IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Knowing God is Our Top Priority

Date: Jun. 9, 2018

Passage

Jeremiah 22:10-23 (ESV)

10   Weep not for him who is dead,
    nor grieve for him,
  but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
    for he shall return no more
    to see his native land.

11 For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

13   “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
    and his upper rooms by injustice,
  who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
    and does not give him his wages,
14   who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
    with spacious upper rooms,’
  who cuts out windows for it,
    paneling it with cedar
    and painting it with vermilion.
15   Do you think you are a king
    because you compete in cedar?
  Did not your father eat and drink
    and do justice and righteousness?
    Then it was well with him.
16   He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
    then it was well.
  Is not this to know me?
    declares the LORD.
17   But you have eyes and heart
    only for your dishonest gain,
  for shedding innocent blood,
    and for practicing oppression and violence.”

18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

  “They shall not lament for him, saying,
    ‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
  They shall not lament for him, saying,
    ‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19   With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,
    dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20   “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
    and lift up your voice in Bashan;
  cry out from Abarim,
    for all your lovers are destroyed.
21   I spoke to you in your prosperity,
    but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
  This has been your way from your youth,
    that you have not obeyed my voice.
22   The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
    and your lovers shall go into captivity;
  then you will be ashamed and confounded
    because of all your evil.
23   O inhabitant of Lebanon,
    nested among the cedars,
  how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
    pain as of a woman in labor!”

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 22:15,16

  Do you think you are a king
    because you compete in cedar?
  Did not your father eat and drink
    and do justice and righteousness?
    Then it was well with him.

1. Jehoahaz will never return (10-17)

Josiah, a good king, had two sons, Jehoahaz (or Shallum) and Jehoiakim. Shallum ruled Judah three months. He lived a self-indulgent life (13). He forced his own people to build without pay. Though he was king, he could not escape God's judgement. He was defeated in battle and died in Egypt. He should have followed his father's example, who did what was right and just. Josiah did so because he sought to know God. He showed his sons the way.

2. Suffering the consequences (18-23)

Jehoiakim sought his own prosperity. He refused to repent and listen to Jeremiah's words to submit to the Babylonians. He tried to secure his throne with allies and enjoy a comfortable life by oppressing others. He would soon go into exile.

Prayer: Lord, help me to choose the way of life, with repentance, faith and obedience to your word.

One Word: Seeking to know God

Daily Bread

A Good King is Humbled

2 Kings 18:1-16

Key Verse: 18:5

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