Jeremiah 3:6-4:2;
Acts 17:29-31
"Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me...'"
(JEREMIAH 15:19)
The sounding of the alarm on The Feast of Trumpets with the blowing of the ram's horn was a call by God to repent and turn back to Him. Repentance in the Bible means "changing one's mind," especially as it relates to sin. Ancient Israel had turned to false gods and began to look like all the other nations.
In Judaism today, the sounding of the ram's horn on the Feast of Trumpets, begins a ten day period of somber self-examination known as the Ten Days of Repentance. It is a time when Jewish people seek forgiveness from past sins, knowing in just ten days they will have another "appointed time" with God on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Do we have true hearts of repentance? Do you think that repentance is just an isolated act we perform when we come to faith in Jesus? Repentance doesn't happen only once; it is an ongoing experience for every true follower of Christ. That's why Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).
INSIGHT
REPENTANCE IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH WE SEE OURSELVES, DAILY, AS WE REALLY ARE: SINFUL, NEEDY, DEPENDENT PEOPLE.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Amos 7-9
Proverbs 19
1 John 5
Jeremiah 3:6-4:2
New Living Translation (NLT)
Judah Follows Israel’s Example
6 During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree. 7 I thought, ‘After she has done all this, she will return to me.’ But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this. 8 She saw that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution. 9 Israel treated it all so lightly—she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted. 10 But despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Hope for Wayward Israel
11 Then the Lord said to me, “Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah! 12 Therefore, go and give this message to Israel.[a] This is what the Lord says:
“O Israel, my faithless people,
come home to me again,
for I am merciful.
I will not be angry with you forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt.
Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God
and committed adultery against him
by worshiping idols under every green tree.
Confess that you refused to listen to my voice.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
14 “Return home, you wayward children,”
says the Lord,
“for I am your master.
I will bring you back to the land of Israel[b]—
one from this town and two from that family—
from wherever you are scattered.
15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart,
who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.
16 “And when your land is once more filled with people,” says the Lord, “you will no longer wish for ‘the good old days’ when you possessed the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark. 17 In that day Jerusalem will be known as ‘The Throne of the Lord.’ All nations will come there to honor the Lord. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires. 18 In those days the people of Judah and Israel will return together from exile in the north. They will return to the land I gave their ancestors as an inheritance forever.
19 “I thought to myself,
‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’
I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land—
the finest possession in the world.
I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’
and I wanted you never to turn from me.
20 But you have been unfaithful to me, you people of Israel!
You have been like a faithless wife who leaves her husband.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
21 Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains,
the weeping and pleading of Israel’s people.
For they have chosen crooked paths
and have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “My wayward children,” says the Lord,
“come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.”
“Yes, we’re coming,” the people reply,
“for you are the Lord our God.
23 Our worship of idols on the hills
and our religious orgies on the mountains
are a delusion.
Only in the Lord our God
will Israel ever find salvation.
24 From childhood we have watched
as everything our ancestors worked for—
their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters—
was squandered on a delusion.
25 Let us now lie down in shame
and cover ourselves with dishonor,
for we and our ancestors have sinned
against the Lord our God.
From our childhood to this day
we have never obeyed him.”
4 “O Israel,” says the Lord,
“if you wanted to return to me, you could.
You could throw away your detestable idols
and stray away no more.
2 Then when you swear by my name, saying,
‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
you could do so
with truth, justice, and righteousness.
Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world,
and all people would come and praise my name.”
Footnotes:
a. Jeremiah 3:12 Hebrew toward the north.
b. Jeremiah 3:14 Hebrew to Zion.
Acts 17:29-31
New Living Translation (NLT)
29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”
THE ODES OF CHRISTMAS [PART 3]
Christians have sung praises to God since the very beginning of the church. Have you ever wondered what they sang 2000 years ago? On a Christmas program Charles answers this question and more!
No comments:
Post a Comment