Paul the apostle asked in the book of Romans in chapter eight and
verse thirty-one, “What shall we then say to these things? If
God be for us, who can be
against us?” After reading
this lamentation of Jeremiah, we might be inclined to ask, “and if
God be against us, who can be for us?” In chapter two and verse
three of Lamentations Jeremiah continues his discourse on the ways
God poured out his anger upon Jerusalem and Judah. We read:
He has cut off in his
fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he has drawn back his right hand
from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming
fire, which devours round about.
The
verse begins, “He has cut off in his fierce
anger all the horn of Israel:” Jeremiah first addresses “all
the horn of Israel” which refers to the place of power or
strength which resided in Israel. Notice that God did so in His
“fierce anger” which is like a burning and heated
passionate anger that is so evident that it wrinkles the nose. If we
use our imaginations we might envision a snarling angry face that is
coming against the powers that be in Israel.
The
verse continues, “he has drawn back his right hand from before
the enemy,...” The “right hand” was known as the
“hand of power and authority” and here Jeremiah says the Lord has
“drawn back” or “returned, pulled back, or withdrawn”
His hand “before the enemy” which refers to the face of
the enemy. In other words where God's protecting hand prevented the
enemy from attacking the people of Jerusalem and Judah, there was no
longer provision for His protection. The enemies had free access to
attack them in any manner they desired, and so they did.
The verse goes on to say, “and
he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which
devours round about.” In the
book of Hebrews in chapter twelve and verse twenty-nine we read:
“For our God is a consuming fire”,
and in this case the Lord “burned against Jacob”
in such a fierce manner that it “burned up, slew and ate”
everything that was in its path. Where there was once hope and
prosperity, there was nothing but ashes left behind by the enemy's
flame.
Jerusalem
and Judah faced the “fierce anger” of
the Lord. They knew what it was like for God to withdraw His hand of
protection, and they saw the devastation caused by the
“flaming fire” which the
Lord sent upon them. As we think about these things, we might wonder
about areas in our lives where the Lord would be angry because of our
misalignment with Him. We have the opportunity as we consider these
areas to allow the Lord to deal with them well before they become a
point of anger. Our best move may be to bring them before the Lord,
admit them, repent from them, and allow Him to remove from us any
area of contention in our lives. May God bless us with the grace to
do so.
Next
time we will see more demonstrations of God's anger, so read ahead,
and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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