Today’s passage: Jeremiah 27:1-22
Helpful thoughts:
- Think of verse 5 as God saying to the kings of these nations, “Let me introduce Myself.”
- These kings may have never even considered the idea of obeying the God of Israel. Whether they had realized it or not, He is God, and they must answer to Him.
- The point of this prophecy and command from God was this: If these nations surrendered, they would remain in their land. If they struggled and fought against Babylon, they would be destroyed.
- The vessels Jeremiah speaks of in verses 21-22 will come back to Israel in Ezra 5:13-15.
Questions to consider:
- If these kings thought the God of Israel only cared about Israel, what did they just learn? Over what people does God rightfully execute His sovereignty?
- Did these nations have to agree to follow God before He had this authority? Why is God the Lord of all? Who determined that? What role do people have in making that decision?
- What does this truth about the sovereignty of God teach us about the judgment and even about something like how we read the Bible? When a person reads a Bible (Christian or non-Christian), do we look in its words to find out if God is up to our standard or do we learn and here the truth from our rightful master?