Jeremiah 20:12-13 (ESV Strong's)
O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
Tag: Vengeance is of God
Jeremiah is often referred to as the “weeping prophet.” He is, throughout the book, ridiculed, punished, persecuted and/or defamed. No one likes his message (God is coming to punish them and they should surrender and give themselves over to captivity). As a result, they don’t like him. This is a classic, “don’t shoot the messenger” book. Yet, they do shoot at him, repeatedly. Note what was written about Jeremiah earlier in just this chapter:
Jeremiah 20:1-2 (ESV Strong's)
Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord.
Jeremiah is in a tight place. He is prophesying to a nation that has disobeyed God. As a result, he is telling them that God will punish them for their disobedience. Yet, to tell them about the punishment, they will hate him. But, if he does not tell them, he is disobeying God and all the punishment that he is telling them would fall on him, as well. Being obedient to God is to trust Him in these tough circumstances. God inflicts punishment on those who disobey. There is no getting around it. Those who come to Christ and ask forgiveness can’t simply keep on sinning and disobeying God and expect God’s great love and mercy to continue to be poured out on them. That does not happen. God will have vengeance on those who reject His Word. Jeremiah decided to live for God and obey God and let God be his advocate. And being his advocate God was. As we can see from the above verses God will enact punishment on those who attack His servants. We are to give praise to God for this. He has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
No comments:
Post a Comment