“He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.” (Lamentations 2:3)
TEXT — Lamentations 2:1-5
Message
From January 7 to 31, 2025, a series of14 destructive wildfires affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego County in California. According to a Wikipedia report, the fires were exacerbated by drought conditions, low humidity, a buildup of vegetation from the previous winter, and hurricane force Santa Ana winds, which reached 100 miles per hour in some places. As at January 31, 2025, the wildfires had killed at least 29 people, forced more than 200,000 to evacuate, and destroyed more than 18,000 homes and structures, some of them belonging to Hollywood celebrities. The wildfires burned a total of 57,000 acres of land.
The wrath of God is poured down, like wildfire, in today’s passage, on Israel, God’s beloved nation. This confirms that sinners will not go unpunished because the Holy God cannot deny Himself to indulge any sinful child or creature of His. His word cannot fail – “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” In this passage, we see how He overthrew the physical structures of Israel and waged war against a people He loved. He completely forgot the past privileges of “the daughter of Zion,” “the beauty of Israel”, and “His footstool,” because of their backsliding.
Israel had been God’s special people from the days of Abraham, who pleased God by faith. But He never withheld punishment whenever they erred. God is a loving Father, but He never indulges His children in sin. A thin line, it is said, separates life from death, love from bitterness, and friendship from enmity. God is loving and caring, but He deals with us according to our current, not the historical relationship with Him. He is no respecter of persons and does not condone sin. He is longsuffering while waiting for sinners to repent, and He quickly forgives them whenever they turn to Him for mercy and pardon. Yet, He is unsparing in judgment when they abuse His longsuffering.
A lesson from the plight of Israel is that when God turns against His children, it will be like an attack from a mortal enemy. This confirms that there is no permanent, unconditional security with God. Believers must work out their salvation with humility, faith, and godly reverence by consciously living right daily and by the grace freely given by God. We must avoid complacency, relying only on our past testimonies or relationship with God. Anyone who thinks they are standing in Christ regardless of their spiritual state will likely fall short and even miss heaven. Sinners must repent of their sins, and backsliders must return to their first love to escape God’s judgment.
Thought for the day
Those who know only one aspect of God misrepresent or undermine him.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
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