DCLM Daily Manna 16 February 2026: A Consuming Fire
Text: Lamentations 2:1–5 (KJV)
How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
With a cloud in His anger!
He cast down from heaven to the earth
The beauty of Israel,
And did not remember His footstool
In the day of His anger.
2 The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied
All the dwelling places of Jacob.
He has thrown down in His wrath
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has brought them down to the ground;
He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
3 He has cut off in fierce anger
Every horn of Israel;
He has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
Devouring all around.
4 Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow;
With His right hand, like an adversary,
He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye;
On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
He has poured out His fury like fire.
5 The Lord was like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel,
He has swallowed up all her palaces;
He has destroyed her strongholds,
And has increased mourning and lamentation
In the daughter of Judah.
KEY VERSE: Lamentations 2:3
“He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.”
Read Other DCLM Daily Manna Devotional Here
In January 2025, a series of destructive wildfires swept through parts of Southern California, destroying thousands of homes and forcing mass evacuations. Fueled by drought, strong winds, and dry vegetation, the fires spread rapidly and left widespread devastation in their wake. Such natural disasters remind us how swiftly and fiercely fire can consume everything in its path.
In today’s passage, Jeremiah describes God’s judgment upon Israel in similar terms—like a blazing fire that devours round about. Israel, once privileged as God’s chosen nation, had turned away from Him through persistent sin and rebellion.
As a result, divine protection was withdrawn, and judgment followed. The imagery is sobering: the same God who once defended them allowed their strength to be cut off because of disobedience.
God’s holiness demands justice. Though He is loving and merciful, He does not overlook sin. Scripture consistently affirms that wrongdoing carries consequences. Israel’s past privileges and covenant blessings did not exempt them from discipline when they strayed.
This passage teaches an important spiritual lesson: we must not rely on past experiences, former victories, or previous closeness with God as a substitute for present obedience. God relates to us based on our current walk with Him. He is patient and ready to forgive the truly repentant, but persistent rebellion invites discipline.
Believers are therefore called to walk in humility, reverence, and daily obedience. Salvation is not sustained by complacency but by continual dependence on God’s grace. Sinners must repent, and backsliders must return wholeheartedly to the Lord. His mercy is abundant, but His holiness is uncompromising.
To know God rightly is to understand both His love and His righteousness. Emphasizing one while ignoring the other distorts His true nature.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Those who know only one aspect of God misrepresent Him.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
DCLM Daily Manna 16 FEBRUARY 2026
