First Light

Jeremiah 21:4-5 "Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath."

Your Phone is Ringing

Nothing is more annoying than a cell phone that will not be answered. And nothing is more embarrassing than realizing it is your phone! You know the feeling, don't you? You hear a phone ringing . . . and ringing . . . and ringing, and you feel like saying, "Will the clod whose phone is ringing please answer it!" While thinking this in your head, you hear someone else's voice saying, "Excuse me, your phone is ringing." You were looking all around, but your number was being called!

God has your number. If you are not careful, you can start looking at everyone else around you when God is "calling" your number. That is exactly what happened to King Zedekiah in Jeremiah 21. He thought Babylon was the problem; as it turned out, he was the problem.

We learn from this passage that God is no respecter of persons. Judah was no better than Babylon in God's sight. God is no respecter of positions. The king was just the same as a peasant in Israel. And God will reward without regard. He says in verse 14, "But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings. . . ."

Ironically, Israel's condition made Zedekiah's prayer futile. He asked God to remedy the problem, but he was the problem. Don't we do the same thing? We can pray, "God, come clobber this wicked person-take care of this problem," when in fact, we are the wicked ones. Israel had made themselves the enemy of God. They were focused on Babylon, but God said, "I will turn back the weapons of war in your hands. . . . I myself will fight against you. . . ." God took their wickedness seriously!

Think of King David and his righteous indignation to the story the prophet Nathan told him. David could see the injustice and guilt of the man in the story, but he realized his "phone" was ringing when Nathan said, "Thou art the man."

Israel had been given to be a blessing. How sad that God was not able to use Israel to reach Babylon or execute judgment. Israel had made themselves the enemies of God. We learn that our own relationship with God should be our unchanging standard for life.

Near Denver, Colorado, you suddenly leave the flatlands of the state and come face-to-face with the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. You cannot miss the mountains-something that huge and heavy does not move. You can always know the direction you are traveling by using the Front Range as your standard. So it is in your life. The unchanging standard for where you are in life should be where you are in your relationship with God Almighty.

Zedekiah prayed for God to clobber Babylon; a better prayer would have been David's prayer in Psalm 139:23-24: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Is your phone ringing this morning? May the Lord help us to learn the lesson that Zedekiah learned.


Prayer Requests:
- Happy Thanksgiving from the Bill Rice Ranch!

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