IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

“because You Have Not Listened…”

Date: Dec. 26, 2023

Passage

Jeremiah 25:1-14 (ESV)

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 25:7

Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

Jeremiah faithfully preached the word of God for twenty-three years. But God’s own people, Judah, never listened. No matter how many prophets the Lord sent, Judah always turned a deaf ear to His word. So, the Lord himself warned them again, through the prophet Jeremiah. The Lord promised them that if they turned from their wicked ways, they would be able to stay in the land forever and ever. And he would never harm them. When we listen to the Lord, we are blessed indeed!

But because they did not listen to the Lord, he was angry with them. He would judge them and punish them and would bring harm to them. The Lord would use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as his tool for judgment. He would completely destroy Judah and send the people into exile.

But the Lord also promised mercy on his people. After seventy years, the Lord would relent and turn and punish their captors for their own sin. He would do to Babylon what he did to Judah.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, thank you for your mercy on sinners. Thank you that your wrath lasts only a brief time and that after your punishment comes blessings. Help us to listen to you at all times.

One Word: One Word: Listen to the Lord and obey!

Daily Bread

A Powerful Prayer

Acts 4:23-37

Key Verse: 4:29-30

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

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