Thursday, 7th April 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-5 Rid of All We Rely On
V1-3 ‘For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water; the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder; the captain of fifty and the honourable man, the counsellor and the skilful artisan, and the expert enchanter.’ God wants us to get rid of everything we can rely on, so we can full rely on Him.
Our lives are full of worldly things, and we must get rid of all the idols and ungodly things. God knows what’s in our hearts, we seek our lustful desires and worldly values instead of seeking God. We thought God does not know the darkness in our hearts, but God knows everything and one day we will all stand naked in front of God, there is nothing we can hide from Him.
Section Two V6-12 The Stumbled and Fallen Days
V6-7 ‘When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, “You have clothing;
You be our ruler, and let these ruins be under your power,” in that day he will protest, saying,
“I cannot cure your ills, for in my house is neither food nor clothing; do not make me a ruler of the people.”’ It’s a time of confusion, in the fallen days, we can no longer differentiate between right and wrong, we follow those who are corrupted inside, we only see the outward glamorous appearances and follow blindly.
V8 ‘For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory.’ God’s chosen people no longer preaching the Word of God and no longer the teaching of God. We follow God at the same time follow the world, we allow our lustful desires to rule over us, and we put God at the end of our priority.
V9 ‘The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.’ From the faces of people, we can see if they follow God or not. When we stop following God, then our face and attitude will show people, that we don’t have peace and joy in our lives, we become easily angered and worried, and God will not be able to work through our lives.
V10-11 ‘Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him.’ We must always check out attitude, because our attitude towards God will reflect out altitude in the Kingdom of God. This is the latter days, we must be humble and wait upon God, put God first, then people, then the earth. Learn to deny ourselves and benefit others, let go of the things we think are important. Often we would say to God, we will serve You as soon as we finish the things we have at hand. But the truth is, the more we hold onto the worldly things, the more we cannot let go, and there will only be more things for us to deal with. At the end we can never come and serve God.
Section Three V13-26 The Judgement of Jehovah
V14-15 ‘The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of His people and His princes: “For you have eaten up the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the faces of the poor?” Says the Lord God of hosts.’ Do not think that when we come to Jerusalem, we can become righteous. We cannot lie and we cannot hide from God. We are the ones God has chosen to fish for people, we are being equipped to become the leaders of the Kingdom of God. As leaders, we must lead people to God, not to ourselves. Do not let people see us more than they see God, instead, live out a life showing people to God and understanding the Word of God. Let people come to God and see the life purpose God has given to each one of them.
In the latter days, God will get rid of everything we think we can rely on, everything will be destroyed. What is within our hearts, what do we hold onto so tightly that we cannot let go? Let God take down the stronghold within us, see our true-selves, come out from the caves, stop hiding and lying to ourselves, but met God face to face, let Him be our Judge.