August 21, 2012 … God Cares for ALL

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 234 

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Jeremiah 46-48 [NLT] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: Jeremiah 46: 1-2; 27-28 :[NLT] … 1 The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the LORD concerning foreign nations. 2 This message concerning Egypt was given in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, on the occasion of the battle of Carchemish when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, and his army were defeated beside the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. … 27 “But do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel. For I will bring you home again from distant lands, and your children will return from their exile.Israel will return to a life of peace and quiet, and no one will terrorize them. 28 Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, for I am with you,” says the LORD. “I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished.” 
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Highlight Passage: Jeremiah 47: 1; 4 :[NLT] … 1 This is the LORD’s message to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines of Gaza, before it was captured by the Egyptian army. … 4 “The time has come for the Philistines to be destroyed, along with their allies from Tyre and Sidon. Yes, the LORD is destroying the remnant of the Philistines, those colonists from the island of Crete. ============
Highlight Passage: Jeremiah 48: 1-2a; 7; 11-13; 29-31; 46-47 :[NLT] … 1 This message was given concerning Moab. This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “What sorrow awaits the city of Nebo; it will soon lie in ruins. The city of Kiriathaim will be humiliated and captured; the fortress will be humiliated and broken down.2 No one will ever brag about Moab again, … 7 Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill, you will be taken captive. Your god Chemosh, with his priests and princes, will be exiled to distant lands! … 11 “From her earliest history, Moab has lived in peace. She is like wine that has been allowed to settle. She has not been poured from flask to flask, and she is now fragrant and smooth. 12 But the time is coming soon,” says the LORD, “when I will send troublemakers to pour her from her jar. They will pour her out, then shatter the jar! 13 At last Moab will be ashamed of her idol Chemosh, as Israel was ashamed of her gold calf at Bethel. … 29 We have heard of the pride of Moab, for it is very great. We know of her loftiness, her arrogance, and her haughty heart. 30 I know about her insolence,” says the LORD, “but her boasts are false; they accomplish nothing. 31 Yes, I wail for Moab; my heart is broken for the men of Kir-hareseth. [A city in Moab] … 46 “O Moab, your destruction is sure! The people of the god Chemosh are destroyed! Your sons and daughters have been taken away as captives. 47 But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Moab,” says the LORD. This is the end of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning Moab.  
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Reference Study Passage : John 3: 16 [NLT] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 
Reference Study Passage : 1st Peter 5: 7 [NLT] Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. 

My Journal for Today: After reading through and studying the three chapters in Jeremiah presented for my Chronological Bible reading assignment today [Chapters 46-48 in Jeremiah’s journal], it was pretty easy to see a theme title for these passages, which you can read I penned above - God Cares for ALL!

And I capitalized the “ALL” because, as a New Covenant Christian, having the entire New Testament available to me and the entire Bible giving me God’s full story, I can see – and do believe – the truth of the two reference citations I’ve copied above from John 3: 16 (which you probably have memorized) and 1st Peter 5: 7, both of which clearly declare that God loves ALL of humanity, which was His ultimate creation.

And so we read Jeremiah documenting how God, the caring heavenly Father, prophesied to nations who were not only His chosen peoples, i.e., Israel and Judah, but caring enough to call out even the enemies of His people, the Jews. In these three chapters we read of God’s word to three of what were arch enemies of the Israelites … Egypt, Philistia, and Moab. And yes, certainly these were prophesies about the coming demise of these nations at the hands of the Babylonians; but as you can read in the last verse of Chapter 48 concerning the Moabites, the ancestors of Lot, God’s prophesy also included His promise of restoration, which was primarily directed toward any – and there were a few – who had held on in faith to the commands and promises which had come down to all of God’s children through Moses.

Here’s what my Parson’s Commentary says about what God laid out for these non-Jewish nations in Chapter 46: “In this chapter, we gain several insights about God and his plan for this world. (1) Although God chose Israel for a special purpose, he loves all people and wants all to come to him. (2) God is holy and will not tolerate sin. (3) God’s judgments are not based on prejudice and a desire for revenge but on fairness and justice. (4) God does not delight in judgment but in salvation. (5) God is impartial—he judges everyone by the same standard.”

And that’s what we always need to remember when we’re either called to the mission fields or convicted to support those who go in response to the Great Commission or Acts 1: 8, … i.e., those who are called to be agents of God’s love of the world, again as we read in John 3: 16. I do hope (and pray) that we all have a Christian WORLD VIEW of God’s love, especially when we feel the oppression of so many enemies of Christianity who do all they can to persecute or even kill the concept or reality of Christianity in our culture. But God does love ALL of humanity; and He desires that ALL come to know Him as their Savior.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, You love the world and ALL of Your peoples; and so, help me to do likewise!!! Amen