Jeremiah

A Divine Eviction Notice

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1 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 And he burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

13 And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king’s council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. – 2 Kings 25:1-21 ESV

Zedekiah, formerly known as Mattaniah, received his new name and his right to rule over Judah from King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He replaced his nephew, Jehoiachin, who had surrendered to the Babylonians to end the siege of Jerusalem. Rather than allowing Jehoiachin’s son, Coniah, to become king, Nebuchadnezzar chose Mattaniah, who became a vassal of the Babylonian state. But Mattaniah’s new role and newly acquired Babylonian name did not make him amenable to Nebuchadnezzar’s plans for Judah. So, he decided to rebel against the Babylonians. But in doing so, Zedekiah was actually rebelling against the will of Yahweh. The prophet Jeremiah had warned Zedekiah to submit to the Babylonians as divinely ordained agents of judgment.

“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal. I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose. Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control. All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his time is up. Then many nations and great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon. So you must submit to Babylon’s king and serve him; put your neck under Babylon’s yoke! I will punish any nation that refuses to be his slave, says the LORD. I will send war, famine, and disease upon that nation until Babylon has conquered it.” – Jeremiah 27:4-8 NLT

But King Zedekiah received bad advice from false prophets who told him, “The king of Babylon will not conquer you” ( Jeremiah 27:14 NLT). Yet Jeremiah warned the king not to listen to these men.

“This is what the LORD says: ‘I have not sent these prophets! They are telling you lies in my name, so I will drive you from this land. You will all die—you and all these prophets, too.’” – Jeremiah 27:15 NLT

These charlatans had even prophesied that all the golden articles plundered from the temple would soon be returned. They assured the king that everything was going to be okay. But Jeremiah delivered the painful truth to Zedekiah, informing him that it was actually going to get much worse.

“For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has spoken about the pillars in front of the Temple, the great bronze basin called the Sea, the water carts, and all the other ceremonial articles. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left them here when he exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon, along with all the other nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Yes, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says about the precious things still in the Temple, in the palace of Judah’s king, and in Jerusalem: ‘They will all be carried away to Babylon and will stay there until I send for them,’ says the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back to Jerusalem again.’” – Jeremiah 27:19-22 NLT

But all these warnings fell on deaf ears; Zedekiah and his royal administrators refused to heed the prophet’s counsel.

“…neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the LORD said through Jeremiah.” – Jeremiah 37:2 NLT

Yet, Zedekiah would have the audacity to beg Jeremiah to pray for God to reverse His plans to destroy the city. The sudden arrival of the Egyptian army had encouraged and emboldened him. It seems that their unexpected appearance caused the Babylonians to call off their siege of Jerusalem, and Zedekiah saw this as a good sign and proof that the false prophets had been right all along. So, he asked Jeremiah to seek confirmation from Yahweh that the city of Jerusalem had been spared. But Jeremiah refused to tell Zedekiah what he was hoping to hear.

“This is what the LORD says: Do not fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren’t! Even if you were to destroy the entire Babylonian army, leaving only a handful of wounded survivors, they would still stagger from their tents and burn this city to the ground!” – Jeremiah 37:9-10 NLT

Infuriated by the prophet’s message, Zedekiah eventually had the prophet flogged and imprisoned, falsely accusing him of treason. But undeterred by this treatment, Jeremiah later gave the king another ultimatum.

“This is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the Babylonian officers, you and your family will live, and the city will not be burned down. But if you refuse to surrender, you will not escape! This city will be handed over to the Babylonians, and they will burn it to the ground.’” – Jeremiah 37:17-18 NLT

In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, his worst fears were realized; the Babylonians returned. For two long years, they laid siege to the capital. In time, conditions inside the walls of Jerusalem became so bad that the people began to starve to death. When the Babylonians eventually breached the walls of the city, King Zedekiah and some of his troops attempted a nighttime escape. But as soon as they got outside the walls of Jerusalem, Zedekiah’s men abandoned him, leaving him completely defenseless and an easy target for the Babylonians.

They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. – 2 Kings 25:6 NLT

Zedekiah suffered a fate worse than death. He was forced to watch the execution of his own sons, then was blinded and led away in captivity, never to see the city of Jerusalem again. But had he been able to look upon the devastating scene taking place on Mount Zion, he would have been appalled. The great city of David was aflame, and in every quarter of the capital, the Babylonians were enacting a reign of terror. Those who were not killed were taken captive, soon to be transported as slaves to Babylon. And King Nebuchadnezzar ordered the systematic destruction of all the city’s infrastructure. The walls were torn down, and the royal palace and all the administrative buildings were destroyed. There wasn’t a single house left standing, including the house of God. The Babylonians plundered every last item of value from the Temple, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said they would.

The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the LORD’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, ladles, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. The captain of the guard also took the incense burners and basins, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver. – 2 Kings 25:13-15 NLT

Then they burned the Temple to the ground. For the Jews, this scene would have been incomprehensible. For generations, the Temple had stood as the symbol of Yahweh’s power and presence. To watch it be plundered and then go up in flames would have been inconceivable. But Yahweh had warned them that this would happen.

“‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie! Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, ‘We are safe!’—only to go right back to all those evils again? Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the Lord, have spoken!’” – Jeremiah 7:9-11 NLT

They had placed their hope in a building rather than in the one for whom it was built. Yahweh had warned them that He would destroy the Temple because they had turned it into an idol or a replacement for Him.

“I will now destroy this Temple that bears my name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors.” – Jeremiah 7:14 NLT

Not only did God commission Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the Temple, but He also ordained the execution of those men who had been responsible for its care and for the spiritual well-being of the people. Yahweh had cleaned house, purging the land of its idolatry and apostasy, and with the smoke of the city rising up behind them, the disheveled and demoralized citizens of Judah began their long march to Babylon and back into captivity. Their ancestors had originally entered the land of Canaan as freed men, having been delivered from their captivity in Egypt by Yahweh. Now, generations later, the people of Judah found themselves enslaved once again, all because they refused to remain faithful to the one who had set them apart as His treasured possession.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Blind Man’s Bluff

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5 Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the Temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold. 14 He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. – 2 Kings 24:5-20 ESV

Eliakim was the second son of Joash to sit on the throne of Judah. The reign of his younger brother, Jehoahaz, had only lasted three months before he was deposed and taken captive by Neco, the king of Egypt. He became the puppet-king of the Egyptians and was forced to pay an exorbitant annual tribute to secure his throne. He even faced the indignity of having his name changed to Jehoiakim. But the time came when his Egyptian overlords were displaced by the new bully on the block, the Babylonians. The army of King Nebuchadnezzar defeated the combined forces of the Assyrians and Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. This decisive victory dramatically altered the political landscape of the Middle East and set the stage for Judah’s eventual fall.

The Babylonians’ defeat of the Egyptians provided Jehoiakim with a brief reprieve, but it was not long before he found himself facing yet another Gentile superpower with aspirations of global dominance. Nebuchadnezzar eventually set his sights on Judah, and for three years, he forced Jehoiakim back into his familiar and just as unpleasant role as a vassal. For eight years of his 11-year reign, Jehoiakim had served as Pharaoh’s virtual slave. Now, after three more years of Babylonian oppression and control, he decided enough was enough and rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar. But Jehoiakim failed to realize that this entire scenario was the handiwork of God Almighty. Yahweh had sovereignly appointed the Babylonians to be His agents of judgment against the rebellious nation of Judah. So, when Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, he was really attempting to resist the will of God.

Yahweh had repeatedly warned His rebellious people that their fate would be far from pleasant if they continued to reject His calls for repentance.

“Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city. I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious! I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die. And after all that, says the Lord, I will hand over King Zedekiah, his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy, pity, or compassion.’” – Jeremiah 21:3-7 NLT

But despite Jeremiah’s dire predictions of Judah’s fall, the people of Judah remained unrepentant, and their leaders continued to doubt the reality of Yahweh’s sovereignty, until it was too late.

