WHY PANDEMIC?

SUNDAY, 9THOCTOBER, 2022.

Topic: WHY PANDEMIC? 

Spiritual viewpoint

MEMORIZE: “"And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath" Jeremiah 21:5.

SCRIPTURE READING: JEREMIAH 21:1-14.

"¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,² "Please inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us."³ Then Jeremiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to Zedekiah,⁴ 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel: "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will assemble them in the midst of this city.⁵ I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath.⁶ I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence.⁷ And afterward," says the Lord, "I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy." '⁸ "Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.⁹ He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him.¹⁰ For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good," says the Lord. "It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire." '¹¹ "And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, 'Hear the word of the Lord,¹² O house of David! Thus says the Lord: "Execute judgment in the morning; And deliver him who is plundered Out of the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth like fire And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings. ¹³ "Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, And rock of the plain," says the Lord, "Who say, 'Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter our dwellings?' ¹⁴ But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings," says the Lord; "I will kindle a fire in its forest, And it shall devour all things around it."" 

EXPOSITION:

WHY PANDEMIC?  Spiritual viewpoint

God vowed to destroy man and beast in Judah with pestilence or epidemic v6. Why?

1. MORAL INEPTITUDE (Unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training. Having no qualities that would render it valuable or useful.)

a. A total breakdown of godly values vv12, 14.

b. Previous chapters mentioned idol worships, hypocrisy, satanism, blood letting etc.

Question:  Are you morally upright before God or you have some issues you have not repented from and ask the blood of Jesus to cleanse?

2. MAN'S INTRANSIGENCE (STUBBORNNESS)

a. Pashur knew that there was a prophecy of Judgement upon him and he ignored it 20:6. In fact, he subjected Jeremiah to inhuman treatment 20:2.

b. King Zedekiah also knew that Jeremiah was a genuine prophet of God. That was why he sent to inquire from him. Yet he ignored all his prophecies calling for personal and national repentance and make life more difficult for Jeremiah.

c. Despite his  intransigence after the prophet's several call to personal and national repentance, he proudly still asked Jeremiah to check up with God for deliverance from captivity vv1,2. He was guilty of seeking God for blessings without repentance like many do today.

Question:  Sure you are not like Pashur and the king who refused to repent and still expect God to speak mercy to them and "manufacture" good revelation for them?

Question: Are you like them asking for deliverance while ignoring all calls for repentance? Repentance first before mercy.

d. God eventually decided to smite them with pestilence, famine and deaths vv6,7.

3. MISUSED INSPIRATION

a. At this time God had finally ruled out mercy that will stop their captivity vv10,13,14. Going to captivity became an irreversible judgement due to intransigence.

b. The only window of mercy was to surrender to captivity if they want to live vv9,10.

c. Nature of God: God is a God of second chance as long as you are ready to repent v12. 

Look inward and see whether you are contributing to God's anger on humanity or not.

PRAYER POINTS:

i. Lord, I have resolved not to be taking you and your word for granted again. I will be acting on them immediately.

ii. Lord, I know we have all sinned against you. In wrath remember mercy and grant us repentance and deliverance. Bring the nations back to you.

iii. Pour the Spirit of repentance on all, irrespective of status, religion and nationality and reveal yourself to all.

iv. Pray for mercy and healings of infected people including medical personnel.

DAILY BIBLE READING IN A YEAR – Haggai 1 & 2; Zechariah 1 & 2..

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