1:28
And those who remain as rebels and sinners “shall be broken together” Those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. Nowhere in the Bible, and nowhere in the gospel, and nowhere in Christ’s teaching is there any hope for those who remain in rebellion. If we want to take advantage of God’s salvation in Christ then we need to repent, and we need to acknowledge Christ as Lord. And that includes acknowledging Him as Lord of our lives, and that means He has the right to tell us what to do and how to live.
1:29
The oaks, or terebinth trees (NKJV), were associated with idol worship. The trees themselves by worshipped, or worshipped as representing gods, or just as places of idol worship. When God’s salvation comes into a person’s life, that person becomes ashamed of many past practices. In Judah’s case, idol worship would be one of those past practices. But here this is speaking of the rebels and sinners. They boasted of their practices, but a day would come when they would be utterly ashamed of themselves and their practices. Today we see many boasting of their sin, acting in outright defiance of God, but a time will come when they too are put to shame.
1:30,31
Psalm 1:3 speaks of the righteous being like trees planted by stream of water, always flourishing. Here we see the exact opposite applying to the rebels and sinners. All supply and support would be gone, and they would wither. For a time the wicked can seem so strong, but they would become like tinder, along with their works. They will be destroyed in an instant. A spark will set them ablaze, and nothing will put the fire out. We can see this if we look at history, time and time again great empires crumble and come to nothing. We should not fear when the wicked seem to prosper, for it will not last.
No comments:
Post a Comment