Growing with God: A daily devotional with Tonia Slimm.
Jeremiah 32:29 (NIV)
“The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.”
Jeremiah 32:29 (MSG)
“The attacking Chaldeans will break through and burn the city down: All those houses whose roofs were used as altars for offerings to Baal and the worship of who knows how many other gods provoked me. It isn’t as if this were the first time they had provoked me.”
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“The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in and set this city on fire and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs incense has been offered to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger.” -AMPLIFIED
“God reminded Jeremiah of all the sins of Judah and Jerusalem that invited the punishment of God. All these sins – mainly idolatry of different forms – were a provocation of God’s anger.” ~David Guzik
The Lord reminded Jeremiah that what He had decreed, would happen:
“Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it.” -Jeremiah 32:28 (CSB)
As we look to today’s text, we find the Lord reiterating many things that He had told Jeremiah in the past, things that “will” happen because of the blatant rebellion and sin of the people. In their rebellion, the people had provoked the Lord:
“The Chaldeans who are now assaulting the city will enter and set everything on fire. They will set houses ablaze where people set up shrines on roofs to burn incense to Baal and pour out drink offerings to other gods. Their offerings have ignited My anger.” -(VOICE)
The Lord is forthright with Jeremiah about what will take place to those in the city of Jerusalem. The Babylonians, who were already outside the city, attacking it, will finally break through the wall, enter it, and set the city on fire. Every house where the inhabitants had made offerings to Baal on their roof, will burn. Every house where incense was burned to Baal will go up in smoke.
The people had provoked the Lord, pushed Him to the limit. The Lord had set standards, His expectations, and given boundaries that were not to be crossed. And yet the people of both Israel and Judah chose to disregard God’s standards, they chose to cross His boundaries, and in so doing they provoked Him to anger.
“Instead of Israel responding to God, she thumbed her nose at the gracious invitation of God. What Israel specifically did is to continually provoke God to His face. The Hebrew word “provoke” is one that means to irritate and anger God by continually doing things He finds very offensive (William Gesenius, Hebrew Lexicon, p. 409). The Hiphil stem of the participle means that this action of angering God has been completely caused by His own people. In other words, they blatantly rebelled right in the face of God.” ~David Thompson
“And the Babylonians outside the walls shall come in and set fire to the city and burn down all these houses, where the roofs have been used to offer incense to Baal and to pour out libations to other gods, causing my fury to rise!” -(TLB)
“Here were people who had done nothing else but evil. God had been very good to them, but they had been very bad to him. From their youth, and without a break, they had continued to rebel.” ~Charles Spurgeon
Scripture tells us that yes, God is slow to anger:
“The Eternal is gracious. He shows mercy to His people. For Him anger does not come easily, but faithful love does—and it is rich and abundant.” -Psalm 145:8 (VOICE)
But Scripture also tells us that the Lord God is righteous and just. He has given to mankind standards, and guidelines to live by, and He cannot, will not, just sit back and allow man to disrespect His rules. These standards, these guidelines were put in place for our own protection. Consider what the Word says on this matter:
“God’s laws are perfect. They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light. 9 God’s laws are pure, eternal, just.” -Psalm 19:7-9 (TLB)
“The Eternal’s law is perfect, turning lives around. His words are reliable and true, instilling wisdom to open minds. The Eternal’s directions are correct, giving satisfaction to the heart. God’s commandments are clear, lending clarity to the eyes. The awe of the Eternal is clean, sustaining for all of eternity. The Eternal’s decisions are sound; they are right through and through.” -Psalm 19:7-9 (VOICE)
The Lord’s expectations have not changed.
“Hear Me you foolish, heartless people. Even with eyes and ears you are still blind and deaf to what is happening. Do you not realize who I am? Do you not fear Me? Do you not shake in the presence of the Eternal, the Creator of all things? It is I who has drawn for all time the boundaries of the sea. The waves may crash and roar against the sand, but the waters do not cross the lines I have drawn. But with stubborn and defiant hearts, this people ignored Me and left Me for another.” -Jeremiah 5:21-23 (VOICE)
The Apostle John reminds us that that if we are living in an intimate relationship with the Lord, then we will not insist on sinning:
“The ones who live in an intimate relationship with Him do not persist in sin, but anyone who persists in sin has not seen and does not know the real Jesus.” -1 John 3:6 (VOICE)
And the writer of Hebrews tells us that we need to be careful that we are not deliberately sinning:
“Now if we willfully persist in sin after receiving such knowledge of the truth, then there is no sacrifice left for those sins—only the fearful prospect of judgment and a fierce fire that will consume God’s adversaries.” -Hebrews 10:26-27 (VOICE)
Jesus used Scripture when faced by the Tempter, declaring:
‘Do not put the Lord your God to a foolish test.’” –Luke 4:12 (TLB)
“You will not presume on God; you will not test the Lord, the one True God.” -Luke 4:12 (VOICE)
“God has not changed (Hebrews 13:8). What angered God in Old Testament times, still can provoke God to anger today. He is very patient and loving with us. He gives us many “second, third, etc.” chances to repent and turn from our wicked sin. One day, however, His toleration of sin will cease.” ~Bill Brinkworth
My friend, let us be careful that we too are not provoking the Lord. He has given to us guidelines of life to live by for a reason. He has charged us to be holy as He is holy. He has called us to live intimately with Him, and not to persist in sin. Do not put the Lord God to the test. Do not abuse His grace and mercy. Meditate on and keep this passage in your heart and mind: “If someone claims, “I am in an intimate relationship with Him,” but this big talker doesn’t live out His commands, then this individual is a liar and a stranger to the truth. But if someone responds to and obeys His word, then God’s love has truly taken root and filled him. This is how we know we are in an intimate relationship with Him: anyone who says, “I live in intimacy with Him,” should walk the path Jesus walked.” -1 John 2:4-6 (VOICE)
“God’s patience towards every believer is beyond compare. Through His love and finished work, Jesus made a way for us to be free of the consequence of sin, not so that we would walk in it but that we would grow more and more out of the occurrence of sin. God’s patience for those He loves must never be confused as tolerance for sin.” ~Patrick Maibilog
My Prayer:
Adonai Elohim, my Great Lord, I ask for your forgiveness for those times that I have blatantly sinned against you. That was wrong of me. Your Word teaches that you have given man guidelines, standards, boundaries, for a reason. They are to protect me, to teach me how to live a life that is holy and pleasing to you. Sadly, there have been times that I have thumbed my nose at your way. I have chosen to sin, instead of following your ways. Lord, for this I am sorry. Help me to live a life that is holy and acceptable to you. Help me to keep in mind that your ways are meant to bring blessing, not harm, a hope and a future. But that is only possible if I choose to walk in obedience. Lord, that is what I want to do, help me, I pray.
Growing with God 