Day 240 - Jeremiah 29-52

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 240 - Jeremiah 29-52 (God's Mercy and Judgment)
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              "For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast                 them out from His presence. 
            Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King                   Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of               Babylon, came to Jerusalem.  He burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the                     houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.  And all the army of               the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all                 around." (Jeremiah 52:3, 12-14)

For four hundred years, God had preserved the magnificent temple that king Solomon had built to house the Ark of the Covenant.  The Ark itself had been preserved by God for more than eight humdred years. Considering that the Jews were constantly engaged in battles with their vicious and savage enemies all around them, the preservation of the Ark and the temple are two of the greatest testaments to God's mercy for His people.

But God not only is a God of mercy; He is also a God of justice and as such must punish those who deserve to be punished.  God had not lacked in warning the Israelites to forsake their sins and return to Him but their hearts were hardened and they chose instead to continue to serve themselves and the idols of the nations around them.  And so, God finally carried out the judgment He warned He would do if they refused to turn from their sins.

If God did not spare judgment on Sodom and Gomorrha and of His chosen people the Jews, how can anyone think that He would spare judgment on a nation such as the United States which has aborted over 60 million babies since 1973 and is leaving no stone unturned in its resolve to normalize homosexuality in society even to the extent of destroying the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman which God has ordained from the time of creation.

Let no one be deceived, God is not mocked and He will not spare this once great nation if we do not turn away from our sins as a nation and beg for God's mercy.  God alone knows what kind of judgment is coming to us as a nation if unless we repent and unless the Holy Spirit sweeps anew in another revival we so desperately needs.

What can one person do, you may ask.  We must realize that any revival in the past began with individuals who were touched by God and therefore if enough individuals repent and beg for God's mercy and for the Holy Spirit to move as He had done so in the past, who knows but that God would relent and decide to spare us from judgment as a nation.

"Dear God, please forgive us of our sins as a nation of the United States of America and have mercy on us.  Send your Holy Spirit upon your people as you did so on the day of Pentecost and during various times throughout history.  May you hold your hand from judging us as a people and raise many more modern-day prophets like Jeremiah and John the Baptist who will call us to repentance.  Convict us your children of our individual sins and help us to live holy lives for you.  In Jesus name we pray, amen."