Today’s Reading, Jeremiah 51-52
Focal Scripture: Jeremiah 52:3
“Because of the Lord’s anger, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he finally banished them from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.”
Being banished has to be difficult. If you have ever been ostracized from a friend group you have an idea what that is like. A person or group makes a decision to exclude another for a variety of reasons. This banishment can seem harsh or possibly not fair.
In today’s reading we do not see a human banish another human. We see God banish the king Zedekiah. Why? Because he did what was evil in the site of the Lord. Then we see the Lord was angry over the evil acts they were committing and banished them from his presence. This are strong and powerful words.
We must understand that God takes sin and evil very serious. These actions require a punishment. They require death. Thankfully God is patient with us as people and provides numerous chances to respond to his truth. However, one day sin will be banished from the Earth. Sinners will be banished to hell. Evil will be dealt with severely and justly.
We as believers must always remind ourselves the seriousness of sin. Sin is a disease. It causes all of the problems we see around us. God hates sin. God has a plan for sin. He has given us a way out but too often people pick darkness instead of light. Let us be a people who seek the light. We must be a people who spread the light to those who are on the path of being banished from the Lord’s presence.
Sin is serious. God judges sin. Let us be people who walk in the light.
Tomorrow I plan on reading Lamentations 1-2
