Study from God’s Word… Jeremiah, Chapters 3 – 5: 13 … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 3: 11, 19-20, 22a … NIV The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.” … 19 "I myself said, " 'How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.' I thought you would call me 'Father' and not turn away from following me. 20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O House of Israel. … 22 "Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding."
Also NKJV translation: Jeremiah 3: 11 … 11 Then the LORD said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Word Study from Jer. 3: 11:
Faithless/backsliding (Israel) – Hebrew – “meshuwbah” [pron. “meshu –vah”]
Unfaithful/treacherous (Judah) – Hebrew – “bagad” [pron. “by-gad”]
My Journal for Today: In today’s reading from the Chronological Bible in Jeremiah 3 – 5, and in Dr. Smith’s devotional today from the verses cited above, things got a little complex on me. Hence my little word study from my online Blue Letter Bible website on two Hebrew concepts which are used as comparisons in Jer. 3: 11 … that of “faithless” versus “unfaithful.” I’m no Hebrew scholar, for sure; but this study helped me to realize that I needed more than on version of Scripture to help me see what Dr. Smith was exposing in his devotional.
When I hear those two terms, “faithless” and “unfaithful,” my immediate interpretation may be in comparing a faith-LESS atheist, i.e., one who has no faith in God, to an UN-faithful believer, i.e., one who has faith but who has turned away from that they know to be truth. That’s the reason it’s a good idea at times to read God’s word in more than one version, which is why I’ve quoted the NKJV above as well as the NIV for Jer. 3: 11 [the primary target verse of Dr. Smith’s devotional]. And in doing so, you’ll see that the edge on meaning and application seems to take on a slightly different color as you go from the NIV to the NKJV.
Obviously God grieves over the FAITHLESS one or backslider, which was personified through the ten Northern tribes of Israel during Jeremiah’s prophetic times. But God also grieves over the degree of unfaithfulness (also called “treachery”) of the two tribes in Judah. So, how do we take away some application from this comparison? And Dr. Smith, the author of my devotional today, asks a pointed self-appraisal question to help us do that. He asks: ”Do I censure my own unfaithfulness (as a Christian believer) as strongly as I condemn the faithlessness of unbelievers?” And that my friends is worthy of some serious self-examination.
I’m afraid there are times, upon conviction, when I look at my sinfulness by saying something like, “Well, at least I’m not an atheist anymore.” That, my friends, is pride personified. And that was the attitude of the Pharisees, which Jesus hated so vigorously. So, today’s study helps me to realize that God most certainly grieves over those who do not choose to follow His ways and fall prey to selfishness and sin, … the atheists who mock God or reject Him outright. But maybe God grieves even more deeply for those believer fools, like me at times, who know – and believe – God’s ways, but turn away anyway.
Let me repeat Dr. LaGard Smith’s self exam today; and let’s deal with it within our own hearts: ”Do I censure my own unfaithfulness (as a Christian believer) as strongly as I condemn the faithlessness of unbelievers?”
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be sensitive to my own sin and convicted to confess and be cleansed of it just as much as I’m sensitive to the lost who need to find You for eternity. Amen
Showing posts with label unbelief. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unbelief. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
2009 – Day 75.Mar. 17 – I Will Not Retreat
2009 – Day 75.Mar. 17 – I Will Not Retreat
Passage of the Day: Exodus 6: 13 … Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
My Journal for Today: Moses (and Aaron) had heard God’s command of deliverance for His people before; but things had not gone well in the execution of God’s plan up to the point of today’s passage. And so, as we read above, God forcefully reinstated His command to go forth to set His people free from over 400 years of bondage to Egypt.
Perhaps, like me, you can identify with the challenge to Moses’ faith at this point in the story. He knew what God had related and exhorted in the past; and I believe, at this point, Moses even had faith in God. However, it was a head faith; and it was likely that his head was also reeling with fleshly messages like, “This is not working. Pharaoh is so powerful; and his heart is too hardened against God’s plan; and Egypt is so much more powerful than I am.”