Then the LORD sent bands of Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Judah to destroy it, just as the LORD had promised through his prophets. These disasters happened to Judah because of the LORD’s command. He had decided to banish Judah from his presence because of the many sins of Manasseh… – 2 Kings 24:2-3 NLT

The fall of Judah was inevitable because God had ordained it, and there was nothing Jehoiakim could do to avoid or escape it. And eventually, God repaid Jehoiakim for his stubborn resistance to His will by allowing the Babylonians to capture the capital city of Jerusalem.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and captured it, and he bound Jehoiakim in bronze chains and led him away to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the treasures from the Temple of the Lord, and he placed them in his palace in Babylon. – 2 Chronicles 36:6-7 NLT

Jehoiakim, dethroned and disgraced, was replaced by his 18-year-old son, Jehoiachin. And just like his father and his uncle before him, “Jehoiachin did what was evil in the LORD’s sight” (2 Kings 24:9 NLT). Not only did Jehoiachin offend God by encouraging idolatry and apostasy, but he also attempted to resist God’s will by rebelling against the Babylonians whom God had sent. This forced Nebuchadnezzar to lay siege to the city of Jerusalem, which he eventually captured. With Jerusalem’s fall, Jehoiachin found himself without a capital city or a throne. He and the royal family were taken captive and deported to Babylon.

Then King Jehoiachin, along with the queen mother, his advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. – 2 Kings 24:12 NLT

And none of this should have come as a shock to King Jehoiachin because God had warned that it would happen. He had repeatedly sent His prophets to deliver His message of impending destruction, but they would not listen. The prophet Jeremiah had given Jehoiachin’s father, Jehoiakim, a stark description of what God had planned for the nation of Judah.

“You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer. And now the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Because you have not listened to me, I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever. I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out. This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.” – Jeremiah 25:7-11 NLT

And in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled.

King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land. – 2 Kings 24:14 NLT

But this would prove to be just the beginning of the end. Over time, there would be far more people deported from the land of Judah to Babylon. Despite the fall of Jerusalem, the stubbornness of the people of Judah was not yet abated. Those who remained in the land still refused to bow their knees to Yahweh. And when Nebuchadnezzar placed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, on the throne, they seemed to assume that life would go on as usual. But when Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah, the people should have realized that they were far from an independent nation. They were little more than slaves of a foreign power, and, in time, many of them would find themselves joining their exiled brothers and sisters in Babylon.

The people had a new king, and that king had a new name, but little else changed in the nation of Judah. They continued in their old rebellious ways, and Zedekiah proved to be just as evil as all those kings who had occupied the throne before him. The author of 2 Kings makes it painfully clear that their persistent and pervasive rebellion had finally brought upon them the righteous wrath of God.

These things happened because of the LORD’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile. – 2 Kings 24:20 NLT

But even Yahweh’s judgment failed to get the attention of the king and his people; they remained stubbornly unrepentant and persistently unfaithful, right to the bitter end.

Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the LORD, the God of Israel. Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the LORD that had been consecrated in Jerusalem. – 2 Chronicles 36:13-14 NLT

Zedekiah had been given ample warning, but he refused to listen. The prophet Jeremiah had delivered to Zedekiah Yahweh’s very clear warnings.

“…you must submit to Babylon’s king and serve him; put your neck under Babylon’s yoke! I will punish any nation that refuses to be his slave, says the LORD. I will send war, famine, and disease upon that nation until Babylon has conquered it.” – Jeremiah 27:9 NLT

Jeremiah had even advised the king to submit to King Nebuchadnezzar as an agent of God Almighty.

“If you want to live, submit to the yoke of the king of Babylon and his people. Why do you insist on dying—you and your people? Why should you choose war, famine, and disease, which the LORD will bring against every nation that refuses to submit to Babylon’s king? Do not listen to the false prophets who keep telling you, ‘The king of Babylon will not conquer you.’ They are liars. This is what the LORD says: ‘I have not sent these prophets! They are telling you lies in my name, so I will drive you from this land. You will all die—you and all these prophets, too.’” – Jeremiah 27:12-15 NLT

But Zedekiah refused to heed the words of Yahweh’s prophet, and in the ninth year of his reign, the stubborn king of Judah would learn the painful lesson that resistance to the will of God never ends well.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Self-Delusion of “Self-Made” Men

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1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8 And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

10 And the LORD said by his servants the prophets, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.” – 2 Kings 21:1-15 ESV

When reading the opening lines of 2 Kings 21, an old proverb comes to mind that states: “All good things must come to an end.”

With the end of Hezekiah’s life, the fortunes of Israel took a decidedly dark turn for the worse. While Hezekiah was far from a perfect king, he had proved to be faithful to Yahweh, doing “what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Kings 18:3 ESV). As a result, “the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered” (2 Kings 18:7 ESV). Hezekiah had been an ambitious reformer who attempted to restore and reinvigorate the worship of Yahweh in Judah. But the last 15 years of his reign, which were marked by peace and great prosperity, became fertile ground for Hezekiah’s pride to take root and grow. In time, he developed an unhealthy preoccupation with his own success and self-importance. 

Hezekiah was very wealthy and highly honored. He built special treasury buildings for his silver, gold, precious stones, and spices, and for his shields and other valuable items. He also constructed many storehouses for his grain, new wine, and olive oil; and he made many stalls for his cattle and pens for his flocks of sheep and goats. He built many towns and acquired vast flocks and herds, for God had given him great wealth. He blocked up the upper spring of Gihon and brought the water down through a tunnel to the west side of the City of David. And so he succeeded in everything he did. – 2 Chronicles 32:27-30 NLT

It is important to remember that those years of life and prosperity had been a gracious gift from God, in answer to Hezekiah’s humble prayer as he lay near death. God heard and restored his health, then granted him another 15 years of life. During the last 11 years, up until the day of his death in 686 BC, Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, had served as his co-regent. But upon Hezekiah’s death, Manasseh assumed the burden and responsibilities of leadership as the king of Judah at the age of 23.

Manasseh had begun his co-regency at the young age of 12. So, for 11 years this young man had been able to serve alongside his father, learning valuable life lessons on everything from leadership and diplomacy to fiduciary responsibility and spiritual fidelity. But unfortunately, Manasseh was exposed to some of Hezekiah’s less flattering years in office. He served alongside his father at a time when Judah was prospering and Hezekiah was more interested in building his kingdom and reputation than in promoting the worship of Yahweh.

It appears quite obvious that Manasseh’s 11-year apprenticeship under his father’s tutelage failed to prepare him to be a godly king. His ascension to the throne ushered in one of the darkest periods in Judah’s long and tumultuous history, and his reign would reverse most, if not all, of the religious reforms his father had implemented. Virtually overnight, he radically transformed the kingdom of Judah into a spiritual wasteland by systematically rescinding all of his father’s earlier reforms.

He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. He constructed altars for Baal and set up an Asherah pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them. – 2 Kings 21:2-3 NLT

This ambitious young man seemed determined to eradicate all vestiges of Yahweh from the hearts and minds of the people. He erected altars to false gods inside the Temple, rendering it unholy and unfit for Yahweh’s presence. He encouraged the practice of sorcery and divination, and even promoted the use of human sacrifices as an acceptable form of worship, offering up his own son as a payment to his false god.

Everything he did was in direct violation of God’s commands and seemed to be part of a well-calculated plan to destroy all that his father had accomplished. He purposefully dismantled the spiritual legacy his father had left, but the text provides no explanation as to what prompted Manasseh’s actions. His mother is mentioned, but we know nothing about her or the role she may have played in his spiritual formation. However, it is painfully clear that while Manasseh inherited his father’s throne, he did not inherit his father’s love for Yahweh. In fact, he led the nation of Judah to “do even more evil than the pagan nations that the LORD had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land” (2 Kings 21:9 NLT).

This young king led the nation of Judah in a wave of apostasy and spiritual infidelity that would have shocked the land’s former pagan occupants. During this period of spiritual decline, Yahweh used men like the prophet Jeremiah to communicate His displeasure and warn of His pending discipline for their egregious behavior.

“Go west and look in the land of Cyprus;
    go east and search through the land of Kedar.
Has anyone ever heard of anything
    as strange as this?
Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones,
    even though they are not gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God
    for worthless idols!
The heavens are shocked at such a thing
    and shrink back in horror and dismay,”
    says the Lord.
“For my people have done two evil things:
They have abandoned me—
    the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
    that can hold no water at all!” – Jeremiah 2:10-13 NLT

All that his father had spent years building, Manasseh painstakingly and systematically destroyed. But while Manasseh was busy dismantling the spiritual legacy bequeathed to him by his father, Yahweh was far from silent. The author of 2 Chronicles states that “The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings” (2 Chronicles 33:10 NLT). God didn’t sit idly by, watching in silence as the young king led an insurrection against His sovereign will and authority. He sent His prophets to warn the king and his compliant subjects that their insubordination would have dire consequences. Jeremiah would deliver a particularly stinging indictment against the people of Judah for their willing participation in Manasseh’s apostasy.

