Old Testament reading: Jeremiah 52
God’s patience with His people has run out. Zedekiah has repeatedly ignored the warnings of the prophet, the Divine promises of protection if he will live faithfully, and the prophet’s pleas for repentance to save himself, his family, the city and all her inhabitants. The destruction of Jerusalem is one of many pictures of what happens when men defiantly turn their backs on God. God had gone well past “the second mile” with His people, and when the time for punishment came, it was swift, decisive, and worse than humanly imaginable. Much of what we read in this chapter has already been recorded in Jeremiah 39. This final chapter provides greater detail as to the completeness of Babylon’s spoiling of Jerusalem and the destruction of the city itself. Every bronze, silver or gold instrument was taken out of the temple and carried back to Babylon. The language here hearkens back to the time the temple was furnished, linking Israel’s greatest day with the ruin for her utter depravity. Six centuries later, God would again exact vengeance on Jerusalem, this time for her rejection of His Son (Matt 24). One day, God’s patience with man will run out again, and when He exercises His wrath on all of mankind at the great Judgment Day. He is giving us time to prepare, are we taking advantage of His goodness (Rom 2:4)?
New Testament reading: John 4-5
How far are you willing to go to find Jesus? Today’s reading finds a nobleman from Capernaum traveling to Cana to find Jesus (John 4:46-53). His son is sick and at the point of death. The distance is more than twenty miles of difficult, uphill terrain. Finding Jesus, he implores Him to go and heal his son. Instead, Jesus declared to him that his son was well. Believing, he made his way home, only to be met by his servants who declared to him what he already believed to be true. Inquiring as to the time of the boy’s recovery, he is told “yesterday (another indication of the length and difficulty of his mission) at the seventh hour.” Knowing it was at that precise hour that Jesus had spoken, he believed and informed his household of the words of Jesus, leading them also to believe in Him. There is power and influence in faith! How far will your faith take you?
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