“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord

Jeremiah 23:1-20, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch

23 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. ³ “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴ I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

⁵ “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.
⁶ “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’ ⁷ “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ⁸ but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”…..

Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷ “They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart,
They say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ ¹⁸ “But who has stood in the council of the Lord,
That he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and listened? ⁹ “Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked. ²⁰ “The anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it.

     This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. ⁶ For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with , His mighty angels in flaming fire, ⁸ dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes to be glorified…

Just as in the time of Jeremiah, there are many today who,    “speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord.  “They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.”   Unfortunately today too there are many false shepherds, those who lead God’s people astray, whether intentionally or through neglect God holds those with great authority over His people to a great level of accountability. It is after all His flock, His people who are lead astray. To those leading in error He will again say:   “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord.  

Perhaps because of how long we have lived in this age of grace, this time since Jesus came and paid the price for all sin, we have changed the message from the good news of the gospel of Christ to the current standard of no news is good news. People tend to ignore the signs of the times, the growing evil and darkness in the world. They ignore often because they don’t want to choose to change. The delay in God’s judgment is not a cancellation of that time. 2 Peter 3:9 says:    The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  The delay in God’s judgment is an opportunity for all to come to repentance. But the day of Christ’s return and the day of judgment will come. The context of 2 Peter 3:9 is this:

in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. ⁷ But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

God is not going to judge and destroy what is as the end of all. Rather He will renew and restore all things to the way He intended them to be. He will recreate the earth to be one with heaven. Then what Jesus taught us to pray will finally be fulfilled. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  

2 Peter 3 also describes how we should live in light of what is coming.   Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! ¹³ But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, ¹⁵ and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation

We should as Jesus commanded: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…” The world has believed a lie that Jesus will not return as judge and king. Even many who believe in Jesus believe only in the lamb. He is coming again not as the lamb but as a lion, as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Still the good news is that He is the lamb. The lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, the Son of God sent to pay the price for the sin of all mankind.

We need to know Him, the world needs to hear that He is the lion and the lamb. Jesus Christ is both the sacrificial Savior and the Judge, the Lord and King.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, the lion and the lamb and Holy Spirit, thank You for the truth and the revelation that You Jesus are both my Savior and my Lord. Enable me and empower me to live and speak in such a way that those truths are revealed in and through my life. Jesus the good news is that You came as a lamb, the sacrificial Savior of all mankind. The good news is also that You are coming again as judge and King, to rule and reign forever. . Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.    Amen.