“I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” says the LORD. “I will send the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the vultures to devour, and the wild animals to finish up what is left. Because of the wicked things Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem, I will make my people an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” – Jeremiah 15:3-4 NLT

Jeremiah would go on to record God’s words concerning the capital city of Jerusalem, where Manasseh instigated his wicked and rebellious anti-reform measures.

“Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem?
    Who will weep for you?
    Who will even bother to ask how you are?
You have abandoned me
    and turned your back on me,”
    says the Lord.
“Therefore, I will raise my fist to destroy you.
    I am tired of always giving you another chance.” – Jeremiah 15:5-6 NLT

Yahweh declared Manasseh to be more wicked than the pagan nations who had previously occupied the land of Canaan before the arrival of the Israelites. This leader of God’s chosen people managed to out-sin the godless Amorites. Rather than follow in his father’s footsteps, Manasseh decided to emulate the behavior of Ahab, the infamous king of Israel who, with the help of his wife, Jezebel, led the northern kingdom into such depths of moral and spiritual decay that God eventually destroyed them. Now, under Manasseh’s leadership, Judah was headed down the very same path and facing a similar outcome.

“I will judge Jerusalem by the same standard I used for Samaria and the same measure I used for the family of Ahab. I will wipe away the people of Jerusalem as one wipes a dish and turns it upside down.” – 2 Kings 21:13 NLT

Manasseh may have been the sovereign ruler over the kingdom of Judah, but he would soon discover that he was no match for the King of the universe. His ongoing disregard and disrespect for Yahweh would not be tolerated.  God would not be mocked, and those who refused to honor their covenant commitments would not go unpunished. Yahweh’s blunt assessment of Judah leaves no doubt concerning their guilt and well-deserved condemnation.

“…they have done great evil in my sight and have angered me ever since their ancestors came out of Egypt.” – 2 Kings 21:15 NLT

Manasseh believed that he had the freedom and authority to replace Yahweh. After all, he was king. But he was about to learn the same painful lesson that Yahweh taught to Ahab, Sennacherib, and so many other human kings: there is but one King over all the earth, and He alone decides who rules and reigns over its inhabitants. Manasseh served at God’s discretion, and he would soon discover that his ego was no match for God’s divine will. Years later, another pride-filled king would learn the same timeless lesson from the lips of another prophet of God. Years after the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians, the prophet Daniel would inform King Nebuchadnezzar, “the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world. He gives them to anyone he chooses—even to the lowliest of people” (Daniel 4:17 NLT).

Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Manasseh was a match for the Almighty. While they both allowed their power to go to their heads, it was Yahweh who ruled, and it was He who would determine the destiny of their dynasties.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

God’s Presence and Protection Require Faithfulness

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A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress.

4 For behold, the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish as of a woman in labor.
7 By the east wind you shattered
    the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the LORD of hosts,
in the city of our God,
    which God will establish forever. Selah

9 We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
10 As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11     Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!

12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14     that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever. – Psalm 48:1-14 ESV

This psalm, like the previous one, was written by one of the sons of Korah and was designed to accentuate the supremacy and superiority of Yahweh over every other ĕlōhîm. The title ĕlōhîm, which is commonly rendered as “god” in our English translations, was the generic title for all deities. Yet, it was also used to refer to the one true God, the Creator of the universe.

In the beginning, God [ĕlōhîm] created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God [ĕlōhîm] was hovering over the face of the waters. – Genesis 1:1-2 ESV

To differentiate Himself from all the false gods that mankind manufactured after the fall, the Creator God introduced Himself to Moses with a new name.

Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” God [ĕlōhîm] also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God [ĕlōhîm] of Abraham, the God [ĕlōhîm] of Isaac, and the God [ĕlōhîm] of Jacob—has sent me to you.” – Exodus 3:14-15 NLT

This more intimate and personal name would become the primary way the people of Israel addressed their God. He even told them, “This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations” (Psalm 48:15 NLT).

The psalmist opens his song with a statement of praise for this eternal and highly personal name of God.

How great is the LORD [Yahweh],
    how deserving of praise… – Psalm 48:1 NLT

In a sense, the psalmist is highlighting the unparalleled nature of Israel’s ĕlōhîm. Other nations could claim to worship a superior ĕlōhîm, but their god was no match for Yahweh. In ancient times, gods were believed to be regionally based deities who ruled from and over specific locales. That is why the psalmist mentions Jerusalem, “the city of our God!” (Psalm 48:2 ESV). Then, he specifies the exact spot on which the royal city sits.

His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress. – Psalm 48:1-3 ESV

From the psalmist’s perspective, Yahweh dwelt in Jerusalam, which sat on the Mount of Zion. He describes this sacred spot as Yahweh’s citadel or palace, from which He rules as the great King. His presence among the Israelites created a fortress-like environment, protecting them from their enemies and assuring them of safety and security from harm.

God himself is in Jerusalem’s towers,
    revealing himself as its defender. – Psalm 48:3 NLT

In a somewhat arrogant fashion, the psalmist brags of Jerusalem’s invincibility, declaring that Yahweh’s presence serves as a kind of “iron dome,” protecting its inhabitants from all threats.

The kings of the earth joined forces
    and advanced against the city.
But when they saw it, they were stunned;
    they were terrified and ran away.
They were gripped with terror
    and writhed in pain like a woman in labor.
You destroyed them like the mighty ships of Tarshish
    shattered by a powerful east wind. – Psalm 48:4-7 NLT

With Yahweh serving as their protector and defender, they could sleep peacefully at night, knowing they had nothing to fear. No harm could come their way as long as Yahweh was with them.

Verse 2 contains a subtle yet significant statement intended to set Yahweh apart from the competition. In describing Mount Zion, the psalmist states, “It is lofty and pleasing to look at,  a source of joy to the whole earth. Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon” (Psalm 48:2 NET). He is purposefully differentiating Mount Zion from Mount Zaphon, a range located to the north of Jerusalem. This reference to Mount Zaphon is important because local legends designated this location as the gathering place of the gods.

The prophet Isaiah recorded a divine warning against the king of Babylon, predicting his eventual fall.

“How you are fallen from heaven,
    O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
    you who destroyed the nations of the world.
For you said to yourself,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
    far away in the north [ṣāp̄ôn].
I will climb to the highest heavens
    and be like the Most High…” – Isaiah 14:12-14 NLT

In this prophetic judgment, the king is described as seeking to set up his throne on “the mountain of the gods,” which was located in the north. The Hebrew word translated as “north” is ṣāp̄ôn or Zaphon.

“Mt. Zaphon to the north of Palestine was the mythical residence of the gods (as Mt. Olympus was the mythical residence of the gods to the Greeks; v. 13; cf. Ps. 48:2). Rather than being king of the gods, Babylon’s king proved to be only human having weakened nations through his domination of them. Even though he had exalted himself to near deity status, he would die and go to Sheol like every other proud person.” – Thomas L. Constable, Study Notes on Isaiah

“Zaphon, located north of Israel, was the sacred mountain of the Canaanites from which their high god El supposedly ruled. However, Zion was the real ‘Zaphon,’ for it was here that the Lord God of Israel, the ‘Great King’ of the universe, lived and ruled.” – Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms.” In A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament

Zaphon was not a sacred mountain because the Canaanite god, El, was not a real god. He was the figment of the fertile imaginations of a pagan people who attempted to replace the one true ĕlōhîm with a god of their own making. The apostle Paul describes mankind’s sin-inspired penchant for replacing the one true God with a poor substitute.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. – Romans 1:21-23 NLT

But for the psalmist, no other ĕlōhîm would do.

O God [ĕlōhîm], we meditate on your unfailing love
    as we worship in your Temple.
As your name deserves, O God [ĕlōhîm],
    you will be praised to the ends of the earth.
    Your strong right hand is filled with victory.
Let the people on Mount Zion rejoice.
    Let all the towns of Judah be glad
    because of your justice. – Psalm 48:9-11 NLT

There was no competition between Zion and Zaphon because there was no ĕlōhîm living in the north. Yahweh had no rivals, and the people of Israel had nothing to worry about when it came to their enemies and their enemies’ false, non-existent gods. All they had to do was look at the majesty and magnificence of Jerusalem and be reminded that their ĕlōhîm was superior.

Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem.
    Walk around and count the many towers.
Take note of the fortified walls,
    and tour all the citadels,
that you may describe them
    to future generations.
For that is what God is like.
    He is our God forever and ever,
    and he will guide us until we die. – Psalm 48:12-14 NLT

The city was impregnable, a fitting reminder of God’s power and protective capacity. The fortifications of Jerusalem were to serve as a symbol of Yahweh’s presence, power, and provision for generations to come. He would not leave them or forsake them. But in his enthusiasm, the psalmist leaves out one small but highly significant point. God expected His people to remain faithful. His presence was predicated on their obedience to His law and faithfulness to the covenant they had made with Him. They would enjoy His protection as long as they remained spiritually faithful and refrained from worshiping other ĕlōhîm. But centuries later, the prophet Isaiah would repeatedly warn of God’s pending wrath for their infidelity and unfaithfulness.

“Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg me to help them, for I will not listen to you. Don’t you see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol gods! Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.”

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.” – Jeremiah 7:16-20 NLT

God’s presence and protection are vital to His people’s survival, but they do not come without a cost. God requires that His people commit wholeheartedly to Him. He is a jealous God who will not tolerate infidelity and unfaithfulness. He will not tolerate spiritual adultery among His chosen people. If the psalmist wanted to continue to enjoy the presence, power, and protection of Yahweh, he would need to call the people of Israel to live up to their covenant commitments.

Father, I revel in the reality of Your presence in my life and I fully appreciate the promise of the care and protection You provide. But I sometimes live as though my actions don’t matter. I treat Your love with a flippancy and carelessness that borders on rebellion. I fail to treat You with the honor and reverence You deserve, living my life according to my own will and agenda. I know You are the one true God and I am confident in Your power and fully appreciate Your divine protection over my life. But forgive me for the many times I take Your protection for granted. Help me to live faithfully and obediently, treating You with all the honor You deserve. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

No Match for the Almighty

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5 If thieves came to you,
    if plunderers came by night—
    how you have been destroyed!—
    would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave gleanings?
6 How Esau has been pillaged,
    his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have driven you to your border;
    those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
    those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—
    you have no understanding.

8 Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
    destroy the wise men out of Edom,
    and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
    so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. – Obadiah 1:5-9 ESV

This short book is filled with messages of doom and gloom concerning Edom, but it was intended to bring hope to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. Obadiah was likely a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah during the reign of Jehoram (848-841 B.C.). The Book of 2 Kings describes a revolt by the Edomites not long after Jehoram took the throne.

In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Joram passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. – 2 Kings 8:16-22 ESV

The Edomites proved to be a problem for the people of God throughout the centuries. These distant relatives of the Israelites were a constant source of irritation and trouble. The ongoing nature of their harassment and God’s decision to punish them for it is reflected by their mention in the writings of four different prophets. Obadiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Joel all mention God’s plan to deal harshly with the Edomites. There are also glaring similarities between the writings of these four men that seem to indicate that each was familiar with the work of the others.

Jeremiah uses some of the same language as Obadiah in his prophecy concerning Edom.

If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves came by night,
    would they not destroy only enough for themselves? – Jeremiah 49:9 ESV

The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
    who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,
    I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord. – Jeremiah 49:16 ESV

It is unclear which prophet borrowed from the other, but the similarity of their language indicates that they were aware of and referenced one another’s writings. Their common message also reflects the divine inspiration of their prophecies. Each man was receiving the same basic message concerning the nation of Edom and its pending judgment by God.

Both Jeremiah and Obadiah indicate that Edom’s fall was tied to their arrogance and pride.

The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart.  – Jeremiah 49:16 ESV

The pride of your heart has deceived you… – Obadiah 1:3 ESV

The Hebrew word translated as “pride” is zāḏôn, and it conveys the idea of insolence and arrogance. It comes from the root word zûḏ, which means “to boil or seeth.” It illustrates the contents of a boiling pot spilling over the edges and onto its surroundings. The pride of the Edomites had gotten the best of them, causing them to exceed their God-given boundaries and “boil over” and onto their neighbors.

The Edomites occupied a virtually impenetrable tract of land near Mount Seir just south of the Dead Sea. This lofty and difficult-to-reach location gave them a false sense of security. They took great pride in their mountain fortress and believed it made them invincible. Located at an elevation of more than 5,700 feet and protected by a series of gorges, their mountain stronghold gave them a false sense of security.

“You have been deceived by your own pride
    because you live in a rock fortress
    and make your home high in the mountains.
‘Who can ever reach us way up here?’
    you ask boastfully.
But even if you soar as high as eagles
    and build your nest among the stars,
I will bring you crashing down,”
    says the Lord. – Obadiah 1:3-4 NLT

“You have been deceived
    by the fear you inspire in others
    and by your own pride.
You live in a rock fortress
    and control the mountain heights.
But even if you make your nest among the peaks with the eagles,
    I will bring you crashing down,”
    says the Lord.” – Jeremiah 49:16 NLT

The message is clear; the Edomites could not escape the wrath of God. Their “kingdom in the sky” was no match for the God who reigns in heaven. They could hide from men but they could not hide from God. Their actions against the people of Israel and Judah would require justice and judgment. And God makes it clear that His judgment will be swift and complete.

“…your enemies will wipe you out completely!
Every nook and cranny of Edom
    will be searched and looted.
    Every treasure will be found and taken.” – Obadiah 1:5-6 NLT

“Edom will be an object of horror.
    All who pass by will be appalled
    and will gasp at the destruction they see there.” – Jeremiah 49:17 NLT

The epic nature of Edom’s fall will shock their neighbors. The devastation of this once-powerful and seemingly invincible nation will make an impression on the rest of Judah’s enemies. God will make an object lesson of the Edomites and send a powerful message to all those who oppose His chosen people. The Edomites were blood relatives of the Israelites, but their mistreatment of the descendants of Jacob would cost them dearly. Their pride had caused them to overstep their bounds and put them at odds with God Almighty. Now they were going to pay.

Edom was a relatively small nation but they were resourceful. They regularly sent raiding parties from their mountain hideout to plunder the villages and towns in southern Judah. This is why Obadiah mentions thieves who plunder at night. The Edomites were opportunists who took advantage of the weak and defenseless. Lacking in numbers and military strength, they utilized ingenuity and resourcefulness to survive. But they made a huge mistake when they decided to plunder the nation of Judah.

The prophet Amos describes the pending judgment of God against the Edomites.

“The people of Edom have sinned again and again,
    and I will not let them go unpunished!
They chased down their relatives, the Israelites, with swords,
    showing them no mercy.
In their rage, they slashed them continually
    and were unrelenting in their anger.
So I will send down fire on Teman,
    and the fortresses of Bozrah will be destroyed.” – Amos 1:11-12 NLT

According to Obadiah, the Edomites will find themselves all alone with no one to stand by their side. Even their closest allies will abandon them in their time of need.

“All your allies will turn against you.
    They will help to chase you from your land.
They will promise you peace
    while plotting to deceive and destroy you.
Your trusted friends will set traps for you,
    and you won’t even know about it.” – Obadiah 1:7 NLT

Alliances and treaties will be of no use. The promises of neighboring states will prove worthless. When God decides to bring judgment against the people of Edom, nothing will stand in His way, including “the wise” and “the mighty.” Human wisdom and strength are of little consequence to the God of the universe. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20 ESV).

The psalmist also speaks of God’s derision and disregard for those who flaunt their power and prestige in His face.

Why are the nations so angry?
    Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
The kings of the earth prepare for battle;
    the rulers plot together
against the Lord
    and against his anointed one.
“Let us break their chains,” they cry,
    “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”

But the one who rules in heaven laughs.
    The Lord scoffs at them.
Then in anger he rebukes them,
    terrifying them with his fierce fury. – Psalm 2:1-5 NLT

The leaders of Edom were too full of themselves and far too confident in their military might. “Professing to be wise, they became fools…” (Romans 1:22 BLB). Their reliance upon human reason and understanding would prove unreliable. Their belief in their invincibility would become their greatest liability. God was about to expose the fallacy of their superiority.

“At that time not a single wise person
    will be left in the whole land of Edom,”
    says the Lord.
“For on the mountains of Edom
    I will destroy everyone who has understanding.
The mightiest warriors of Teman
    will be terrified,
and everyone on the mountains of Edom
    will be cut down in the slaughter.” – Obadiah 1:8-9 NLT

None of this was good news for the Edomites, but it was meant to encourage the people of Judah. Their God was letting them know He was aware of their circumstances and fully prepared to act. He was sovereign and in full control. The actions of the Edomites had not escaped His attention and the Edomites would not escape His judgment.

