Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Your own wickedness will correct you"
Text: Jeremiah 2:18
REASONING WITH JUDAH
God made man with the ability to think and to reason. Sadly, man has not used this facility as well as he should. The Lord nevertheless sought to reason with His people.
“And now why take the road to Egypt,
To drink the waters of Sihor?
Or why take the road to Assyria,
To drink the waters of the River?”
Jeremiah 2:18
1. “And now why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor?”
a) “The waters of Sihor”
i) Sihor is the Hebrew reference to the River Nile.
ii) The River Nile brought alluvial floods each year that enabled Egypt to be a strong agrarian country.
iii) The Sihor was sacred to the Egyptians.
iv) The Pharaohs were involved in religious ceremonies to worship the god of the River Nile.
b) “To drink the waters of Sihor”
i) This is not to be taken literally.
ii) It is meant to be understood figuratively.
iii) Water was a symbol of life and in this context also prosperity.
c) Judah depended on Egypt.
i) To sustain life.
ii) To grow wealth.
d) The Lord asked Judah to reason this out!
i) Was Egypt helping all that much?
ii) Did their life and wealth come from Egypt?
iii) Was it not the LORD their God who gave life and prosperity?
Judah had not reasoned well!
2. “Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?”
a) King Ahaz was a weak and wicked king.
b) He weakened the nation considerably because of his sinfulness.
c) Ahaz sought help from Assyria to fight local enemies.
i) The Edomites
ii) The Philistines (2 Chronicles 28:16-21)
d) The Assyrians did not help at all.
e) Reasoning it out.
i) Why would Assyria help Judah out?
ii) Why seek a foreign power when God was there to help?
Judah erred again in its reasoning!