IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

What It Means to Know the Lord

Date: Dec. 17, 2023

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: 22:16

  He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
    then it was well.
  Is not this to know me?
    declares the LORD.

Zedekiah was made a puppet king of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord (2Ki 17:24). He was preceded by three other kings, all of whom also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Shallum (Jehoahaz) was taken into Egypt by Pharaoh Necho and he died there. Next, Shallum’s son, Jehoiakim, also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He refused to recognize the Lord; nor did he heed the warnings of what happened to his father. He died in Jerusalem during the Babylonian invasion. No one mourned him when he died. His son, Jehoiachin, also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He was carried off to Babylon and died there.

King Zedekiah had ample warning. He had the examples of his predecessors. He had been warned by Jeremiah to “do what is right.” He was to turn away from unrighteousness and injustice. He was to do what was right and just—to defend the cause of the poor and needy, just as King David had done. We learn that is what it means to know God. Instead, Zedekiah was only set on dishonest gain, bloodshed, oppression and extortion.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, it is so easy to chase after the things in this life. May I not forget about you, and may I do what is just and right, defending the cause of the poor and needy. In this, may I come to know you.

One Word: One Word: Do what is just and right; come to know God

Daily Bread

The Lamb Will Triumph

Revelation 17:1-18

Key Verse: 17:14

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

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