Study from God’s Word… Jeremiah 36: 1 - 4; Jer. 45: 1 – 5; Jer. 36: 5 - 32 … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 36: 23 – 24 … NIV 23 Whenever Jehudi [the agent for Jehoiakim, King of Judah] had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes.
My Journal for Today: Just this past week an activist US District Judge (his name is Vaughn Walker) defiantly declared that the controversial “Prop 8” California constitutional amendment, passed by the citizens of CA, declaring for traditional marriage and banning gay marriage, was unconstitutional and thereby null and void. In doing so, this one judge has deactivated the vote of the citizens of California and made his own law which has also, in turn, declared (in the legal opinion Walker wrote) that no law can be based on the premise of faith or faith traditions. So, … in the headlines of our times we have a very similar case to what happened when the King of Judah, Jehoiakim, bad son of the good King Josiah, ordered that Jeremiah’s prophesies of God’s word, which had been written down in a scroll, be cut up and burned.
It is sad; but I don’t think that Judge Walker has a clue as to the ramifications of his declared legal opinion … just like King Jehoiakim (see verse 24 above) was so brazen about his decision to burn the truth of God written down in Jeremiah’s scroll [which BTW was later restored and re-written]. Now we don’t know what will happen in the appeals process since this District Court opinion will be challenged. It may ultimately be restored by the US Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court; but like Jehoiakim’s challenge of God’s word and will, Judge Walker has acted brazenly to affront God’s written truth. Prop 8 in California was simply a written affirmation of thousands of years of Judeo-Christian values concerning marriage; and it is affirmed by the Bible itself. Judge Walker saw fit to write his legal “tearing up” of Prop 8; and in the process struck out directly and brazenly against God’s way and His will. And like God’s recompense against Jehoiakim, somehow and in some way, Judge Walker is going to pay God for his actions. May God have mercy on him; and may he repent of his decision before God’s hammer of wrath falls as it did on Jehoiakim and his family (see Jeremiah 36: 30 – 31).
But even more importantly for you and me is the application of God’s word in Jer. 36 for our personal lives and how we follow God’s word. And testing this premise, Dr. Smith closes his devotional for today with one of his redundant personal challenges, writing, ”Are there any verses ‘MISSING’ from my Bible (application) because I’ve purposefully chosen to ignore them?” Because, … if the answer to the latter question is “YES,” we are no better in living out our lives than was Jehoiakim trying to eradicate God’s written word or Judge Walker trying to make Judeo-Christian truths null and void in support of gay marriage.
We simply cannot treat God’s word like a smorgasbord, blissfully taking in things which seem to be easy for our palates and ignoring those parts of our truth diet we find difficult to consume. God’s word is ALL truth, as declared by the Apostle Paul to his young Mentee in 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17, … ALL of it is necessary for our living our lives; and we cannot “tear out” concepts or pages from it because they don’t seem appealing to our tastes. We cannot be like Jehoiakim or Judge Walker; because if we do, we risk the very wrath of God coming down like it did for the defiant king in today’s historical account of Jehoiakim or it very likely will for Judge Walker.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that I – and any who read here – take this lesson to heart and live by ALL of Your word … ALL of the time. Amen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment