Jeremiah – Chapter 47

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza. Jeremiah 47:1 – In our chapter we are seeing the Lord speak against the Philistines, and the words He speaks were heavy. Terror like never before would reach their cities and the sword of the Lord wouldn’t be sheathed until there was a complete end to this sinful nation. I wonder how so many of the characters from earlier in the Old Testament would have loved to have heard such prophesies being spoken about the Philistines. For the Philistines had been an enemy of Israel from ancient times. Samson, a judge of Israel, fought mightily against them. Saul, the first king of Israel, had them as his primary foe. Let us not forget the most famous Philistine Goliath who David killed. This nation who plagued God’s people for so long is now receiving prophecies of their destruction. See through this prophecy that those who come against God’s people never get off the hook. Yes, maybe the repercussions of their actions aren’t as swift as we’d like to see, but they do come. For Samson and David lived long before Jeremiah and never would have seen the unfolding of this prophecy, but regardless the sin of the Philistines was addressed by the Lord. Know God sees the sin done against you and He sees the ones who committed it, and sin never goes without consequences. Maybe the repercussions of their sin will be felt soon, maybe years from now, or maybe only in the afterlife, but they will be felt. Let’s though be the bigger ones and pray that they choose to turn to Jesus before having to deal with their sin in the afterlife. Trust Jesus to deal with the injustices done towards you, yet pray even for the ones committing the injustices to find rightness with God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3277

Because of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remains. For the Lord is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor. Jeremiah 47:4 – Tyre and Sidon were cities close by to the Philistines and we’re at peace with each other. When it came to selling things they sold to each other and when trouble came they helped each other. What we see here is that the coming trouble would be so great that neither could help each other or even be concerned with helping each other. Such is how sin impacts our relationships. The people we once helped, sought help from, and had peace with are now people we can’t help because we don’t have what they need or we’re to selfish to want to help them anymore. The point is sin causes such infections in relationships that what was once good isn’t good anymore. So for the sake of those around you hand over those sins to God. For you who will need those relationships in the future hand over those sins to God. Don’t let sin tear down the good relationships God has blessed you with. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 966

Ah, sword of the Lord! How long till you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard; rest and be still! How can it be quiet when the Lord has given it a charge? Against Ashkelon and against the seashore he has appointed it. Jeremiah 47:6-7 – Here we see the destruction of the Philistines being foretold by Jeremiah. We see throughout the passage the people whose destruction is spoken of trying ways to escape from the terror to come. They run to the mountains, they hope in their neighboring cities to help them, they turn to deep mourning. Yet, it was God who appointed this destruction, so nothing can stop it. Nothing in all the world can stop what God has spoken He’d do. We see the truth of this statement right here within the stories of Jeremiah. While the things God can’t be stopped from doing within these pages has been destruction and justice, what it does for us is establish the important truth in our story that God cannot be stopped from doing what He set out to do. Yes, that means things like bring judgement on those who turned away from Him like we see in our passage. It also means nothing can stop Him from saving us or providing for us or fulfilling His purpose in us. Yes, these passages should cause us to awe at the power of God and even be reminders to humble ourself before Him. Our God is all-powerful and nothing can stop Him. While that truth connect with His justice is also connects with His saving power as well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2179