Week 24: A Divine Encounter | Day 5

Tasks for this week:

  1. Watch all three parts of A Divine Encounter
  2. Complete daily Bible reading
  3. Memorize Proverbs 29:18 and Jeremiah 1:15

Week 24: Day 5

Please watch the last part of A Divine Encounter.

Today’s F260 Bible reading: Jeremiah 25; 29

25:1 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah. (That was the same as the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.) 2So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the people who were living in Jerusalem. 3“For the last 23 years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah until now, the Lord’s messages have come to me, and I have told them to you over and over again. But you would not listen. 4Over and over again the Lord has sent his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention. 5He said through them, ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession. 6Do not pay allegiance to other gods and worship and serve them. Do not make me angry by the things that you do. Then I will not cause you any harm.’ 7So, now the Lord says, ‘You have not listened to me. But you have made me angry by the things that you have done. Thus you have brought harm on yourselves.’ 8“Therefore, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, ‘You have not listened to what I said. 9So I, the Lord, affirm that I will send for all the peoples of the north and my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy the land, its inhabitants, and all the surrounding nations and make them everlasting ruins. I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn. 10I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses. 11This whole area will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for 70 years.’ 12“‘But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon an everlasting ruin. I, the Lord, affirm it! 13I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation too. I will repay them for all they have done.’” 15So the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision: “Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath. Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16When they have drunk it, they will stagger to and fro and act insane. For I will send wars sweeping through them.” 17So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand. I made all the nations to whom he sent me drink the wine of his wrath. 18I made Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. Such is already becoming the case! 19I made all these other people drink it: Pharaoh, king of Egypt; his attendants, his officials, his people, 20the foreigners living in Egypt; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines, the people of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, the people who had been left alive from Ashdod; 21all the people of Edom, Moab, Ammon; 22all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon; all the kings of the coastlands along the sea; 23the people of Dedan, Tema, Buz, all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples; 24all the kings of Arabia who live in the desert; 25all the kings of Zimri; all the kings of Elam; all the kings of Media; 26all the kings of the north, whether near or far from one another; and all the other kingdoms that are on the face of the earth. After all of them have drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath, the king of Babylon must drink it. 27Then the Lord said to me, “Tell them that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘Drink this cup until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can’t get up. For I will send wars sweeping through you.’ 28If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, tell them that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, ‘You most certainly must drink it! 29For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. So how can you possibly avoid being punished? You will not go unpunished. For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, affirm it!’ 30“Then, Jeremiah, make the following prophecy against them: ‘Like a lion about to attack, the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven; from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly. He will roar mightily against his land. He will shout in triumph, like those stomping juice from the grapes, against all those who live on the earth. 31The sounds of battle will resound to the ends of the earth. For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. He will pass judgment on all humankind and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ The Lord so affirms it! 32The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, ‘Disaster will soon come on one nation after another. A mighty storm of military destruction is rising up from the distant parts of the earth.’ 33Those who have been killed by the Lord at that time will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned over, gathered up, or buried. Their dead bodies will lie scattered over the ground like manure. 34Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers! Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people! The time for you to be slaughtered has come. You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery. 35The leaders will not be able to run away and hide. The shepherds of the flocks will not be able to escape. 36Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders. Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks. They are wailing because the Lord is about to destroy their lands. 37Their peaceful dwelling places will be laid waste by the fierce anger of the Lord. 38The Lord is like a lion who has left his lair. So their lands will certainly be laid waste by the warfare of the oppressive nation and by the fierce anger of the Lord.” (NET Bible) 29:1 The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon. It was addressed to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon. 2He sent it after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had been exiled from Jerusalem. 3He sent it with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah. King Zedekiah of Judah had sent these men to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The letter said: 4“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all those he sent into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, 5‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and allow your daughters to get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; do not dwindle away. 7Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the Lord for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’ 8“For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘Do not let the prophets among you or those who claim to be able to predict the future by divination deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream. 9They are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. But I did not send them. I, the Lord, affirm it!’ 10“For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over will I again take up consideration for you. Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore you to your homeland. 11For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. 12When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. 13When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, 14I will make myself available to you,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will reverse your plight and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’ 15“You say, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets of good news for us here in Babylon.’ 16But just listen to what the Lord has to say about the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem and were not carried off into exile with you. 17The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, ‘I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18I will chase after them with war, starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them. 19For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,’ says the Lord. ‘And you exiles have not paid any attention to them either,’ says the Lord. 20‘So pay attention to the Lord’s message, all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’ 21“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, also has something to say about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. ‘I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will execute them before your very eyes. 22And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say, “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!” 23This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,’ says the Lord.” 24The Lord told Jeremiah, “Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite 25that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, has a message for him. Tell him, ‘On your own initiative you sent a letter to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem. In your letter you said to Zephaniah, 26“The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. He has put you in charge in the Lord’s temple of controlling any lunatic who pretends to be a prophet. And it is your duty to put any such person in the stocks with an iron collar around his neck. 27You should have reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth who is pretending to be a prophet among you! 28For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us, ‘You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”’” 29Zephaniah the priest read that letter to the prophet Jeremiah. 30Then the Lord’s message came to Jeremiah: 31“Send a message to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, ‘The Lord has spoken about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Shemaiah has spoken to you as a prophet even though I did not send him. He is making you trust in a lie. 32Because he has done this,” the Lord says, “I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the Lord, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the Lord.”’” (NET Bible)

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),
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Used by permission. www.Lockman.org