Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings"
Text: Jeremiah 21:14
THE JUDGMENT OF THE LORD
This had to be made very clear to everyone. The following were mentioned:
1. The king and his royal household.
2. The land of Judah.
3. The city of Jerusalem and all who dwelt in its vicinity.
“‘Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
And rock of the plain,’ says the LORD,
‘Who say, ‘Who shall come down against us?
Or who shall enter our dwellings?’
‘But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,’ says the LORD;
‘I will kindle a fire in its forest,
And it shall devour all things around it.””
Jeremiah 21:13-14
FURTHER SPECIFICATION
1. “‘Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain,’
says the LORD”
a) There were those who lived in the valleys of Jerusalem.
b) There were also those who lived on “the rock of the plain”.
c) Were they included in the Judgment of the LORD?
d) The answer was a sobering “Yes!”
2. “Who say, ‘Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter our dwellings?'”
a) These were not technically in the city of Jerusalem.
b) These were in the “outskirts” of the condemned city.
c) Why were they to be judged?
d) They had the same spirit of arrogance of the leaders of the country!
They did not believe that they could be invaded and conquered, despite God’s word
prophesied to them!
3. “‘But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,’ says the LORD;
‘I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall devour all things around it'”
a) God’s punishment was according to their fruit.
b) The fruit of their doings:
i) Idolatry
ii) Wickedness
iii) Stubborn unrepentance
c) The fire of God will kindle.
i) It will devour a whole forest and more.
ii) The destruction that the Babylonians would cause would be
like an unstoppable forest fire.