Bible In One Year-Day 154 (Tuesday, June 3, 2014)

Commentary: Jer49-52. The judgment of God on all nations was further declared over these chapters. Babylon happened to be the instrument for executing this judgment. However, Babylon was not spared because she was also guilty of the sins of the other nations; idolatry. God is a righteous God and He is no respecter of persons. He only takes delight in whoever is prepared to obey Him. Jeremiah described this God thus in;

Jeremiah 51:15 “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.”

When He judges or forgives, it stands unchanged by any one, whether they go by it or not. This is why He is call “HIS MAJESTY”; i.e. no one can query His actions.

Babylon received the most terrifying judgment because she was guilty of the sins of those nations God judged. Jesus said in the book of Luke;

Luke 13:4 “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Whatever we see around us is always a message. The man of God should therefore be careful in his doings because preaching against sin on the pulpit should firstly be applied to his personal life otherwise, if not the devil, God Himself could judge him. Every Christian should consider his or her ways before judging others;

Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”

James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Nebuchadnezzar had the grace to be God’s instrument of judgment but, unfortunately, he took pride in it which eventually led him to sin against God.

Whatever gift you have must be used in obedience to God’s instructions, humility of heart and in righteousness. The gift you have is not the yardstick to heaven, but how much it works in your heart and life. King Saul got the wonderful gifts that would make him function very well in his capacity as a king from God after Samuel anointed him but he did not humble himself in them. He takes decisions without consulting God. Lack of humility can make one to lose any spiritual gift. It could even make one to be a shame. It could lead to untimely death.

2 Chronicles 34:27 “Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.”

God hears and attends to a humble heart faster than you could ever imagine. What God wanted to achieve in Israel was done through the hand of the Babylonian king. Humility would be found in them as the prophecy says;

Jeremiah 50:4-5 “In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”

In all we go through, God’s goal is for humility to be found in us. Gentleness is not humility. These are two different things. Gentleness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, i.e. nature of the Holy Spirit which HE exhibits through you. But humility is the state of your own spirit, i.e. your submission to the help of the Holy Spirit to work on you and how you regard another person, not considering yourself better than another; counting grace as an undeserved gift of God, not by works. When you are humble, it means PRIDE is hidden from you.

Job 33:17 “That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.”

Humility is total yield to the directives of the Holy Spirit; you can’t vindicate yourself, but allowing God to do it for you. It is absolutely the opposite of pride. In the school of God, this is a very important and paramount course or subject. Joseph took this course in the prison and that was why he was friendly to other prisoners and warders. His gifts, he attributed the praise to God. That was not the case with King Saul. King Saul was honored without going through this school, unfortunately, he couldn’t defend that certificate of honor; he was stripped of the garment of honor. We need the School of humility where many subjects are taught for you to manage the next level; the subject of poverty for you to manage wealth, subject of persecution and name calling for you to manage praise, the subject of humiliation for you to manage honor, etc. When God takes you through this process, it means He has something great inside of you which He wants to activate after graduation from His school. Some adversities are not demonic but enrolment in the school of God Almighty towards a purpose or goal. Remember Joseph. No one really gets honored by God without graduating from the School of Humility.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is 1Chronicles1-3. Keep the fire burning and alive

Proverbs 15:33 “The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.”

Proverbs 22:4 “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.”

1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”