Pay Attention!

[Christsdaughter]

Pay Attention!
Wednesday March 23, 2011

“1This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis£—and in Upper Egypt£: 2“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins 3because of the evil they have done. They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. 4Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ 5But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. 6Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today.” (Jer 44:1-6)

Jeremiah had chosen to go back to Judah once he was freed by the imperial guard, but he was taken to Egypt against his will. The Lord gave him another message to deliver to the Jews in Egypt.Jeremiah told them that despite the disaster that they saw the Lord bring on Jerusalem and Judah and despite God sending His prophets to warn them, they still did not pay attention and turn to Him.

“11“Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah. 12I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach. 13I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. 14None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives.”

God let them know that because of their failure to pay attention and to turn to Him, He was going to bring even more disaster on them and destroy all Judah. Everyone who refused to listen to the Lord by surrendering to the Babylonians and escaping to Egypt in hopes of escaping their troubles would die by the sword or famine in Egypt. If they had stayed in Babylon and surrendered, they would have experienced some troubles, but God would have protected them, preserved their lives, and restored them to the land once He was finished judging them.

“15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt,£ said to Jeremiah, 16“We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! 17We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. 18But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.”
19The women added, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?”
20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, 21“Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? 22When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today. 23Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.”

These Jews living in Egypt attributed their troubles to the fact that they forgot to sacrifice to the “Queen of Heaven”. They did not realize that the true reason for their problems was that they had drifted away from God and disobeyed Him. It was because they chose to escape to Egypt that they were undergoing such calamity.

Whenever we take our eyes off of the Lord and begin paying attention to our own desires, we begin to drift away from God. That is when He begins warning us and disciplining us. If we do not pay attention, we will continue to drift away and then He must discipline us. Sometimes it is tempting to think that our troubles are due to another source when they are really a result of our sin. The further we drift away from Him by turning our focus to something else, the more confused our thinking becomes; we begin to wonder why we are experiencing all these troubles. When we experience hardships, we should examine our lives prayerfully before God and ask Him to teach us what He wants to teach us through our circumstances. Then we are to confess our sins (if our hardships are a result of sin), repent, and move forward in obedience to the Lord.

“Jer 45
This is what Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of Neriah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, after Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating: 2“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3You said, ‘Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’”
4‹The LORD said,› “Say this to him: ‘This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. 5Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’”

Baruch had been serving the Lord for years by writing a book of Jeremiah’s messages and struggles and of all the judgments that were taking place. Ch. 45 indicated that he was depressed and wanted to give up. What God says to him here reminds me of when He asked Job “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.” in Job Ch. 38. In Jer Ch. 45, God tells Baruch “I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. 5Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.” He was reminding Baruch that He is God and that He is in control and encouraged him by saying that if he would take his eyes off of himself and whatever he selfishly desired, then He would protect him. God is saying the same thing to me (and maybe to you) today.

“Lord, forgive me for taking my focus off of you and for focusing on my own selfish desires. I pray that you will help me to focus on You, deny myself, and to desire what you desire. I love you so much! Amen!”

 

[Christsfreeservant]

“Lord, forgive me for taking my focus off of you and for focusing on my own selfish desires. I pray that you will help me to focus on You, deny myself, and to desire what you desire. I love you so much! Amen!”

Amen! I agree with you in that prayer for myself, as well. Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for this message today brought through your servant.