Heralds Digest

“so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or survive, lest they return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return and dwell. For none shall return except those who escape.’ ”” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭44:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.44.14.nkjv Escape from physical adversity into a state of material affluence is often misconstrued as evidence of prosperity. Whereas, the converse is mostly true - material affluence without spiritual sensitivity is an evidence of destruction, and that with no escape route. The remnant of Judah have gone into the land of Egypt with an escape mindset, from the hands of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Whereas the transient escape will soon be terminated by the same hands of king Nebuchadnezzar, even in the land of Egypt. As always, escape to Egypt may offer temporary respite from physical and emotional troubles, a voyage against the perfect will of God in life leads to destruction and death...

“Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, all these words, that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭43:1-2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.43.1-2.nkjv Careful observation of the content of the petition to prophet Jeremiah in the previous chapter and the response after the revelation from the prophet shows the difference in the revered portion of the two parties. The petition says ' pray for us to the Lord your God (42:2) ', whereas the response declares ' the LORD our God has not sent you..(43:2) '. When the petitioners' revered portion is attached to Egypt, the intention of all petitions is clearly a solicitation for the God of heaven to bow to the idolized portion in...

“For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me,” says the LORD.’ ”” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭39:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.39.18.nkjv Self confidence is good because it provides the basis of trust in one's ability to personally seek self's personal wellness. However, ability to trust in God above self decreases with increasing measure of self confidence. Unlike king Zedekiah, a palace steward, Ebedmelech from Ethiopia, has little or no confidence in his ability to save self from the impeding invasion. Therefore, he has no resistance to giving his life away to faith in God's word, as prophesied by prophet Jeremiah. The scripture declares that believers must be able to lose their lives in order to gain them. Unfortunately, the fear of economic instability, security threat, and future uncertainties often prevent absolute confidence in the promises of God, especially when He le...

“Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭39:7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.39.7.nkjv Human senses, including the sense of sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste, add tremendous spice to the living comfort of all. And anyone with impaired physical senses will miss out on productive relationship with fellow men, unless a reliable compliment is provided for companionship. Unfortunately, active physical sights have always constitute a well of distraction to spiritual sensitivity. Obedience to the will of God is readily unattractive to men whose eyes are set on human opinion and sensible assessment of call to divine engagement. Despite an uncompromising declaration of the counsel of God to king Zedekiah to surrender to the king of Babylon, he wasted about 18 months of the Chaldean besiege behind the walls of Jerusalem. Instead of leading his army to have faith in the plan and purpose of God before the penetrati...