Vv. 2-6 God ‘diligently’ sends prophets to his people, who gave him up and worshipped idols, and tells them to stop these detestable actions. He tells them to turn back to him before they suffer the destruction of his anger and wrath. Examine the state of affairs in our families, work, and churches. Do we store up God’s anger and wrath even though we hear God diligently tell us?
Vv. 11-14 God would destroy all who do not leave Egypt. Even though some avoided the sword of Babylon at the destruction of Jerusalem, no one would be able to return to their hometowns that they ‘long to return to’. All would die shamefully in a strange town. But anyone who leaves Egypt shall live. What is the Egypt that I must leave? We must leave even though the feared Babylon awaits. Don’t we believe that God is with us?
What lesson is God teaching me?
Vv. 1-3,9,10 People with Johanan who went to Egypt, as well as people who were already there, saw with their own eyes the punishment of their fathers by God’s fierce judgment and watched Jerusalem turn into wilderness because of idol worship. But they did not realize what was going on and repeated the same thing in Egypt. To cry in repentence and yet not turn back from sin means I do not fear God. If I don’t obey in the small things and give up my stubbornness today, I cannot obey when the situation changes.
Let me listen to the word of the Lord diligently and follow it with joy.