God’s message was a not-so-subtle warning to all the enemies of Judah. But, at the same time, it was a powerful word of encouragement to His chosen people. He was on His throne and in full control of world affairs. Nothing escapes His attention. No one operates outside His sovereign will and control. Even the high and lofty Edomites would be brought low by the hand of Almighty God.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

For Your Own Sake, O Lord

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1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” – Daniel 9:1-19 ESV

This chapter opens with a second mention of Darius the Mede ruling over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. His name first appeared in chapter six in reference to an earlier event in Daniel’s life. He is the one who made a decree that for 30 days all the citizens of his kingdom must pray to him alone. His fateful decision had been at the prompting of his counselors who were jealous of Daniel and hoping to get rid of him. They were the ones who suggested that the penalty for disobeying the king’s order would be death by being fed to the lion.

There has been much debate as to the identity of Darius because no extra-biblical records contain any mention of a Babylonian or Medo-Persian king by that name. As was stated in our discussion of the events in chapter six, the simplest solution to this problem may lie in the meaning of the name “Darius.” It is of Aramaic origin and translates as “lord.” It was likely a title rather than a proper name. It seems that the author purposefully chose to leave out the name of the king involved in the story. He also provides scant details to help determine the date of the events recorded in this chapter. It is as if Darius was intended to represent all the “lords” who ruled over the kingdom of Babylon and its successor, the Medo-Persian empire.

But regardless of who Darius was, the events recorded in this chapter most likely happened toward the end of Daniel’s life when he was in his early 80s. Even in his latter years, Daniel remains faithful to Yahweh. Somehow he had received a copy of the letters that Jeremiah the prophet had written to the exiles living in Babylon. Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem but was commissioned by God to deliver a message to all those who had been taken captive by the Babylonians at the fall of Jerusalem. The letter was intended for “the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar” (Jeremiah 29:1 NLT), and here is what it said:

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” – Jeremiah 29:4-7 NLT

Daniel had managed to get his hands on some of the correspondence between Jeremiah and the Hebrew people living in Babylon. It also seems apparent that he had access to some of Jeremiah’s other writings. This faithful and aging servant of Yahweh remained uncompromised in his convictions despite his long tenure in the Babylonian administration. One of the reasons for his undiminished faith was that he stayed in touch with his God. He was obviously a man of prayer. But he was also a man of the Word. This chapter reveals that Daniel was reading from the writings of Jeremiah the prophet.

Under God’s direction, Jeremiah had faithfully sent letters reminding the Israelites to make the most of their time in Babylon but to never forget that there would be an end to their exile. God had told Jeremiah that their period of suffering would last 70 years and then they would be restored to the land.

When Daniel pens the words of this chapter, the people of Israel have been in captivity for about 67 years. He has spent most of his adult life in Babylon and upon reading the words of Jeremiah, he discovers that the fulfillment of God’s promise is drawing near. But rather than sit back, Daniel prays. What prompted this reaction was what he found written in Jeremiah’s prophesy:

This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” – Jeremiah 29:10-14 NLT

It seems likely that he also read Jeremiah’s reaction when God commanded him to buy a field just before the Babylonians invaded Judah.

“O Sovereign Lord, you have told me to buy the field – paying good money for it before these witnesses – even though the city will soon be handed over to the Babylonians.” – Jeremiah 32:25 NLT

God’s command made no sense to Jeremiah. It was a bad time to be investing in land but Jeremiah did as the Lord commanded because he understood God’s unfailing love and believed that God would fulfill His promise to restore Israel to the land one day. Jeremiah’s investment was based on the integrity of God.

Daniel read the words of Jeremiah and his response was one of prayer and fasting. His prayer was full of repentance on behalf of the people, and he included himself in their guilt. He appealed to God’s mercy. He praised God for His unfailing love and unwavering commitment to keep His promises. He acknowledged that their restoration would have nothing to do with their own merit; it would be for God’s sake and the honor of His name. Despite their years of rebellion and sin, God would forgive and restore them.

This entire chapter is reminiscent of the words God spoke at the dedication of the Temple that Solomon built for God’s glory. Yahweh told them that if they failed to be faithful, He would bring punishment. But if they repented, He would restore them.

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT

Now, centuries later, Daniel is reminded of God’s promise of restoration and challenged by the need for humility, repentance, and prayer. So, he takes it upon himself to step up and do what God commanded. Even after all the decades of living in Babylon, Daniel longed to go home to Judah. Yet, he knew that God expected a change of heart among His people. Repentance must precede restoration.

Daniel was not bitter with God. He did not shake his fist in the face of God and demand an explanation or compensation for damages done. Instead, he openly confessed the sins of his people and justified God’s actions.

“You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem. Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.” – Daniel 9:12-13 NLT

Despite their exile, the people of Israel remained defiant and unrepentant. But not Daniel. He was ready to see God work and so he was ready to confess and call out for God’s mercy. He reminds God of His previous rescue of the people from their captivity in Egypt. He believes that God can do it again but knows that God is looking for repentant hearts among His people. This leads Daniel to cry out, “O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy” (Daniel 9:18 NLT).

He knew they didn’t deserve God’s favor so he called on God to preserve the integrity of His own name. Daniel realized he was asking a lot but believed Yahweh to be a covenant-keeping God who always kept His word.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Jehovah-Go’el

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24 Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior?
    Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go?
25 But the Lord says,
“The captives of warriors will be released,
    and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved.
For I will fight those who fight you,
    and I will save your children.
26 I will feed your enemies with their own flesh.
    They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood.
All the world will know that I, the Lord,
    am your Savior and your Redeemer,
    the Mighty One of Israel.” – Isaiah 49:24-26 NLT

YHWH–Gā’al – The LORD Your Redeemer.” These verses are part of an extended section within the Book of Isaiah that reveals God’s plan to return Israel from their captivity in Babylon and restore them to the land of Canaan. Their exile as slaves in a foreign land had been the result of God’s judgment for their apostasy and spiritual adultery. He had warned them repeatedly, using prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah to carry His message of repentance. But His chosen people had proved too stubborn and unwilling to give up their love affair with false gods and the pleasures of this world. Over the centuries, they had compromised their convictions and grown complacent regarding their status as God’s treasured possession. They had violated their covenant commitment to Him and, as a result, had suffered the consequences of their disobedience.

God had made clear His intentions to bless them if they obeyed.

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God…” – Deuteronomy 28:1-2 NLT

But He had also warned them of the dire consequences of their disobedience.

“But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you…” – Deuteronomy 28:15 NLT

God provided a list of devastating outcomes for their refusal to live according to His will and in keeping with His commands, including their defeat at the hands of a foreign power and their forced removal from the Land of Promise.

“The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone! You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you.” – Deuteronomy 28:36-37 NLT

By the time Isaiah penned the words found in Isaiah 49, the Babylonians had already defeated the Israelites living in the southern kingdom of Judah, destroying the capital city of Jerusalem and its glorious Temple.

But in chapters 49-52, God reveals His plans for Israel’s future redemption and restoration, and declares His intentions to do so through the aid of His “Servant.” First, He promises a day when He, Jehovah-Go’el will transform Israel’s fate.

The LORD, the Redeemer
    and Holy One of Israel,
says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,
    to the one who is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.
    Princes will also bow low
because of the Lord, the faithful one,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” – Isaiah 49:7 NLT

Despite Israel’s rebellion and refusal to keep their covenant commitments, God would reject those He had chosen as His own. He had punished them justly and appropriately, but He would also restore them graciously and mercifully. They did not deserve to be saved. In fact, the prophet Ezekiel records God’s indictment of their unfaithfulness even while in exile.

“Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.” – Ezekiel 36:22-24 NLT

Yet, God was determined to keep His covenant promises and see that His people were restored to the land He had given them as their inheritance. For anyone familiar with the history of Israel, it would be easy to assume that the Isaiah 49 passage addresses Israel’s return from captivity under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. As God had promised, the exiled Israelites began returning to Judah in 538 B.C.E. Through a series of God-ordained events, a remnant of the Israelites were given permission to make the long journey home so that they might restore Jerusalem, rebuild the Temple, and repopulate the land of Judah.

But Isaiah seems to have something far more significant in mind. In chapters 49-52, he describes a restoration that exceeds anything Israel experienced under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. In chapter 52, he writes of a day when only the pure and godly will enter the gates of Jerusalem.

Wake up, wake up, O Zion!
Clothe yourself with strength.
Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem,
for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer.
Rise from the dust, O Jerusalem.
Sit in a place of honor.
Remove the chains of slavery from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
For this is what the Lord says:
“When I sold you into exile,
I received no payment.
Now I can redeem you
without having to pay for you.” – Isaiah 52:1-3 NLT

These verses describe a different restoration with far-reaching implications for Israel and the world. Isaiah describes a far-distant day when God will redeem and restore Israel once and for all.

Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song,
    for the Lord has comforted his people.
    He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has demonstrated his holy power
    before the eyes of all the nations.
All the ends of the earth will see
    the victory of our God. – Isaiah 52:9-10 NLT

What Ezra and Nehemiah accomplished in leading the exiles back to the land of Judah cannot be overlooked. They took on the gargantuan task of rebuilding the ruins of Jerusalem under great duress and significant opposition. However, their efforts, while ultimately successful, do not match what Isaiah describes.

After their return to Judah, the Israelites were surrounded by enemies and under constant threat of annihilation. They had no king and no standing army, making them an easy target for any nation that coveted their fertile and well-watered land. It would not be long before they found themselves under the thumb of yet another world power when the Romans invaded the land and became their overlords. Their occupation began in 68 B.C.E. and was still going on when Jesus appeared on the scene.

But Jesus’ arrival adds another important element to the prophecies of Isaiah because He is the “servant” of whom Isaiah wrote. The descriptions of this coming servant mirror the life of Jesus, both in His incarnation but also in His future return.

“The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom,
    so that I know how to comfort the weary.
Morning by morning he wakens me
    and opens my understanding to his will.
The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me,
    and I have listened.
    I have not rebelled or turned away.
I offered my back to those who beat me
    and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard.
I did not hide my face
    from mockery and spitting.

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore, I have set my face like a stone,
    determined to do his will.
    And I know that I will not be put to shame.” – Isaiah 50:4-7 NLT

These verses are mirrored by the gospel writers when they describe the abuse Jesus suffered during His trials before the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor Pilate. Jesus confessed His unflinching determination to do His Father’s will when He said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38 ESV). Though He knew what would happen when He arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus set His face like a stone and made the journey anyway (Luke 9:51).

Jesus was the servant whom God promised to send. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to redeem all those who were enslaved to sin and condemned to death. He was Jehovah-Go’el, the LORD Our Redeemer. According the Isaiah, it was always God’s plan to send His Servant to redeem what was lost and, as Paul states, “because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV).

But Jesus is not yet done. While He has finished His atoning work on the cross, He has not completed the mission God gave Him. He will one day return and fulfill His role as Jehovah-Go’el. the Savior and Redeemer of God’s chosen people, the Israelites. Every covenant promise God made to them will be fulfilled – in Christ.

”For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

“And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God.” – Ezekiel 36:24-28 NLT

God is a redeeming God. From the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed His divine directive in the garden, He has been on a relentless quest to restore what was damaged by the fall. But this quest is not some sort of Don Quixote-esque ill-fated hope for a non-existent future; it is based on a pre-ordained outcome that was established before the foundation of the world. In other words, the fall was not a fly in the ointment for God. It did not come as a surprise to God or require Him to formulate a Plan B to replace His obviously flawed and failed Plan A.

No, the redemption of Israel and the redemption of sinful humanity was always a part of God’s strategic plan, and you see it mapped out in these chapters of Isaiah. Redemption has always been part of God’s sovereign, providential will. Israel’s rebellion and subsequent punishment was not an unscheduled detour in God’s road map of redemption; it was a pre-planned, pre-scheduled stop along the way. God had always planned to redeem Israel because He had always intended for His “Servant” to be an Israelite. He had to be born of the seed of Abraham and come from the lineage of David so that He could one day sit on the throne of David and rule over the redeemed and restored nation of Israel. As Isaiah wrote in an earlier portion of his book, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a redeemer for His rebellious people, including both Jews and Gentiles.

For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen! – Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu

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1 “What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,” says the Lord.

2 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: “Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them. 3 But I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own sheepfold, and they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 Then I will appoint responsible shepherds who will care for them, and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one will be lost or missing. I, the Lord, have spoken!

5 “For the time is coming,”
    says the Lord,
“when I will raise up a righteous descendant
    from King David’s line.
He will be a King who rules with wisdom.
    He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
6 And this will be his name:
    ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’
In that day Judah will be saved,
    and Israel will live in safety. – Jeremiah 23:1-6 NLT

YHWH–Tsidkenu – The LORD Our Righteousness.” The context for this passage is when the prophets of God warned the nation of Judah to repent and return to the Lord. They had long ago abandoned their reverence for and allegiance to Yahweh, choosing instead to worship the false gods of the surrounding nations. Their apostasy and spiritual adultery were insatiable and despite the warnings of men like Jeremiah, they refused to repent. Even then Jeremiah received his commission to serve as God’s mouthpiece, he was told that his efforts would prove unsuccessful because the people would not change their way. The coming judgment was inevitable and inescapable.

“Listen! I am calling the armies of the kingdoms of the north to come to Jerusalem. I, the Lord, have spoken!

“They will set their thrones
    at the gates of the city.
They will attack its walls
    and all the other towns of Judah.
I will pronounce judgment
    on my people for all their evil—
for deserting me and burning incense to other gods.
    Yes, they worship idols made with their own hands!” – Jeremiah 1:15-16 NLT

God was going to punish the southern kingdom of Judah for its unrighteousness. He had set them as His treasured possession but they had failed to live up to His holy standards. Not only were they unable to keep their covenant commitments to Him, but they had also broken His commandments and failed to worship Him alone.

While they claimed to be faithful to Yahweh, their behavior did not mirror their expressed beliefs. God put a high priority on righteous living, providing them with a non-negotiable code of conduct meant to regulate every area of their lives. His standard of conduct was high.

“You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” – Leviticus 19:2 NLT

They were forbidden from deceiving, defrauding, or robbing their neighbor. They were to treat the disadvantaged and disabled with respect and honor. Gossip was forbidden, as well as unjust business transactions. Workers were to be paid fairly and treated with dignity. In every area of life, they were to express love for one another and live according to God’s righteous standards.

“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” – Leviticus 19:15 ESV

All of these commands are found in Leviticus 19, and after each one, God included the statement, “I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:4 ESV). He repeatedly reminded them that He was Yahweh, the God of Israel. They belonged to Him and He expected them to live in keeping with His will and in gratitude for their unmerited status as His chosen people.

Some understood the magnitude of God’s grace and expressed their appreciation for the privilege of keeping His commands. David referred to Yahweh as “God of my righteousness!” (Psalm 4:1 ESV). David understood that God was the source of his righteousness. His capacity for right living was a gift from Yahweh, not something he self-produced. In yet another psalm, David expressed his desire that God would judge him fairly and justly, according to his righteousness.

The Lord judges the peoples;
    judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
    and according to the integrity that is in me.
Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
    and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
    O righteous God!
My shield is with God,
    who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge,
    and a God who feels indignation every day. – Psalm 7;8-11 ESV

But David was not claiming to be self-righteous and deserving of God’s gratitude and reward. He understood that his righteousness was based on God’s holy standard and not some man-based criteria for good behavior. The “upright in heart” are not those who produce good works in their own strength, but who faithfully follow the will of a righteous God.

David knew that right behavior, the kind of behavior that would be acceptable to a righteous God, was nothing more than faithful adherence to His will.

Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
    Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
    speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip
    or harm their neighbors
    or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise flagrant sinners,
    and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
    and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who lend money without charging interest,
    and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever. – Psalm 15:1-5 NLT

But the people of Judah had not kept God’s commands. They had violated His will by ignoring His rules for right living. From top to bottom, the nation of Judah was rife with rebellious people who refused to live according to God’s righteous standards. Even Judah’s kings and priests were complicit in the nation’s spiritual failure and God would hold them accountable.

“What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for…” – Jeremiah 23:1 NLT

He goes on to level his accusations against these leaders and warn them of their fate.

“Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them.” – Jeremiah 23:2 NLT

They knew the rules. They understood what God expected of them as the shepherds of His flock, but they had chosen to use their God-given authority to fleece the flock of God for personal gain. They did not rule in righteousness. They did not lead and love well. Their conduct did not comport with God’s call on their lives and the LORD Our Righteousness was not pleased.

Judgment would come. The unrighteous would suffer for their sins. The Babylonians would invade Judah, besiege the capital city of Jerusalem, and bring the entire nation to its knees. The righteous God would pour out His wrath on His unrighteous people. Their city would be destroyed and their leaders would be killed or taken captive. The Temple would be reduced to rubble and the inhabitants of Judah would be exiled to the land of Babylon for 70 years.

