faithfulness of God – Be Still…

Lamentations 3:1-24 – Is There Hope?

Read Lamentations 3:1-24

Chapter 3 presents a triple acrostic, so we’ll split up this chapter a bit so we can reflect a bit on each thought. We hear first in our reading today from the perspective of God’s people experiencing deep spiritual sufferings. Like a breath of fresh air, we are also returned to a sense of hope. No matter how dark our times may seem, it is always good to know there will be a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

It’s good for us to remember what happened to the people of Jerusalem. Those are “our” people as believers in Christ. They were Jesus’ people, too. These laments give us a picture of what our future could be if we continue to distance ourselves from God. Why should it be any different for those who stray to other “gods” in our day?

Ezra 9:1-15 – Cry Out to God

Read Ezra 9:1-15

Have you ever been in Ezra’s shoes, totally disgusted with the sinful behaviors surrounding you? It’s hard to not become embarrassed by the way some people choose to live their lives. This frustration is nothing new. The people God has created have a long history of making bad choices. Remember Adam and Eve?

Ezra chose to take his anguish to God in prayer. As if to apologize for all mankind, Ezra speaks of polluted holy race. Clearly the implications of intermarriage in Ezra’s day, and for generations before, amplified the chasm of sin keeping people for experiencing God’s best for them. What would Adam and Eve’s lives looked like if they had resisted the serpent’s cleverness? What would the Israelite people have looked like had they not intermarried people who distracted them from God’s laws?

Nahum 3:8-13 – False Sense of Security

Read Nahum 3:8-13

The city of Thebes was the center of the Egyptian Empire for nearly 1400 years! They fell at the hands of the Assyrians in 663 B.C. Yet Nahum boldly asks Nineveh, “Are you any better than the city of Thebes, situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water?” Of course, arrogant Nineveh would answer, “Yes! We defeated them, didn’t we?” Yet Nahum taunts them just the same using yet another metaphor.

Nahum’s provocation is not meant to compare the relative strengths of the two empires, but to announce that human might is nothing compared to God’s power. This oracle is directed at Nineveh’s false sense of security. They apparently thought they were immune to the wrath of God. We probably know plenty of people even today that have that same false sense of security.

Jeremiah 46:1-28 – All Part of God’s Plan

Read Jeremiah 46:1-28

To the political world as well, including nations surrounding Israel, God has spoken. Today’s passage is devoted to Egypt. We can’t help but pay special attention to that nation’s fate since that’s the last place we know Jeremiah to have been. However, the destruction Jeremiah prophesies about here was fulfilled years before Jeremiah arrived.

When I first read through this, I thought this prophecy was the exact thing Jeremiah was now walking into. I had marveled at how surreal that would have been. We already encountered the fact the chapters in the book of Jeremiah aren’t in chronological order.

2 Kings 9:1-13 – Being Used by God

Read 2 Kings 9:1-13

man facing away from camera with right arm extended up in offering with sun rays beaming off of him

Often, prophets deliver unpleasant news. Today, the recruited prophet was going to anoint the next king of Israel and deliver news of prophecy that would soon be fulfilled. All to his own peril! Why else would he be told by Elisha to flee? The new king would not waste any time in implementing the punishment against Ahab’s dynasty.

This unnamed prophet, while bold and brave, was not the only one being used by God. Jehu would become the next king, and he would be God’s instrument to do away with the family of Ahab, just as Elijah had predicted some 20 years earlier. God’s timing had brought everyone to this turning point.