In the
first of Jehovah’s messages through Jeremiah, the tender-hearted
prophet, and recorded in Jeremiah 2, there are a number of touching
questions: “What is wrong in Me?†(v. 5); “Why not inquire of Me?†(v.
6); “The priests ignore Me, why?†(v. 8); “Is there any nation so
whimsical as you?†(v. 11); “Why do you act as a spoiled servant?†(v.
14); “Why have you forsaken Me?†(v. 17); “Why do you hanker after
Egypt?†(v. 18), etc. The whole of the message is a series of
challenging and searching queries. But surely none are so pointed and
full of meaning as “Have I become a wilderness unto Israel?†(v. 31).
The Lord a wilderness to His redeemed ones?
Category: uplook
Uplook Fridays: That Sweetening Influence
At this point in
history, Israel
was a redeemed people ({{Ex 15:25}}). Slavery’s chains had been broken, and their foes
overwhelmed in the waters of the Red Sea. They
were led into a new and living way, which God had opened for them through the
place of death. Then they sang praises to God for so great a deliverance. After
three days’ journey, however, without finding water, they came to Marah, where
there was water; but so bitter they could not drink it. There are a few lessons
we may learn from this.
It is very instructive to note in the Scriptures the
engagements or circumstances which brought forth worship from believing men or
women. The attractiveness of divine worship, and the variety of events which
stirred that worship are both inspiring and informative.
There is no proper ground of worship except that the object of worship
have divine attributes. It is because the Lord Jesus is a divine
person, the Second Person of the Triune God and “God manifest in the
flesh,†that He is given and receives worship. His incarnation is set
forth in Scripture with crystal clearness and preeminence, because if
He is not truly man then His history is a myth; and if He be not God,
to worship Him is idolatry. For Him to receive worship is a robbery of
that glory which alone is due to God. That is why His deity and His
proper manhood are so clearly displayed in the Scriptures, why we find
both men and angels giving Him worship, and we find Him receiving that
worship.
Uplook Fridays: The Kiss
A kiss has many meanings in Scripture. Joseph kissed all his brethren
as a token of reconciliation ({{Gen. 45:15}}). Orpah kissed Naomi, but
returned to her paganism in Moab, while Ruth “clave†to her
mother-in-law ({{Ruth 1:14}}). David kissed Jonathan in their final
farewell—a kiss of friendship ({{1 Sam. 20:41}}). The father of the
prodigal son “fell on his neck and kissed him†on the son’s return
({{Lk. 15:20}}). In the Church, Paul admonished believers to “greet ye
one another with an holy kiss†({{1 Cor. 16:20}}).