CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY

There is a time in a nation’s history that requires the people of that nation to re-assess their life styles and their reluctance to seek God. There are two stories in the Bible of two different nations that were at this crossroad. Their records are found in the books of Jeremiah and Jonah.


CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY
There is a time in a nation’s history that requires the people of that nation to re-assess their life styles and their reluctance to seek God. There are two stories in the Bible of two different nations that were at this crossroad. Their records are found in the books of Jeremiah and Jonah.
Jeremiah 1: 13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Jonah 3:1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
The scenarios are very similar. Both Nations had gone and worshipped other gods AND the works of their own hands. God sent His prophet to both nations with a warning that the nation will be invaded and destroyed because of their wickedness. BUT, both nations had very different reactions to the claim by the prophet.
Jeremiah 11: 19 But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
In Jerusalem the men plotted to kill the messenger. They didn’t change their ways they were incensed that someone would dare to question their actions.
Jeremiah 20:1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
Jeremiah 21:1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
2 Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
The people didn’t want to have anything to do with God or with His messenger. As a matter of fact they treated God’s messenger, Jeremiah, very badly. They put Jeremiah in the stocks and they plotted to kill him. Not only that, they turned their backs on God Almighty. Now, when the evil which God sent Jeremiah to tell them would happen, so that they could repent and be spared the evil that was coming, comes to pass they send to Jeremiah to petition God to bless their lives and turn back the enemy that is at their gate.
Do you see something wrong with this picture? I do! It is the same picture that is being painted today. All over our nation people have turned away from God and for years worshipped the works of their own hands or gods other than the one true God. Now, when a great evil is coming upon them they still don’t turn to God. At least Israel had some sense. The people of our nation have no sense they don’t even believe that there is a God. They think that what ever happens, happens.
The first twenty chapters of Jeremiah are God’s pleadings with the Children of Israel to change their ways and come back to God, SO THE EVIL WHICH HE FORETOLD DIDN’T COME UPON THEM!
God did try to help his people. First He told Jeremiah to tell the people to go out to Nebuchadrezzar and be subjects of Nebuchadrezzar and live. They wouldn’t believe God’s messenger. They refused to go out unto Nebuchadrezzar so,Nebuchadrezzar destroyed Jerusalem, killing many and taking as captives many more.
Compare that story of Jeremiah to that of jonah.
Jonah 3:1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
This Country stood at the crossroads and the people turned their backs on God choosing to worship other gods and the works of their own hands. That this country will go into great tribulation is not in question! The only question is how many will die and how much suffering will God’s people have to endure before they turn back to God and seek His deliverance.