What became of Israel and Jerusalem after rejecting God’s message? Jer. 39:8, 9.
Everything that God had warned them would happen to them is exactly what happened. However much they didn’t want to believe the warnings, they certainly did believe them after they all came to pass. Who hasn’t, even on a personal level, experienced something similar? We’re warned by the Lord not to do something or else this will happen, but we do it anyway and, sure enough, what we were told would happen happens.
What message is found in Jeremiah 23:2–8? What hope was given the people there?
From a human perspective, all seemed lost: their nation lay in ruins, their temple was destroyed, their rulers were exiled and held captive, and the city of Jerusalem was a pile of stones. The Jewish nation and the Jewish people should have at that time disappeared from history, as had so many other nations that had undergone what they just had.
The Lord, though, had other plans, and in the verses above (and in many others) He gave them the hope that all was not lost but that a remnant would return and through them the promises would be fulfilled. That is, amid all the warnings of doom and destruction, the prophets also gave the people their only hope.
“The dark years of destruction and death marking the end of the kingdom of Judah would have brought despair to the stoutest heart had it not been for the encouragements in the prophetic utterances of God’s messengers. Through Jeremiah in Jerusalem, through Daniel in the court of Babylon, through Ezekiel on the banks of the Chebar, the Lord in mercy made clear His eternal purpose and gave assurance of His willingness to fulfill to His chosen people the promises recorded in the writings of Moses. That which He had said He would do for those who should prove true to Him, He would surely bring to pass. ‘The word of God . . . liveth and abideth forever.’ 1 Peter 1:23.”—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 464.
Lição Adventista Escola Sabatina para Adultos
Q4 2015 «Jeremias»
Lição 3 – Os últimos Cinco Reis de Israel
