Daily Manna 16 April
KEY VERSE: “Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’S house; and said to all the people, Thus saith the LORD of hosts…” – (Jeremiah 19:14,15)
READ: Jeremiah 19:1-15 (KJV)
1. Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
2. And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
3. And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
4. Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
5. They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind;
6. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
7. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives; and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
8. And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
9. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
10. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
11. And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
12. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet;
13. And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
14. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’S house; and said to all the people,
15. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
When Jeremiah was initially called by God into the prophetic ministry, he was timid. He complained that he was a child. He felt too fearful to come out to declare the word of God to the people of Israel. God, however, did not accept his excuse. He rather encouraged him. Thereafter, he became very bold and one of the most courageous prophets Israel ever had. He grew in grace and became a mighty defender of the faith.
The text under consideration is a dramatic and illustrative prophecy in which God instructed Prophet Jeremiah to take some elders of the land and some of the aged priests to Tophet and present a divine message of the imminent destruction that would come upon the cities of Judah and Jerusalem for their stubborn refusal to follow the word and way of the Lord. He was to take a potter’s earthen flask and break before them and then declare that as the broken earthen bottle can never be pieced together again, so will the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem be scattered and would never again be restored to what they were before the prophecy.
The courage, obedience and integrity of Jeremiah are highly commendable. He never minded the immediate punishment his boldness would draw upon him. What he declared before a few representatives of the land in the valley of Hinnom, he came back to the house of the Lord to declare in the presence of all and sundry.
Believers should fear no one but God in the declaration of the truth of the gospel. We should be bold enough to reprove sin and unrighteousness in the life of sinners and backsliders of all grades and status. They should be made to know that judgment is looming and that every act of unrighteousness will be given a just judgment except they repent.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Fearlessly declare the truth of God’s message.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 18-19
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Speak the Word Boldly – by Pastor Enoch A.
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Daily Manna 16 April 2021
