How do we respond to the people God has raised up?

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

"Like" might be a difficult word today - this was uncomfortable all the way through! God continues his words to Israel's neighbours, this time including the proud and ancient civilisations of Egypt and Babylon. Both had reasons to be confident in their history and the contributions their wisdom and enterprise had made to the world. They also found their identity in their distinctiveness, difference and independence from other cultures, with rich natural resources to rely upon, as well as legendary military strength. Why would they need a foreign God?

God grabs their attention by announcing his choice to invade their strongholds and erode all of the strengths they believe they can rely upon. For Egypt, God announces a turnaround which will lead to the people recognising, being saved by and worshiping him. For Babylon and Arabia, there is no promised happy ending - idols and splendour are heading for destruction. I find the little prophecy to Edom more intriguing - is someone amongst Israel's enemies calling out to God? God seems to want them to call back...

So as God deals with his people's enemies, all should be good for Jerusalem, right? Here is the really difficult bit - God has harsh words for them because although they know about God, they have misused what they were entrusted with, and God needs to deal with them.

But wait – there’s hope! “Eliakim” means “who God has set up/raised up/resurrected.” There are a few of these in the Bible. This man was King Hezekiah’s palace administrator, and we’ll hear more about him later. But what a name, also in Jesus’ family tree…

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God is the creator, owner and Lord of all - regardless of what a different culture might suggest. His love for people estranged from him is overwhelming, and his power to bring change and ruin where our pride is getting in the way is humbling. Ultimately the greatest human achievements and civilisations will stand or fall based on how they respond to the people that God has raised up.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I believe in Jesus! But do I also recognise other people God has raised up to speak or act in his name, perhaps people I don’t yet believe or agree with? Has God set me up to speak for him somewhere too? I can’t puzzle this out alone but need to turn to God more to ask him.

Who am I going to share this with?

As we continue exploring who God has made us to be on “The SHAPE of you” course, we’ll seek him together while we look for what God has raised up in each other.