23 23 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,
“And not a God far off?
24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.
Message: Divine Omnipresence
Time: The Chaldeans (Babylonians) are besieging Jerusalem. Nubuchadnezzar is king of Babylon. Zedekiah is the last king of Judah before Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC.
What the Lord is Saying:
Yesterday, I studied God's infinite ways and that He is beyond measure. Man is a finite being with a clear beginning, but man's spirit has no end. Our human bodies have a beginning and end. Our soul lives on forever. God is a different sort of being. He is separate from man and it seems that this is something that man has a hard time to wrap around.
God's omnipresence is something I began to touch on yesterday. God fills all creation. He is everywhere present. No matter where we go, He is there. He can be in many places (or all places) at once. This is an amazing thought. My mind can't help but want to figure this out. It's not that God is like a gas because God is immaterial.
His presence is not any greater in one place than the other.
Here in Jeremiah 23, the Lord is giving a bitter indictment of the leaders of God's people. False prophets were the greatest hindrance to the acceptance of Jeremiah's preaching. responding to words from false prophets and correcting them. The Lord says in verse 16 - Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord. I notice in life that we are often a people of shortcuts. When it comes to the subjects of politics and religion, we seem to be quicker to listen to the opinions of others rather than seeking out truth from the source. In politics, we often listen to the news or what others are saying. In religion, rather than studying God's word on our own we listen to the opinions of others. In so doing we end up extra biblical opinions. God is calling out the false prophets and stating that they do not speak from the Lord.
The Lord responds to the false prophets because they acted like he was far away-“Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord, “And not a God far off?" The atheist states there is no God and therefore man can do whatever he wishes without being concerned that anyone is watching. This is what man would like to think. The idea that someone is watching not only our actions, but what we are thinking and devising in our heart is not an appealing idea for we all know therefore that we have been found out, discovered, for who we really are. And then the fact that God loves us in spite of this should make us drop to our knees ever more.
Promise: God is omnipresent and sees through all of our false claims that he is not near.
Prayer: Lord, it is comfort to know you are near, when I need you. But, it can also not be a comfort because many times my thoughts and actions do not glorify You. I often try to pretend that you are not near. I take advantage of your forgiving ways. I focus too much on how things make me feel rather than leaning on your everlasting arms and accepting what You provide. Lord, I pray that I would live a life that is pleasing to you. Forgive me for thinking I can get away from you. I want to stay close by your side, no matter who I am taking with, no matter the situation I am in.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with January being about the doctrine of God.
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