Today’s Reading, Jeremiah 46-48
Focal Scripture: Jeremiah 47:6 “Oh, sword of the Lord! How long will you be restless? Go back to your sheath; be still; be silent!”
The sword of the Lord is powerful and it is just. One of God’s divine attributes is his justice. He will deal with people rightly and justly. In the chapters we have read today God is declaring justice and judgement in the nations that surround Israel. Why? Because they worship other gods. They make sacrifices to false gods. Then they also attack Israel. These reasons demonstrate that God wants these nations to repent but they choose sin over repentance.
In today’s focal verse we see just how powerful God’s judgement is amongst the nations. The question comes up of how long will the sword of the Lord be restless. This tells us that the Lord’s sword is doing much work. It is fulfilling its job and exacting judgement on the people. It is so severe they want it to go back to the sheath. They long for it to be silent. They want the judgement to end.
We need to understand this in our American culture. What is happening here is that sinners are being judged. They are being held accountable for their actions and their worship. I know in our culture we believe that there are many ways to heaven. You can worship how you please and in most cases live how you want without repercussions. However, that is not accurate. Every decision we make has long lasting implications.
We must understand that we will all be judged. The sword of the Lord is coming for us all. For some people the judgement will take place because you refuse to submit to God. For others it will happen because you worship false gods. Then for the believer judgement will come our way but the sword will be stopped because we have been forgiven. The one who exacts justice will recognize that the sin has been paid in full.
Today’s main point is that judgement is coming for us all. The sword of the Lord is bearing down on all people. Whether we get punished or not depends on our hearts posture. Have you submitted to the Lord today? Or do you engage in a battle that you are unable to win?
It matters and we need to realize our God is just and our God is fair with all people.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Jeremiah 49-50
