DAY 147
Old Testament reading: 2 Kings 24-25
As He promised in 2 Kings 22:18-20, Jehovah did not permit Judah to be overrun and destroyed in the days of Josiah. With Josiah’s death in chapter 23, God brings Judah to ruin. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, unintentionally functioning as God’s servant (cf Jeremiah 25:9), comes and fulfills God’s wrath against Judah. Judah would never again function as an independent or sovereign nation. This great carrying away in the days of Jehoiachin is confirmed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:11. The city was not destroyed at first, Nebuchadnezzar simply carried away the persons whom he found desirable and useful for his purposes. It wasn’t until several years later when Zedekiah rejected the counsel of Jeremiah (Jer 37) and rebelled against Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city and utterly destroyed it. In his cruelty, which will be remembered when we read Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar killed Zedekiah’s sons in front of his eyes then put out his eyes, making his sons’ death the last thing he ever saw. Finally, the Babylonian army carried away all the utensils of Divine service, as if God was saying to His people, “You are no longer fit to serve Me.”
New Testament reading: Romans 13-14
Romans 13:14 contains a wonderful statement concerning free will and one’s personal obligation to guard himself from sin — “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” There are two imperatives here – one to do right and the other to avoid wrong. Despite the misuse by many of Psalm 51, we are not born as sinners, neither are we tainted or defiled by Adam’s sin from birth. Sin is the result of allowing our ungodly desires be fulfilled when the opportunity presents itself (James 1:13-17). Paul commands the Roman Christians to permit no space or opportunity for sin. Be on guard and don’t play with fire! We must also watch our companions, lest we allow their ungodliness to taint or destroy our godliness and associated good judgment.
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