August 29th~Pretenders

Jeremiah 42:1-44:30

Ezekiel 33:21-33

Jeremiah and Ezekiel continued to deal with stubborn and rebellious people, even after the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was approached by the army officers who ran Ishmael out of Judah. They and the people who remained asked him to pray to the Lord and seek His instructions for whether to stay in Judah or to flee to Egypt. “May the Lord be a faithful witness against us,” they said, “if we refuse to obey whatever He tells us to do! Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God” (42:5, 6).

Ten days later, Jeremiah shared the Lord’s answer. “Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from Nebuchadnezzar’s power...” (42:10-12). The message was not what the people wanted to hear. They had already made up their minds to flee to Egypt for safety before the Lord responded.

“You lie,” they shouted at Jeremiah. “The Lord our God hasn’t forbidden us to go to Egypt!” So Johanan and all the army officers and all the people refused to obey the Lord’s command to stay in Judah. A large group of them traveled to Egypt and hid there, thinking they were safe. Of course, they weren’t. Jeremiah, who was taken captive to Egypt, warned them. “The Lord God says, ‘I will surely bring My servant Nebuchadnezzar here to Egypt. He will destroy this
land!’” (43:10, 11). But the people would not listen. They ignored Jeremiah and continued to do whatever they wanted.

Far away from Egypt and Jeremiah was Ezekiel. He was with the exiles who were deported to the Babylonian Empire. However, he was dealing with the same problem as Jeremiah. He would deliver the Lord’s messages to the people with no response. They would come pretending to be sincere and sit before Ezekiel listening, but they had no intention of doing what the Lord would tell them. They expressed love with their mouths but in their hearts they only wanted money. Ezekiel was nothing but entertainment to them. They heard what he said, but they refused to do it (33:30-33).

Daily Reflection

When I read passages like these, all I can do is shake my head. These people make me angry. After all that God had done to devastate Judah and destroy the city of Jerusalem, they still had the gall to spit in His face. What was He to do with them?

Reread Ezekiel 33:30-33. In what ways could these verses describe the people who sit in our churches today?

How many people go to church pretending to be sincere, feigning to listen to what God has to say, but who have already made up their minds that they will go their own way? They are pretending to be sincere. They are playing a game, going through the motions, fulfilling their religious “duties,” attending only to be seen, but the rest of the week they do whatever they want. Is this you? Are you a pretender? In the end, the Lord will say to you, “Depart from Me, for I never knew you” (Matthew 7:22, 23).

BiAY.org | Day 241 — 124 Days to Go