It is so easy to let human logic and temporal circumstances get in the way of believing - in our hearts as Christians - what we know to be God’s will. I think of the times when I’ve known that it is God’s will that all be saved. God’s word clearly says that our God desires that all repent and believe and be saved (I know it from passages like [links provided] 2nd Pet. 3: 9 or 1st Tim. 2: 3-4). And yet many times, I’ve hesitated when I’ve had the opportunity to share my faith with one I knew who was lost, balking in fear.
Moses knew - in his head - that God desired to save the Jews from bondage; and he knew – in his head – that God had set forth the plan of deliverance. But God also knew that Moses needed to get that head belief into a heart belief for God’s plan to go forth; and so, we see a very patient – but a very insistent – God laying out the plan again for Moses and his brother. But this time, God is getting more direct with His command for action.
Chuck Swindoll makes a clear and truthful declaration at the end of his devotional for this day from his book Great Days with the Great Lives. Swindoll paraphrases what God was saying to Moses. He writes as if God were speaking to Moses, “Because I am Who I am, I will do what is best for you.” And then Swindoll adds a powerful conclusion for us all, writing, “There isn’t a day on this side of eternity, no matter how grim, that can’t be improved by clinging to that reassuring thought.”
Do we, as God’s adopted children, … as Christians, really believe – in our hearts – that God will always do what is best for us? That is certainly God’s promise in Romans 8: 28, isn’t it? Well, if we believe that, we need to take up Christ’s challenge (quoted in Luke 9: 23) to deny our own feelings and fears, and to take up the crosses or challenges of life, and to simply follow our Lord without question or hesitation. That’s what God was saying to Moses in today’s highlight passage; and that is what God is saying to me today. How about you?
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me in my unbelief !! Amen
Passage of the Day: Exodus 6: 13 … Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
My Journal for Today: Moses (and Aaron) had heard God’s command of deliverance for His people before; but things had not gone well in the execution of God’s plan up to the point of today’s passage. And so, as we read above, God forcefully reinstated His command to go forth to set His people free from over 400 years of bondage to Egypt.
Perhaps, like me, you can identify with the challenge to Moses’ faith at this point in the story. He knew what God had related and exhorted in the past; and I believe, at this point, Moses even had faith in God. However, it was a head faith; and it was likely that his head was also reeling with fleshly messages like, “This is not working. Pharaoh is so powerful; and his heart is too hardened against God’s plan; and Egypt is so much more powerful than I am.”
It is so easy to let human logic and temporal circumstances get in the way of believing - in our hearts as Christians - what we know to be God’s will. I think of the times when I’ve known that it is God’s will that all be saved. God’s word clearly says that our God desires that all repent and believe and be saved (I know it from passages like [links provided] 2nd Pet. 3: 9 or 1st Tim. 2: 3-4). And yet many times, I’ve hesitated when I’ve had the opportunity to share my faith with one I knew who was lost, balking in fear.
Moses knew - in his head - that God desired to save the Jews from bondage; and he knew – in his head – that God had set forth the plan of deliverance. But God also knew that Moses needed to get that head belief into a heart belief for God’s plan to go forth; and so, we see a very patient – but a very insistent – God laying out the plan again for Moses and his brother. But this time, God is getting more direct with His command for action.
Chuck Swindoll makes a clear and truthful declaration at the end of his devotional for this day from his book Great Days with the Great Lives. Swindoll paraphrases what God was saying to Moses. He writes as if God were speaking to Moses, “Because I am Who I am, I will do what is best for you.” And then Swindoll adds a powerful conclusion for us all, writing, “There isn’t a day on this side of eternity, no matter how grim, that can’t be improved by clinging to that reassuring thought.”
Do we, as God’s adopted children, … as Christians, really believe – in our hearts – that God will always do what is best for us? That is certainly God’s promise in Romans 8: 28, isn’t it? Well, if we believe that, we need to take up Christ’s challenge (quoted in Luke 9: 23) to deny our own feelings and fears, and to take up the crosses or challenges of life, and to simply follow our Lord without question or hesitation. That’s what God was saying to Moses in today’s highlight passage; and that is what God is saying to me today. How about you?
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me in my unbelief !! Amen
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