But their righteous God was far from done. Despite their disobedience and unfaithfulness, He would do the right thing. He would keep His covenant commitment to His covenant-breaking people. After seven decades of captivity in Babylon, a ragtag remnant would return to the land of Judah. But their homecoming would be anything but joyful and their future would be filled with hard work and difficulties. But their righteous God would care for them because He was not yet done fulfilling His righteous will for them.

Through His prophet Jeremiah, God promises to restore the fortunes of Judah.

“I will appoint responsible shepherds who will care for them, and they will never be afraid again.” – Jeremiah 23:4 NLT

This promise has yet to be fulfilled. But it will be. God goes on to state, “For the time is coming when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land” (Jeremiah 23:5 NLT). This king will be called, “The LORD Is Our Righteousness”

YHWH-Tsidkenu will be like no other king Israel has ever had. He will be the Shepherd-King who rules in righteousness, restoring the fortunes of God’s people and enabling them to live in obedience to His commands. Jeremiah goes on to describe this future King of Israel.

14 “The day will come, says the Lord, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them.

15 “In those days and at that time
    I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line.
    He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
16 In that day Judah will be saved,
    and Jerusalem will live in safety.
And this will be its name:
    ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’” – Jeremiah 33:141-6 NLT

This prophetic promise points to the coming of Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world. Jesus came to make righteousness available to all who would believe. As the apostle Paul states, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:22-22 ESV).

Righteousness is impossible without God’s help. David knew that and so did the apostle Paul. Even with the righteous law available to them, the people of Israel and Judah could not live up to its demanding standards. But the law was never intended to be a litmus test for righteousness; it was designed to expose sin. 

For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. – Romans 3:20 NLT

The law reveals man’s need for a Savior. It exposes man’s lack of righteousness and his incapacity to maintain a right standing with God. That was the whole purpose behind the sacrificial system. Even with the law to guide them, the people of God would end up sinning and damage their relationship with the LORD Our Righteousness. Their sin would have to be atoned for and “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22 ESV).

But Jesus came to make righteousness available by offering Himself as the once-for-all-time sacrifice for mankind’s sins. He sacrificed His sinless life on behalf of sinful men so that they could be restored to a right standing with God. Paul boldly declares that the Gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV).;

The Israelites were given the impossible task of living up to God’s righteous standard by attempting to keep His law. But God never expected them to pull it off. That’s why He gave them the sacrificial system. Yet, as the author of Hebrews makes clear, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4 NLT).

The law was “a shadow of the good things to come” and could never “make perfect those who draw near” (Hebrews 10:1 NLT). It pointed to the better sacrifice to come: The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:9 ESV). It was always God’s will for Jesus to become the sole source of salvation for the sins of mankind.

“For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.” – Hebrews 10:10 NLT

Jesus was destined to be the LORD Our Righteousness. As the sinless Son of God, He took on human flesh, lived a sinless life, and became the perfect sacrifice that could satisfy the just demands of a holy God, because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But because He came, lived, died, and rose again, the righteousness of God is available to all who believe. The apostle Paul succinctly summarizes the gracious gift of righteousness that Jesus made possible to all who believe.

I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. – Philippians 3:9 NLT

Jesus is the LORD our Righteousness.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Non-Negotiable Nature of Faithfulness

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1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. 6 Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. 7 And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in them.

8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 And they put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. 11 But when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. – 1 Chronicles 10:1-14 ESV

For nine chapters the chronicler has painstakingly presented the genealogies of the 12 tribes of Israel. His intent was to remind his readers of their unique and rich heritage as God’s chosen people. They may have felt like aliens and strangers in the land of promise, but he wanted them to understand their one-of-a-kind status as the people of God. But they also needed to grasp the reality that their return from exile was due to the grace and mercy of God. The Almighty had kept His word and done exactly as He had promised through Jeremiah the prophet.

“For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over will I again take up consideration for you. Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore you to your homeland. For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.” – Jeremiah 29:10-11 NLT

Jeremiah wrote the letter containing this promise from God while living in the wasteland that was once the capital city of Jerusalem. The people of Judah who had been left behind after the Babylonian invasion had gone on with their lives. They had a puppet king who had been placed on the throne of David by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. While many of their cities had been destroyed and a large portion of their population had been exiled to Babylon, they went on with life as usual.

Jeremiah’s letter was hand-delivered to “the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon” (Jeremiah 29:1 NLT). Jeremiah informed these exiled Judahites that God had a plan for them but he also warned them not to listen to the “prophets of good news” who were filling their heads with lies.

“You say, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets of good news for us here in Babylon.’ But just listen to what the Lord has to say about the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem and were not carried off into exile with you. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, ‘I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. I will chase after them with war, starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them. For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,’ says the Lord. ‘And you exiles have not paid any attention to them either,’ says the Lord.  ‘So pay attention to the Lord’s message, all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’” – Jeremiah 29:15-20 NLT)

One of those false prophets was a man named Shemaiah, who responded to Jeremiah’s letter with a letter of his own, addressed to Zephaniah, a priest living in Jerusalem. In his missive, Shemaiah accuses Jeremiah of being the false prophet and demands that Zephaniah carry out his duties as a priest and have Jeremiah put “in the stocks with an iron collar around his neck” (Jeremiah 29:26 NLT).

Zephaniah and his fellow false prophets had been trying to convince the exiled people of Judah that their time in Babylon would be short-lived. They refuted Jeremiah’s claim that God was going to leave His people in captivity for 70 years. For them, this was unthinkable and unacceptable. So they delivered a much more user-friendly message that promised a quick deliverance and restoration.

All of this is vital to understanding what is going on in chapter 10. The 70 years had passed and the remnant had returned to the land. In chapter 9, the chronicler describes a reinstituted priesthood and a revitalized sacrificial system at the Temple in Jerusalem. This mention of the holy city reminds the people of their duty to worship God and Him alone. Jerusalem is also the city where the king resides. It is the place where David and Solomon had their palaces and conducted their reigns as the kings of Israel. After seven decades, Zedekiah, the puppet king who served at the behest of Nebuchadnezzar, was long gone. In fact, the Babylonians were no longer in control of Judah at this point in the story; they had been defeated by the Persian Empire. So, when the exiles returned to the land, there was no king ruling in Judah.

In chapter 10, the chronicler gives his audience a refresher course in their own history, reminding them how they got to this less-than-promising point. He starts out by revisiting the unflattering demise of Saul. He juxtaposes the reign of Saul with that of David and he does so by concentrating on Saul’s death. Chapter ten is a virtually word-for-word account of 1 Samuel 31. Both passages provide a stark contrast between the life of Saul and that of David, the man after God’s own heart. Saul had been appointed Israel’s first king as a result of the people’s demand to be ruled by a leader like all the other nations had. They were tired of God’s plan of using judges as temporary deliverers and rulers. They demanded to have a king and God obliged them. He gave them someone who had all the outward characteristics of a leader but who lacked the integrity and character that true godly leadership requires.

Solomon was the king after the people’s heart. His name means “he who was requested.” But Saul had a problem; he refused to obey God and His prophet Samuel. Unlike David, Saul was not a man after God’s own heart. In fact, he really didn’t have a heart for God at all. He refused to listen to God and was prone to do things his own way. This led to God refusing to listen to Saul. God even chose David as Saul’s successor long before his life and his kingdom had come to an end.

The writer makes it clear that Saul died because of his own trespasses. He sinned against God by refusing to obey His commands. In recounting Saul’s story, the chronicler is telling the story of the people of Israel. Their nearly 70 years in exile had been for similar reasons. They had also failed to listen to God and obey His commands. In fact, the very fact that Saul was ever on the throne, to begin with, was due to their stubborn demand for a king. Rather than being satisfied with God as their sovereign ruler, they insisted that they be given a human king.

The following chapters will contrast the faithfulness of David with the unfaithfulness of Saul. David was God’s choice for Israel and he proved to be a flawed, yet faithful leader. Despite his own sinfulness, David remained committed to God and, as a result, his reign was blessed. The book of First Chronicles makes a repeated tie between blessing and faithfulness and judgment and disobedience. His message is timeless and applicable to all generations of God’s people. God is a holy God who demands that His followers live holy lives. But the good news is that He is not expecting us to manufacture this holiness on our own. He supplies all we need through the presence of His Holy Spirit and the guidance of His written Word. Like David, we can live faithful lives and enjoy the blessings of God. We can live in obedience. We can be a people after God’s own heart because He has equipped us to do just that.

