Anglican Daily Fountain Devotional 22 February 2022
TOPIC: Who Is Righteous?
1. “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is [anyone] who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.
2. Though they say, ‘[As] the LORD lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.”
3. O LORD, [are] not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.
4. Therefore I said, “Surely these [are] poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God.
5. I will go to the great men and speak to them, For they have known the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God.” But these have altogether broken the yoke [And] burst the bonds.
6. Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; A leopard will watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces Because their transgressions are many; Their backslidings have increased.
7. ” How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by [those that are] not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
8. They were [like] well-fed lusty stallions; Everyone neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
9. Shall I not punish [them] for these [things?”] says the LORD. “And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10. ” Go up on her walls and destroy, But do not make a complete end. Take away her branches, For they [are] not the LORD’s.
11. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the LORD.
12. They have lied about the LORD, And said, “[It is] not He. Neither will evil come upon us, Nor shall we see sword or famine.
13. And the prophets become wind, For the word [is] not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.”
14. Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour them.
15. Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” says the LORD. “It [is] a mighty nation, It [is] an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.
16. Their quiver [is] like an open tomb; They [are] all mighty men.
17. And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, [Which] your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; They shall destroy your fortified cities, In which you trust, with the sword.
18. ” Nevertheless in those days,” says the LORD, “I will not make a complete end of you.
19. “And it will be when you say, ‘Why does the LORD our God do all these [things] to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land [that is] not yours.’
Anglican Daily Fountain Devotional 22 February 2022
In our text, God sent Jeremiah to find one righteous man among the people but he could not. He found none among the poor people of the land (though assumed to be foolish and knew not the way of the Lord or His judgment, v.4), neither did he find among the leaders (assumed to know the way of the Lord and His judgment, v.5). God recounted part of their sins to include treachery, lies about Him, false prophecy, idolatry, etc. Therefore,: the people had to be punished by God by raising a mighty nation against them (vv.9, 15).
Today, many of us still toe the line of the people of Judah which God complained about. God is still searching for one righteous man that He will hold unto and spare others. This is still very difficult to find. In Sodom and Gomorrah, God could not find ten persons to spare the city. During Noah’s time, only his family of eight was found worthy.
How many can be found today? Romans 3:12 states that “..there is none who does good, no, not one. ” It is for this reason that Jesus came to die for us. Romans 5:8 states that God demonstrated His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God has given us this olive branch to be reconciled to Him. Are you ready to grab it now?
