The Lord Allows Some Annoyances

Jeremiah 47 begins the judgment decrees against the nations around Israel. The Lord is sovereign over all nations. He is not, as the ancients believed, a territorial god limited to the nation-state of His people. No, this ground-breaking truth was proclaimed by Jeremiah to an ancient people who imagined they could form their own gods after their own liking and do as they saw fit. 

Jeremiah 47:1 (ESV) The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.

Philistia, a maritime empire of the ancient world, was first on the list. Perhaps no other nation caused Israel so much grief after their entrance to the promised land and all through the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David.

How will God judge them? On their own territory, with the very thing they feel themselves to be masters over - the waters of the sea. 

Jeremiah 47:2 (ESV) “Thus says the LORD: Behold, waters are rising out of the north, and shall become an overflowing torrent; they shall overflow the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it. Men shall cry out, and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.

The tool of judgment is Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon here, but they are described as waters that the Philistines might know the downfall of their pride. 

Jeremiah 47:4 (ESV) For the LORD is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.

What's amazing about this is how quickly the Lord can and would destroy these people. When you consider how much grief they gave to Israel over the years, you wonder, "Why didn't the Lord do this earlier?" since it was well within His ability. He would have saved Israel years of frustration. 

Perhaps therein is a lesson. The Lord allows some nuisances in our lives to chisel us and shape us. I imagine the Philistines were a tool by which the Lord would test His people's hearts and develop the leader they needed in David. 

What might be the thing God could take out of your life right now that He's using to grow you? Sometimes, the answer to our prayers is not the removal of an enemy or conflict but our growth through it. 

That challenging relationship is pinching something in your heart that needs to be removed. Perhaps that area of weakness is working to point your life toward your true David and victor over the Philistines of our souls - Jesus Christ. 

If you think about it, the Lord can remove every challenge we face immediately. So if there is no instant removal, perhaps the only rationale left is to explore what God might be showing us and how He might be growing us. 

Instead of frustration, seek God's faithful direction. 
Instead of annoyance, seek God's ability to overcome it. 

It's really not about the problem, it's about the process of your development. 




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