Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"This has been your manner from your youth"
Text: Jeremiah 22:21
A CANDID CRITIQUE
There was much to lament over for the kings of Judah. Shallum and Jehoiakim were brothers. Both of them failed badly as kings.
“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
And lift up your voice in Bashan;
Cry from Abarim,
For all your lovers are destroyed.
I spoke to you in your prosperity,
But you said, ‘I will not hear.’
This has been your manner from your youth,
That you did not obey My voice.”
Jeremiah 22:20-21
1. “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan”
a) Lebanon produced splendid cedars that Judah’s kings used for their homes.
b) Bashan was famous for the rich fields that were a boon to those who raised cattle.
c) Crying out… lifting up a voice.
i) Seeing these lands often brought much cheer.
ii) But in the present state, there was nothing to cheer about.
2. “Cry from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed”
a) Abarim is the name of a range of mountains in Moab.
b) Moses climbed up Mt. Nebo (Part of the Abarim range) {Deuteronomy 34:1-4}.
c) From this vantage point, he could see the Promised Land.
d) But if the people were to climb up to Abarim, what would they see?
i) They will let out a cry of despair.
ii) All your lovers (all the supporting nations) were destroyed.
iii) These would include Lebanon and Bashan.
3. “I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not hear.'”
a) God was the One who gave Israel/ Judah prosperity (Deuteronomy 8:18).
b) He spoke to the people in their prosperity.
i) Through the prophets.
ii) The response? “I will not hear!”
4. “This has been your manner from your youth, that you did not obey My voice”
a) The Lord’s comment.
b) It was a candid and sad comment.
i) The people did not obey God’s voice.
ii) This had been their manner “from youth!”