Chapter 8 is a statement of the coming judgment on Israel (and Judah) as a result of their acting in their own wisdom and in trusting God. They would disagree in this and say that they did trust God...but God is the ultimate judge of whether a person (or a nation) acts appropriately.
In vv.1-2 it states that the enemy is coming upon Israel because they broke the covenant and rebelled. The response of Israel is, "Why us? We know God." Many Christians today respond in like kind. They find themselves overwhelmed with financial pressure, suffering with poor family lives, and struggling to make God-honoring decisions. They ask, "Why is this happening? I am a Christian." Could it be that they say that they are God-followers...yet they pursue their own agenda with their finances, family, and choices to make? Isn't the very nature of being a Christian that we are committed followers of Christ and trust in Christ alone as our leader?
Some may say, "Well I am only human. I am not perfect." Is that not letting ourselves off the hook a little easy? After all...should not our goal be to pursue God "perfectly" in every respect? We seek to learn all we can...and as we do, we align ourselves with God EVEN WHEN its seems difficult?
Vv. 3-13 give more details of the judgment and the cause for it but v.14 summarizes the section well. V.14, "For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities, but I will send a fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings."
Palaces are places of comfort and fortified cities or sanctuaries of protection. God said that His people pursued and established both without His direction and in spite of trusting Him. As a result, because God will not stand by while we accept second best, He will destroy each with righteous "purifying" (fire) judgment.
Perhaps the question for us is, "What are we trusting in other than God? What have we pursued and erected that is not of Him...that actually impedes our seeing God work supernaturally in our lives? Will we repent of these things and surrender them...or require God's judgment and purification to get us to turn back to Him?"
Proverbs 11: 25 is the takeaway today. "The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered."
It is the law of sowing and reaping. Give yourself away. Give to something greater than you. When you do, you reap blessing in abundance.
Grace,
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1 comment:
This hits home for me, I have found myself saying is this what I signed up for... No one promised being a christian would be easy in fact it can be one of the most difficult things I do. But there is also no satisfaction like the love of Christ, it is so worth. I look back after I have surrendered my strugles to Christ and finally obey His call that the waters calm and everything is better than before.... God is so good!
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