Monday, September 8, 2008

FWD: Morning Manna (Sept. 9); BP: Jer. 22; RBTTY: II Cor. 2; Prov. 6-7

Please remember in pryer my only surviving brother in law, Ben Moser, of Cabot, who had to be taken to hospital in Searcy Mon PM due to chest pains and he does have heart problems. 

THANKS 
Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net

 



-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 20:03:05 -0500
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Sept. 9); BP: Jer. 22; RBTTY: II Cor. 2; Prov. 6-7
 

September 9                                                                                                            “On Doing What’s Wrong”

 

“Woe unto him that builds his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong—that uses his neighbor’s service without wages and gives him not for his work.”

                                                                                                                                                    Jeremiah 22:13

     The same One Whose eye is on the sparrow is the same One Who takes note of our interaction with others.

     Jehoakim, whose name means “The Lord raises up,” was 25-years-old when he ascended to the throne of his Godly father, Josiah.  He reigned 11 years in Jerusalem, from 609 to 598 B.C.  During his reign Egyptian Pharaoh Necho exacted heavy tribute from Judah, which forced Jehoakim to levy a burdensome tax upon the people (II Chron. 36:3, 5).

 

     Unlike his father, Jehoakim was arrogant (Jer. 1:3; 24:1; 27:1, 20; 37:1; 52:2) and forced the people to build his own splendid house with expensive furnishings (Jer. 22:13-23).  He ignored justice and righteousness and “did evil in the sight of the Lord” (II Kings 23:37), prompting Jeremiah to utter this oracle of doom in today’s Manna.

 

     Jehoakim’s “house was built by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong.”  Likewise, he took advantage of his neighbor’s help by refusing to pay for services rendered and later executed Urijah, a prophet of the Lord (Jer. 26:20-23). And, if that wasn’t bad enough, one time he grabbed Jeremiah’s scroll of prophecies against him while it was being read, cut it into pieces and threw it in the fire (36:22-23).

 

     No wonder Jeremiah reminded the ungodly king that God was the One Who “judges the cause of the poor and needy” (v.16a) and would hold anyone accountable who took advantage of them—even the king himself.  His Word, the same “Sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18b) that humbles the submissive child of God, is also the same Sword that draws out the latent hatred of the ungodly (II Cor. 2:15-16; Heb. 4:12-13).

 

     Therefore, we should do our best to warn those who sin against the Lord about “the sword in the land” (Ez. 33:1-9).  We should warn them to “flee from the wrath to come” (Mt. 3:7) by telling them to “look to Jesus now and live” (Num. 21:8; Heb. 12:2).  Apart from Him, there is no hope (Eph. 2:12) and all that awaits them is God’s “judgment and a fiery indignation” (Heb. 10:27).

 

     It’s easy to profess one’s love for God and to sing like an angel on Sunday morning; however, as someone once said, “The proof of the pudding’s in the eating.”  Simply put, regardless of one’s testimony, the person who knows what God says, but still says “I don’t care; I’m not going to do it,” is definitely deceived by the devil and in danger of hell fire (Heb. 3:7-19).

 

     Jeremiah, like Ezekiel, knew the agony of soul that comes when you sound the alarm, but folks refuse to hear and heed—saying instead, “Come and hear the Word that comes from the Lord, but they will not obey it” (Ez. 33:30-31).   Woe to him that uses “unjust scales” to fool the people (Lev. 19:36; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11) and takes advantage of them without a second thought. . .for there’s One Who’s writing it all down.

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