chicago. Imagine if Jonah was going through one of those cities of maybe some other large city in the world proclaiming that message.
Yet the Ninevites respond to God’s threat and make themselves low. So God relents. Though it be hard for us to imagine a large city like that responding in such one accord, it happened with Nineveh though.

When Jesus came with his message of repentance and faith. We see Jesus came across often a very different response. In fact most rejected His message, and he warned them
Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” Matthew 11:20-24 –

Find it interesting, Jonah did not perform a single miracle to get the Ninevites to respond. All he did was basically say “Fourty more days and God is going to wipe you off the face of the earth” They then believed God, and responded accordingly.

Yet Chorizan, Bethsaida, and Capernaum saw more evidence yet still “they did not repent.”
What is Jesus saying? The more exposure people have to the message yet reject it, will be held even more guilty of refusal to believe and repent.

Those who have had more exposure to the gospel and the truth and reject it will face even more severe judgement. So it is always wise we do not reject what we hear and harden our hearts. It is possible to have been shown enough to believe and repent and still turn away.