The chronicler’s recounting of Saul’s disobedience and subsequent death is intended to be a wake-up call. Israel’s first king “died because he was unfaithful to the Lord” (1 Chronicles 10:13 NLT). Saul had been allowed to lead the people of God according to the will of God, but he had chosen to do things his own way. This sad tale was meant to encourage the returning exiles to avoid the same fate that Saul suffered. They had been given a unique opportunity to restart their relationship with Yahweh. He had graciously returned them to the land and allowed them to rebuild the Temple, reinstitute the sacrificial system, and begin their lives again – in the land of promise. But to experience the full extent of God’s blessings, they would need to be obedient and remain faithful at all costs. They could not afford to make the same mistake their ancestors had made.

Nearly 70 years earlier, Jeremiah had sent a letter to the exiles in Babylon, proclaiming God’s promise to restore them to the land. In that very same letter, he provided them with another message from God that called for faithfulness, obedience, worship, and reliance.

“When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, I will make myself available to you.” – Jeremiah 29:13-14 NLT

Saul was the poster boy for unfaithfulness. His life was a sad and sobering reminder of what happens when God’s anointed becomes self-absorbed and self-reliant. The people of Judah had a choice to make and God had made that choice perfectly clear.

“…if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT

They were back in the land but the work of restoration was far from done. They were still the chosen people of God but they needed to live out that identity through acts of faithfulness and obedience. God had plans to prosper them, not harm them; He had plans to give them a future filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11). But their faithfulness was a non-optional requirement.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Life Doesn’t Always Make Sense

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1 Then Job answered and said:

2 “Keep listening to my words,
    and let this be your comfort.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak,
    and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint against man?
    Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled,
    and lay your hand over your mouth.
6 When I remember, I am dismayed,
    and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live,
    reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their offspring are established in their presence,
    and their descendants before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
    and no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
    their cow calves and does not miscarry.
11 They send out their little boys like a flock,
    and their children dance.
12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre
    and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
    and in peace they go down to Sheol.
14 They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
    We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
    The counsel of the wicked is far from me.” – Job 21:1-16 ESV

Job’s friends have a theology of consequences. Their arguments are based on their belief that Job’s circumstances are the obvious result of his sinful behavior. He is suffering the consequences of pursuing wickedness. They take a look at the recent events of his life and conclude that God must be punishing him.

All of their speeches are based on this assumption and, the truth is, we can easily find ourselves doing the same thing. When we see someone suffering, we can easily jump to the conclusion that they’ve done something wrong and are being punished by God in some way. Many of us have the same you-reap-what-you-sow mentality as Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. It creeps into our thinking and influences our views on life. For instance, if something negative happens in our day, we can quickly find ourselves asking the question, “What did I do wrong?”

We can easily assume that we are suffering the consequences of some past action or thought. God must be punishing us for something we’ve done. And, if we’re not careful, we can just as easily view the sufferings or trials of others in the same simplistic way.

But Job points out a very logical argument against this sin-has-consequences theology. He asks his accusers to take a look at the world around them and explain why it is that most wicked people don’t ever suffer the way he has. In fact, they seem to thrive.

“Why do the wicked prosper,
    growing old and powerful?
They live to see their children grow up and settle down,
    and they enjoy their grandchildren.
Their homes are safe from every fear,
    and God does not punish them.” – Job 21:7-9 NLT

Great question, Job.

Life is not as black and white as it sometimes appears. Not everything fits into a neat and clean cause-and-effect paradigm.

Job points out that they tend to grow old and rich, and their kids grow up to enjoy the wealth they leave behind. From all appearances, there doesn’t seem to be any punishment from God on their lives. These very same people openly dismiss God and deny any need for his help or his forgiveness. They mockingly portray God as useless and totally unnecessary because they view their success or failure as completely up to them alone. Job argues that these wicked individuals don’t suffer, despite their dishonoring treatment of the Almighty.

“Go away. We want no part of you and your ways. Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?” – Job 21:14-15 NLT

Job points out that these people show no fear or respect for God, but they don’t seem to suffer for it. The truth is that they actually prosper, and “they think their prosperity is of their own doing” (Job 21:16 NLT). 

And Job is not alone in his outlook on the wicked. The prophet Jeremiah also voiced his confusion over the seeming success of those who dishonor God.

Lord, you always give me justice
    when I bring a case before you.
So let me bring you this complaint:
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
    Why are evil people so happy?
You have planted them,
    and they have taken root and prospered.
Your name is on their lips,
    but you are far from their hearts. – Jeremiah 12:1-2 NLT

The prophet Malachi had to address the growing consternation of the people of God who were questioning whether it was worth it to remain faithful. From their perspective, it seemed that the wicked were better off.

“You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins? From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’” – Malachi 3:14-15 NLT

An honest and objective look at the world would seem to indicate that the wicked don’t always suffer for their actions. Good doesn’t always win out over evil. The righteous don’t always come out on top. After all, Jesus Christ Himself died at the hands of wicked and unrighteous men. Most, if not all, of the disciples suffered martyrdom. History tends to validate Job’s conclusion.

This beleaguered man understood that life was not always easily explainable. We don’t know why some suffer and others do not. We can’t explain why a massive earthquake strikes one nation and not another. Sure, science can provide geological explanations, but no one can fully comprehend the moral implications of such devastating natural disasters.

We don’t know why one person suffers from cancer while another doesn’t. We don’t know why one couple loses their child in a car accident while another couple is allowed to watch their child grow up and live a long life. The fact is, there are things we do not know. There are mysteries to life that we can’t explain.

That is where faith comes in. That is where trust in a holy, mighty, all-knowing God comes in. Rather than turning to our conclusions, we must turn to Him. Even God Himself reminds us, “My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT).

When it comes to the egocentric ramblings of self-made men who claim that their prosperity is their own doing, Job simply states, “I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking” (Job 21:16 NLT). He refuses to take credit for his success but he also refuses to take ownership for his seeming failure. Just because things have not turned out the way he had envisioned, that doesn’t mean he is wicked and reaping the righteous judgment of God. Job refused to draw that pessimistic conclusion.

What he needed and greatly desired was for his friends to comfort and console him in his time of need. He didn’t need correction or caustic comments concerning his guilt. He could have used the heart-warming words of

Don’t worry about the wicked
    or envy those who do wrong.
For like grass, they soon fade away.
    Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

Trust in the Lord and do good.
    Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you your heart’s desires. – Psalm 37:1-4 NLT

These words were written by a man who had experienced his fair share of suffering and sorrow. He had spent years running for his life, attempting to escape the bounty that King Saul had placed on his head. He had been anointed by the prophet of God to become the next king of Israel and yet he was forced to live like a fugitive and was treated like a convicted felon. Yet, he was able to pen the following words.

Be still in the presence of the Lord,
    and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
    or fret about their wicked schemes. – Psalm 37:7 NLT

Life can be difficult to understand because things don’t always turn out the way we expect. Even the psalmist, Asaph, expressed his confusion and frustration with the incongruities of living in a fallen and sin-damaged world.

Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those whose hearts are pure.
But as for me, I almost lost my footing.
    My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.
For I envied the proud
    when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
They seem to live such painless lives;
    their bodies are so healthy and strong.
They don’t have troubles like other people;
    they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else. – Psalm 73:1-5 NLT

But Asaph came to his senses and recognized the futility of his faulty thinking.

Then I realized that my heart was bitter,
    and I was all torn up inside.
I was so foolish and ignorant—
    I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
Yet I still belong to you;
    you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
    leading me to a glorious destiny.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
    I desire you more than anything on earth.
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
    but God remains the strength of my heart;
    he is mine forever. – Psalm 73:21-26 NLT

Job was not there yet. He had not reached the same conclusion as Asaph, but that time would come. He would eventually understand and appreciate the ways of God. But in the moment of his distress what he really needed was friends who would stand beside him and not gloat over him. He could have used a few encouraging words from a David or an Asaph. But he was stuck with Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.

The question we must ask ourselves is what kind of friends are we? Do we reach conclusions about the suffering of others based on conjecture and solely on our examination of the consequences? Are we too quick to question the wickedness of others or to doubt the goodness of God? May the following prayer reflect the desire of our hearts as we live our lives in this fallen and sometimes confusing world.

Father, forgive me for reaching conclusions about You that are based solely on conjecture and poor conclusions based on consequences and nothing more. You are inexplicable and Your ways are always unquestionably right and good. Help me to look for You in any and all circumstances of life. Help me to see the good You are bringing about in my life and the lives of others – in spite of what I may see. Your ways are not my ways. Your plans are beyond my knowledge and understanding, but they are always right and true. Thank You for that reminder and assurance. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.