Heralds Digest

“The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things; And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The LORD of hosts is His name. “You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms”” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51:19-20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.51.19-20.nkjv Although idols and human images in the days of Jeremiah cannot move and talk, the intelligence of machines in our days are capable of surpassing the quotient of an average human being. The kingdom of this world is programmable towards reversing the dominance and the authority of man, starting from home to the society at large. Unfortunately, those who dream of making home out of this world have little restraint to the call to worship the idol of sophistication and human intelligence. Whereas, God still rule the nation of people who are called by His name, and are sensitive to the leading of His Spirit. Against the prevailing distractions in ou...

““Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the LORD.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭50:29-30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.50.29-30.nkjv The rise and fall of the relationship between God and Babylon defines the divine concept of reliability in relationships. While human relationships may do perfectly well with emphasis on responsibilities, God is always interested in our intimate relationship. When the scriptures say “Acquaint yourself with God and good shall come unto you”, it means that God count more on our ‘knowing’ than our ‘doing’. For Babylon, his ‘doing’ without ‘knowing’ makes him ‘proud against the LORD’. Obviously, the ‘doing’ sense in man makes him...

“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, As I have punished the king of Assyria. But I will bring back Israel to his home, And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan; His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭50:18-20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.50.18-20.nkjv Convicted prisoners on presidential parole often enjoy their conditional release with restraint and constant reminder of their sin and parole terms. Even the parole officers would always act in constant threat and tendency of a re-arrest. As parole officers to Israel and Judah, Assyria and Babylon mismanaged the possibilities of grace for all offenders of the laws of God. While there is a constant reminder of sin with p...

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, The foremost of their might’...I will set My throne in Elam, And will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says the LORD.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭49:35, 38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.49.35,38.nkjv Those who desire the treasure of this world by all means are mostly unconcerned about the underlying transaction in respects of the demands of treacherous thrones. After all, there are no thrones without the need for an offer of sacrifices, either in term of time or in term of tributes. Like the king and the princes of Elam promoted the bow of the people before its exhorted throne, the family or fellowship altars of people who must be endowed with the treasure of this world are often a distraction to the true worship of the Lord. Men can keep drawing near with their hands full of service, but with their hearts empty of worship. This is sincerely because the visible throne for the service offering is simply the mat...

““Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the LORD, “Which has neither gates nor bars, Dwelling alone. Their camels shall be for booty, And the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners, And I will bring their calamity from all its sides,” says the LORD.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭49:31-32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.49.31-32.nkjv The strength of the security that is powered by the material things of the world grows with the intelligence of man. Unfortunately, the knowledge that constructs this security increases daily with the knowledge that compromises the same system security. Like in Kedar and Hazor, the confidence of most human systems (family, state, and institutions) is driven by the search and settlement in the scattered security, built on proven material reliability measures - “Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the LORD, “Which has neither gates nor bars”. Whereas, all secur...

“Against Damascus. “Hamath and Arpad are shamed, For they have heard bad news. They are fainthearted; There is trouble on the sea; It cannot be quiet.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭49:23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.49.23.nkjv In times of troubles, there is always a turbulence of ideas and chaos in finding the appropriate path of peace. Myriads of self-help solutions are often explored, until all hopes are gone. For Damascus, reliefs have been tenable from neighboring cities, especially the temporary respite from the city of God’s Joy. Notwithstanding, troubled hearts that are open to the source of good news have always found a merciful leading to the Lord. And when the cyberspace and the entire social entertainment world are saturated with bad news, those who are called to share good news require a refreshing courage to be committed to the business of highlighting the peace path. Unfortunately, there is always the greater quietness in the sharing of good news, compared to the excitement in t...

“Your fierceness has deceived you, The pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Who hold the height of the hill! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,” says the LORD.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭49:16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.49.16.nkjv If dwelling in the clefts of the rock created a delightful attraction in the days of Edom, building stations in the space in our days must be a blown-away attraction for the likes of today’s Elon Musk. However, it is instructive to note that the burden of Edom was not ‘the ride to your height’ but ‘the pride of your heart’. The stride in the height of man means nothing to God; but many things go wrong when the heart goes high. ‘Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall’, says the holy scriptures. Promotion in career life and ministry or prosperity through business achievement is a delightful experience, until the detestable pride stage a revolting mess in the heart....