HALLEUYAH! HALLELUYAH!! HALLELUYAH!!!
RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2022
WEEK 19: (May 16 – May 22, 2022)
WEEKLY BIBLE READINGS:
Lamentation 4: 11, 13 & 14 & Romans 2: 8 – 10 (NIV)
11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath; he has poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations. 13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous. 14 Now they grope through the streets as if they were blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their garments.
8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
INTERPRETATION
For every action or inaction, there’s a consequence. One of the things God hates is shedding innocent blood as reflected in the book of Proverbs 6 – “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes…”, The story of Cain and Abel comes to mind. Cain killed his brother because of a selfish reason; he shed innocent blood and he suffered the consequence.
In the excerpt under review, Jeremiah thought of Jerusalem and Judah completely devasted and could see the fierce anger of God fulfilled upon Zion. It was so great that the kings of the earth would not have believed that the enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem as the city of Jerusalem was recognized as a very strong city. But what really happened?
The doom of the Zion was especially appropriate given the sins of their spiritual leaders. Among other sins, they murdered faithful prophets and people of God. The prophets and priests, who ought to have been proclaiming the covenant ideals in the nation were actually the ones responsible for perpetrating much of the iniquity. These most wretched beings under the pretense of zeal for the true religion persecuted the genuine prophets, priests, and people of God and caused their blood to be shed in the midst of the city in the most open and public manner. These and many more were the issues at that time. Ezekiel 22 demonstrates that the concept of bloodshed was far wider than murder or homicide. Priest and prophets contributed positively and negatively – positively by advocating or condoning such behavior, and negatively by failing to condemn those who wronged their fellow men. But has anything really changed?
As it was in those times, so it is now. There have been cases of brutal killings in different parts of the world especially in Nigeria; gruesome bloodshed of the innocent and evil jungle justice just for no reason. This is a reminder that God’s judgment is coming on the wicked if they repent. Paul in his epistles to the Romans says that there will be judgment for both evil and good – “…and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
Beloved, this is a call to repentance; let’s resist evil in any form, especially that which relates to shedding innocent blood. This displeases God. You don’t have to pick up a gun or sword before you kill someone, your tongue and words are potent enough to cause death to another. For every evildoer, there’s a judgment – “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil… … but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good”. Which would you rather do, good or evil?
PRAYER
Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Holy Michael, thank you for your word. Father, we pray you to forgive all our iniquities, purge our hearts of all sins and wash us clean. We pray you to grant us the spirit to do good at all times and help us to resist evil. Strengthen our hearts to pursue peace with everyone and give us the grace to exercise the ideals of being true believers. This and many more we ask for through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thank you and God bless. Shalom.
Footnote: “A life without Christ is full of crisis but life in Christ is a great life full of peace. Let that be your Guide & Guard”
Isaiah 59:1 – Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear”