Because the anger of the
Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem for their constant resistance to
returning to Him, their enemies were allowed entrance and destruction
of their lands. In chapter four and verse nineteen we see how quickly
and thoroughly the Lord allowed their destruction to be where we
read:
Our persecutors are
swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the
mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
The
verse begins, “Our persecutors are swifter than the
eagles of the heaven:” When
the Babylonians pursued and conquered Judah and Jerusalem, they
swooped in upon them quickly, and there was no resistance comparable
to their speed. The enemies were “persecutors”
which means “to pursue, put to flight, chase, dog, attend
closely upon or harass”, and because
the enemies of the people were agents of God's judgment, they came in
more quickly than an eagle pursues its prey.
The
verse goes on to say, “they pursued us upon the mountains,”
The vast mountainous areas around Jerusalem were no refuge of
hiding from the enemies who pursed the people. When sudden
destruction came upon them, many of the people of the city of
Jerusalem fled to the mountain, but the Babylonians followed and
engulfed them. Even the mountains were an inadequate refuge.
Finally
the verse says, “they laid wait for us in the wilderness.”
Though some people of the city fled to the “wilderness”
there was no escape for them there. Just when they thought they were
liberated from the battle by running to the wilderness for safety,
ambush was the strategy of their enemy. There was no place for the
people to hide because they were attempting to flee the judgment of
God that pursued them wherever they were.
We have
probably never known the intensity at which the enemies of Judah and
Jerusalem pursued them. The difficult part for us to understand may
be that these who could have avoided such quick and thorough
destruction did not do so. The Lord plead over and over again for
them to return to Him, but they would not. As we think about this
swift ability of Jerusalem's enemy, are there areas in our own life
in which we have been resistant to God? Do we continue to allow
places to be open for destruction though the Lord warns us and gives
us an invitation to bring those things to Him? Perhaps as we think on
these things we will see the need to humble ourselves, bow our hearts
and minds, and return to the Lord in all areas of our lives before we
see the quick, thorough and overpowering pursuit of those used to
bring judgment upon us.
Next
time we will see how Jerusalem lived among their enemies, 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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