Prayer: Father, I do not understand all of Your ways and I desire to understand. Help me to know You more every day. Amen.
Reading: Jeremiah 41 key: vs. 16-18 “Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had rescued from Ishmael son of Nethaniah from Mizpah, after he had murdered Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the men, the soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he had brought back from Gibeon— and they left and stayed at Chimham’s lodge, which is near Bethlehem, in order to go on to enter Egypt, away from the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, since Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.” TLV
Attention: I was ten years old when I remember my schoolteacher coming into the class and announcing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. She left the class and wheeled in a black and white television on a cart. We viewed the reports of the President’s assassination for the entire day as a nation dazed and confused, mourned.
It seems unfathomable that in the former chapter (40), Adonai raises up a man (Gedaliah), who is appointed by a commander of the Babylonian army, to be the governor of the remaining remnant in Jerusalem and a brief time later, he is assassinated. The people who were entrusted to his care are gathered and being marched off into exile. Imagine the emotional rollercoaster of being left behind and thinking you were in a season of peace and adjustment and suddenly your leader is assassinated catapulting everyone into a state of turmoil.
Jeremiah does not mention himself as experiencing the coup, but rather seems to historically document the actions of Ishmael and his warriors. Fear was the order of the day as captured by Jeremiah.
Fear is the one thing which the Holy Spirit speaks against. Fear renders us incapable of being able to process rationally what is going on around us. Messiah gave us the proper understanding of fear through the writing of Matthew, “So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed and nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear in your ear, proclaim from the housetops! And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (Matthew 10:26-28).”
We will hear of other assassinations in the future. We may even witness assignations via livestream. We may even face assassination. Yeshua has already given us the proper perspective about life and death.
Action: I choose to embrace the words of Yeshua and fear Him who has the power over eternal life and death.
Yield: I choose to submit to the Sovereignty of Adonia.
Engage: I choose to engage with the Holy Spirit in living with power for Yeshua.
Relationship: I choose to live in intimate, holy relationship with Adonai.
Prayer: Father, Your word is powerful and effective. Direct my path. Guide me oh Great Jehovah! Amen.
Memory Verse: Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” TLV
Music Video: Andrea’ Crouch—I’ve Got Confidence https://youtu.be/395CiGQh_hc?si=tC9eGvuzNsTjPJQ3
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”