DCLM DAILY MANNA DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR FEBRUARY 10, 2023 (BEHOLD GOD’S SEVERITY)

TOPIC :BEHOLD GOD’S SEVERITY

Text: Lamentation 2:1-10 (KJV)

How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!

2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.

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.

4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.

5 The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast.

8 The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.

9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

KEY VERSE: “He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.” – (Lamentation 2:4)

MESSAGE

God does not condone sin of any type. For this reason, He warned the people of Israel through His servant, Moses, to beware of going back into idolatry and sin, saying that He would set His face against the nation and they would be slain before their enemies; who would reign over them, and they would flee when none “pursueth”. The Lord equally warned the people through Joshua that if they forsook Him and served strange gods, then, He would turn and do them hurt, and consume them after that He had done them good.

The Bible passage of today talks about Jerusalem, the once beautiful and busy commercial city now devastated and desolate. The city was now like a widow lamenting her woes. This was the consequence of the sin of the nation of Israel which God loved, cared for and preferred above all other nations in the world. Now, because of her perpetual backsliding, God bent His bow against them like an enemy. The nation is destroyed and plundered. The men were either killed or taken into Babylonian captivity while the temple, which was her pride and religious symbol, was destroyed and the precious vessels were taken away.

This is a lesson to believers and unbelievers alike that God’s continual favour and blessings are not permanent. He pours His holy indignation on those who fail to abide by His laws and statutes. “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness…” (Romans 11:22).

Believers should abstain from sin, lest they lose the blessing of God they are enjoying. Sinners and backsliders should repent and run to Christ for pardon and cleansing so they can become beneficiaries of God’s goodness.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: He that sets himself against God has turned everything against himself.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Matthew 27-28

Daily Manna is the daily devotional of the Deeper Christian Life Bible Ministry (DCLM) written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi. It is an extraction of God’s Word designed to draw the sincere seeker closer to God on a daily basis through an insightful exposition and analysis of God’s Word.