August 20 - Jeremiah 39-41
Here, Jeremiah recounts the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. This was the sad result of the failure of the people to repent, but Jeremiah had been telling them this would happen for a long time. They would not listen to him, but the enemy let him out of prison. I realize why they did this. They knew he had been telling the people to surrender to them. However, it is ironic that Jeremiah was treated better by the enemies of God's people than by God's people themselves. I don't know about you, but I have had that happen to me several times in my life. Sometimes, God's people are disoriented to God's will, and they oppose it, and they oppose those who promote God's will. That is a sad state of affairs.
Then, the Ethiopian who released Jeremiah from the dungeon of miry clay was given special treatment, too. This shows how God will bless unbelievers who do the right thing, and at the same time, He will punish believers, who sin against Him. God is just, and He always upholds righteousness.
Also, we see that Jeremiah's prophecy that Zedekiah would not be killed came true. He did have his eyes put out, but he was taken alive to Babylon, just like Jeremiah said he would be. Finally, the terrible state of sin of God's people led to the death of the new governor, Gedaliah. This shows how low the people of God had sunk. They would cooperate with the Ammonites to overthrow their our government by murdering their leader. This is support for what I tell people all the time. Sin makes you stupid. God's people had fallen into the depths of sin and stupidity at this point in their history. We will see even more in the following chapters.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 42-44.
Then, the Ethiopian who released Jeremiah from the dungeon of miry clay was given special treatment, too. This shows how God will bless unbelievers who do the right thing, and at the same time, He will punish believers, who sin against Him. God is just, and He always upholds righteousness.
Also, we see that Jeremiah's prophecy that Zedekiah would not be killed came true. He did have his eyes put out, but he was taken alive to Babylon, just like Jeremiah said he would be. Finally, the terrible state of sin of God's people led to the death of the new governor, Gedaliah. This shows how low the people of God had sunk. They would cooperate with the Ammonites to overthrow their our government by murdering their leader. This is support for what I tell people all the time. Sin makes you stupid. God's people had fallen into the depths of sin and stupidity at this point in their history. We will see even more in the following chapters.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 42-44.