[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 25

Thu Aug 25 07:20:14 UTC 2022

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY August 25

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Once the new hive was done the bees had a house swarming party.

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DAILY DEVOTION

Only In Jesus

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have
spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take
away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord
said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it
shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it,
shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and
it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the
serpent of brass, he lived.
Numbers 21:7-9

The Sistine Chapel in Rome contains one of the most famous works of art in
the world. The ceiling, painted over a period of four and a half years by
Michelangelo, depicts scenes from both the Old and New Testament. In
addition to showing the Bible stories, the paintings are filled with
symbolism. One of the more notable frescoes depicts the brass serpent that
Moses made at God's direction to provide healing to those who had been
bitten by poisonous snakes. The focus of the painting is not Moses, and
scholars are not even sure that the great leader of Israel is depicted at
all. If he is, it is only incidental to the thrust of the artwork. The eye
is drawn to the brass serpent on its pole.
Jesus used this story to illustrate God's plan of salvation when He was
talking to Nicodemus: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14). Just as there was no
alternative plan for healing the snake-bitten Israelites, there is no
alternative plan for curing the curse of sin. It is only in Jesus alone that
man has hope of the new birth that is necessary for us to go to Heaven. In
our increasingly pluralistic society, the exclusive nature of salvation is
offensive to many, but it is still true, and we must faithfully proclaim it.
We must lift up Jesus Christ so that the lost world around us can see Him as
the only way of salvation.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

Jeremiah 43-45 New King James Version
Jeremiah Taken to Egypt
43 Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all
the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him
to them, all these words, 2 that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the
son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, "You speak
falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, 'Do not go to Egypt to
dwell there.' 3 But Baruch the son of Neriah has [a]set you against us, to
deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or
carry us away captive to Babylon." 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the
captains of the forces, and all the people would not obey the voice of the
Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and
all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had
returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations where they had been
driven- 6 men, women, children, the king's daughters, and every person whom
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of
Neriah. 7 So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice
of the Lord. And they went as far as Tahpanhes.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9 "Take
large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah,
in the [b]clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh's
house in Tahpanhes; 10 and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel: "Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of
Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have
hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them. 11 When he comes,
he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death those appointed for
death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword
those appointed for the sword. 12 [c]I will kindle a fire in the houses of
the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And
he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his
garment, and he shall go out from there in peace. 13 He shall also break the
sacred pillars of [d]Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the
houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire." ' "

Israelites Will Be Punished in Egypt
44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the
land of Egypt, who dwell at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Noph,[e] and in the
country of Pathros, saying, 2 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel: 'You have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and
on all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and
no one dwells in them, 3 because of their wickedness which they have
committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to
serve other gods whom they did not know, they nor you nor your fathers. 4
However I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising early and
sending them, saying, "Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!" 5
But they did not listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness,
to burn no incense to other gods. 6 So My fury and My anger were poured out
and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they
[f]are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.'

7 "Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel:
'Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you
man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving none to remain, 8 in
that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense
to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to dwell, that you
may cut yourselves off and be a curse and a reproach among all the nations
of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the
wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, your own
wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the
land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not been
humbled,[g] to this day, nor have they feared; they have not walked in My
law or in My statutes that I set before you and your fathers.'

11 "Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I
will set My face against you for catastrophe and for [h]cutting off all
Judah. 12 And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to
go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and
fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by
famine. They shall die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by
famine; and they shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse and a reproach!
13 For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have
punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, 14 so that
none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell
there shall escape or survive, lest they return to the land of Judah, to
which they desire[i] to return and dwell. For none shall return except those
who escape.' "

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other
gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people
who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: 16
"As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will
not listen to you! 17 But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our
own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink
offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our
princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we
had plenty of [j]food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. 18 But since we
stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink
offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the
sword and by famine."

19 The women also said, "And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven
and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship
her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands' permission?"

20 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people-the men, the women, and all the
people who had given him that answer-saying: 21 "The incense that you burned
in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your
fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not
the Lord remember them, and did it not come into His mind? 22 So the Lord
could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of
the abominations which you committed. Therefore your land is a desolation,
an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23
Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against the
Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law, in His
statutes or in His testimonies, therefore this calamity has happened to you,
as at this day."

24 Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, "Hear the
word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt! 25 Thus says the
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: 'You and your wives have spoken
with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands, saying, "We will surely keep
our vows that we have made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour
out drink offerings to her." You will surely keep your vows and perform your
vows!' 26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the
land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by My great name,' says the Lord, 'that
My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the
land of Egypt, saying, "The Lord God lives." 27 Behold, I will watch over
them for adversity and not for good. And all the men of Judah who are in the
land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is
an end to them. 28 Yet a small number who escape the sword shall return from
the land of Egypt to the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah, who
have gone to the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose words will
stand, Mine or theirs. 29 And this shall be a sign to you,' says the Lord,
'that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that My words will
surely stand against you for adversity.'

30 "Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt
into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life,
as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.' "

Assurance to Baruch
45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah,
when he had written these words in a book [k]at the instruction of Jeremiah,
in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2
"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 'You said, "Woe
is me now! For the Lord has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my
sighing, and I find no rest." '

4 "Thus you shall say to him, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, what I have
built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is,
this whole land. 5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek
them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh," says the Lord. "But
I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go." ' "

Footnotes
Jeremiah 43:3 Or incited
Jeremiah 43:9 Or mortar
Jeremiah 43:12 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. He
Jeremiah 43:13 Lit. House of the Sun, ancient On, later called Heliopolis
Jeremiah 44:1 Ancient Memphis
Jeremiah 44:6 Or became a ruin
Jeremiah 44:10 Lit. crushed
Jeremiah 44:11 destroying
Jeremiah 44:14 Lit. lift up their soul
Jeremiah 44:17 Lit. bread
Jeremiah 45:1 Lit. from Jeremiah's mouth