The Devotional - 57

The Devotional

Comment:

In thinking about where to go in the Holy Bible after such a look at the Book of Job over recent weeks I am being reminded of other Bible Studies within our local church. My thoughts go to these words found in the Book of Daniel – MENE, MENE, TIKEL, PARSIN. Daniel interprets these words as follows – Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end (God writes this twice on the wall for Belshazzar to know that his reign is over). Tikel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. (Belshazzar’s rule over the dynasty is a failure) Peres (Parsin). Your dynasty is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:24-30). Now we will not be looking into the Book any further than this, but I do want these words to impact our thinking as we move through the Book of Lamentations.

Challenge: Lamentations

Are you excited to look into this poem of Scripture? Maybe you should be warned, the writer, by Jewish tradition is Jeremiah who is called the “Weeping Prophet”. Also while the words of this book are directed at Israel and Jerusalem I will seek to focus our attention on our Nation and our Capital. In this thought I have considered that the words mentioned above are already visible on the walls of our churches all across this nation, in addition it is my personal belief that these words are also found on the walls of Congress.

I am not a weeping prophet, although I weep over our nation. I am not alone in this, many of my brothers and friends in Christ weep bitterly over the condition of our national church and political framework. Lamentations are FIVE chapters of GRIEF over the loss of a nation and its heritage. This is not the work of the deceiver of nations (Satan) although it IS. But it IS the result of judgment, the Judgment of God on the Israel of God (Israel, the word means: He will rule as God).

Israel failed to rule as God in the nation (I include the world too) and in 586BC God gave the kingdom to the Babylonian army. Now you can read all of this and the warnings of judgment from the inspired writings of the Old Testament (Covenant), but I must be on with this and not chase the rabbit any further. In time around 33 to 37AD Jesus Christ to Son of the Living God was crucified on “The Cross” for “The Sin” of the “World”! If you are reading this then you must be aware of the events of that DAY and the following fifty days, if not it is my personal plea that you read the entire gospel of John and first two chapters of the Book of Acts.

Israel never recovered to regain its authority to rule under the authority of God, so the LORD God has set Israel aside for a specific period of time (Romans 9 – 11) this too is a good read and I challenge you to read it. So if (it is true) God set Israel aside to be the rule of God on earth, He then establishes the authority of the local and universal church of Jesus Christ to do what Israel failed to do. Why all of this? Simply to point us to the ROOT cause of the existing crisis that is facing the local and universal church of Jesus Christ.

It does not take a doctorate in human behavior to understand what I am seeking to say. All it takes is a serious inventory of your own personal life before Thee Holy God of the universe. Whether you agree or disagree with me; in the EYES of Him with whom we all must give an account we (churchy people) are missing the mark. God has weighed our faith/works on the scales of “Be Holy for I am HOLY” and we are found WANTING. There is little hope so do not look for it in the coming days. It is past time to pretend any longer as we shall see in the Book of Lamentations there is a DEEP sadness and the author never says CHEER UP!

Jeremiah does say that we do have a foundation to plant our feet on, this is found in Lamentations 3:22-27. God’s mercy is new every morning and it is because of His Love that we are not consumed and on this we MUST stand. Why, because I personally feel that the “kingdom of God in Christ” THE CHURCH has given itself over to the religious practices of false prophets such as those identified by all the writers of the New Testament.