Wednesday, May 15, 2019
“The Israelites are like sheep that have been scattered by lions. First the king of Assyria ate them up. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon cracked their bones.” Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Now I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. And I will bring Israel home again to its own land, to feed in the fields of Carmel and Bashan, and to be satisfied once more in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. In those days,” says the Lord, “no sin will be found in Israel or in Judah, for I will forgive the remnant I preserve. Jeremiah 50:17-20
No matter
how powerful both Assyria and Babylon were as dominant political and military powers
in their days, they were no more than tools in the hand of God to
straighten-out his unruly children in Zion.
Every despot who conquered Israel lived long enough to regret his
actions. God’s protection over his flock
is never in question; neither is his retribution on those who want to mess with
the apple of His eye. One commentator
expressed what it was like to be the King of Babylon when God’s hammer fell:
…when the cup of God’s fury went round the king of Sheshach, Babylon, drank last.[i]
Whether
you drink last or first, the judgment of God for messing with God’s chosen is a
bitter cup.
I think very
often, and sometimes for long periods of time, about being born in a privileged
land, a country with so many blessings from the hand of God. I was privileged to be educated in wonderful
schools, serve in our country’s military during Vietnam, raise a family, and serve
as a pastor…all in freedom from oppressive dictators.
These days
I muse a good bit on my country’s place in the world as an economic and
political force. As a nation, America is
powerful in commerce, military might, political stature, historic leadership,
and the natural resources to back just about any mountain we choose to climb. The pensiveness that rumbles around in my
soul about all that blessing comes in a sense of questioning the purpose of all
that blessing, as well as on which side of God’s plan and history we actually stand. Is it true, as our currency proclaims, that
we trust in God? Or have we turned to
trusting more in ourselves? At the risk
of being cynical, I must say I fear it’s the latter. But, risk or not, here’s why I think that; it’s
happened because we have trained our children to live by the mantra of personal
choice over ethical and moral higher ground, or sacrificial living. I hear it frequently, and, frankly, I said it
to my children when they were young, you can be anything you want. Now, when I said those words to my kids, I
was thinking of that higher aspiration of children becoming wise, industrious,
marvelous paragons of virtue, models of fearing God, and loving all
people. But, (can we talk here?), what
do children hear when we say such things? The immature mind of a child hears: life is a platter at the buffet line, and I’m
gonna grab whatever I want.
Despite
the best efforts of the likes of Hallmark and Dr. Seuss (and many others) to convince
us that children are altruistic and idealistic by nature, and only learn war
from adults…the fact is that human nature (possessed by every human child) is
warlike and selfish, grabbing like Jacob gripped Esau’s heel coming out of the
womb! When children are in charge, so is
selfishness, anger, hitting-back, prevarication, and churlish pouting when they
don’t get their way. If you doubt that,
you’ve not watched our government at work.
For You Today
Well, really, for all of us today, it’s time to train our children,
rather than turn them loose at the buffet line.
And the best training is for adults to BE adults, setting as the standards
of our homes what God has laid out for all of us in His Word, to be the sheep
of His pasture, His very special possession.
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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©
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