Topic: Unpleasant Chain Reaction [Wednesday October 18, 2017]
Text: Lamentation 4:13-22
Key Verse: “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked” (Lamentation 4:21).
Jesus was so much loved and adored by some inhabitants of Jerusalem in His triumphal entry that they were moved to cut down palm fronds, and lay them alongside their garments, on the ground as a token of their affection for Him.
They had seen Him perform numerous miracles and deliverances. And so, they would have persisted in singing hosanna, as Jesus approached the temple. But the tide changed as a result of the fierce opposition of the chief priests and scribes, who persuaded them to betray Jesus before Pilate, and influenced the people to place a curse on themselves and their posterity. It was not as if the people were innocent either. In fact, it was to please them that the priests and prophets (who knew better) acted the way they did.
They not only shed the blood of their innocent children, whom they sacrificed to Moloch, but also the blood of the righteous men that were among them. They so polluted themselves with innocent blood that they made themselves odious to all observers, including the Gentiles who in turn cast aspersions and make mockery of them when they are visited with divine retribution. However, they were mistaken: God had not cast Israel off forever. If anything, He taunted the heathen in Lamentation 4:21. And so, for those who revel in the problems of others, alongside those that are instrumental to the calamities, sudden destruction looms.
Moreover, those who ridicule God’s people (the Church) will sooner or later be made a spectacle themselves. We ought not to gloat over the misery of others. Instead, we must recognize our mandate, as intercessors, to pray for the restoration of a straying brother or sister.
Thought for the day: Deride not the fallen; learn from his fate.
Bible Reading in one Year: 2 Kings 14-15
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
