Day 246: Jeremiah 49, 50, 51 and 52

So Judah went into captivity, away from her land (Jeremiah 52:27).

Jeremiah chapter 52 details the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. What took centuries to build, the fire and the battering ram took just days to destroy. King Zedekiah had been blinded, his children executed in front of him. The temple priests and gatekeepers were killed. So Judah went into captivity away from her land. It was done… Or was it?

More than 600 years earlier Moses had declared: When you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul . . . then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you (Deuteronomy 30:2,3).

Once again we see a glimmer of hope beyond the present fog of despair. This parallels our experience. The truth is that no matter how lost we might be, no matter how far off track we may have wandered, there is always a way home.

“In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it” (Jeremiah 50:4,5).

The blessing of exile is that it makes us long for home.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Is it time for you to leave your exile and turn your face toward home? If so, what’s your next step?
 

Day 245: Jeremiah 46, 47 and 48

I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished (NIV 1984, Jeremiah 46:28).

God was bringing judgment on Egypt. Just as Babylon had been a tool in the hands of God to discipline Judah, so would it be wielded to discipline Egypt. But God has assurance for the Jews living there: Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you (v. 28a).

God speaks through Jeremiah: I will discipline you but only with justice. As we said just a couple weeks ago, Rabbi Abraham Heschel teaches that God’s anger/punishment is never without a purpose, and God’s intent is not to destroy us. The purpose of discipline is to change our course, as well as our attitudes and behaviors so that we can get back on track and live the life God designed us to live. God cannot bless us while we are living in disobedience. His punishment provides a way for him to bless us once again.

I will not let you go entirely unpunished. God has always been clear that there are consequences for bad behavior: He does not leave the guilty unpunished (Exodus 34:7). Yet as Isaiah and now Jeremiah make clear, God still loves us even when he has to punish us, and we can be assured there is a future beyond judgment.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

How would it affect your attitude toward God’s discipline if you really believed it was a tool paving the way for him to bless you once again?
 

Day 244: Jeremiah 43, 44 and 45

Ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing (Jeremiah 44:18).

After Jeremiah was kidnapped and taken to Egypt, he warned the Jews living there about continuing in the disobedience that led to Jerusalem’s destruction. The refugees scoffed at Jeremiah for they saw no connection between behavior and blessing.

The things that are best for us don’t usually offer an immediate reward. We exercise for thirty minutes and still aren’t buff, so we say, Forget this! We start putting a few bucks a week in savings and at the end of the first week we have… a few bucks. This isn’t getting me anywhere. Might as well go out to dinner! On the other hand the things that are worst for us don’t usually pose an immediate threat. We eat a greasy hamburger without having a heart attack. We spend too much time at work and our wife and kids still love us.

The fact that the consequences of our choices are cumulative rather than immediate allows us to live in denial. But just because the outcome is delayed doesn’t mean it’s not coming.

The Jews had fond memories of life back in Judah when they had been worshiping the Queen of Heaven [1]. They totally missed the connection between their previous lifestyle and their present circumstances.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What behaviors would you change if you were thinking long term?

Day 243: Jeremiah 40, 41 and 42

May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us (Jeremiah 42:5).

It had happened. Nebuchadnezzar had broken through the walls of Jerusalem and captured the city. He killed Zedekiah’s sons and put out his eyes before marching him off to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar installed Gedaliah as governor over Judah and the poorest of the poor who remained, but he had been assassinated and his killer had escaped to Ammon.

Fearing reprisal for the death of this Babylonian appointee, a band of people led by Johanan asked Jeremiah for advice. Should they stay? Should they flee to Egypt? With God as our witness, we’ll do whatever you say (Author’s Paraphrase, v. 5). Jeremiah assured them that if they remained in Jerusalem, God would preserve and provide for them.

That wasn’t the answer they were looking for. Johanan and his compadres accused Jeremiah of lying to them. God would never say that! Hey, don’t like the prophet’s answer? Attack the prophet’s character. Not only did they reject Jeremiah’s advice, they forcibly removed him to the city of Taphanhes in Egypt, where they continued to disregard his counsel.

Kind of makes you wonder, why did they drag him to Egypt if they were just going to keep ignoring his advice?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What do you do when you pray and don’t get the answer you want?
 

Day 242: Jeremiah 37, 38 and 39

While your feet were stuck in the mud, they left you (NCV, Jeremiah 38:22).

Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He was a wishy-washy leader who found it difficult to make a decision. In his defense, he was scared of both Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his own advisors. They were telling him to resist the invading army, but Jeremiah was telling him he should surrender. Zedekiah was afraid Jeremiah was right, but he didn’t want his advisors thinking he was weak. Too late.

The king’s counselors were determined to shut Jeremiah up. Zedekiah spinelessly gave them his permission to throw the prophet into a cistern – empty of water but full of mud. There they left him but, thanks to another flip flop by the king, he was released. Zedekiah once again asked him for advice, but Jeremiah was reticent to speak, considering where his words had already landed him… literally.

Finally Jeremiah told Zedekiah that if he surrendered he would fare better than by continuing the fight. He said that if the king rejected his counsel, the women of Jerusalem would be taken captive by the Babylonians, and taunt him about being misled and abandoned by his most trusted friends. While your feet were stuck in the mud, they left you.

Jeremiah was dropped in the cistern, but Zedekiah was the one stuck in the mud.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Think of a time when you were stuck and unable to make a decision. How could taking matters to God help you make a better choice next time?

Day 241: Jeremiah 34, 35 and 36

Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot (Jeremiah 36:23).

It was a fasting day when many of the faithful would flock to the temple for worship and prayer, yet Jeremiah had been barred from that sacred place. So Jeremiah instructed Baruch, his secretary, to write down his prophecies on a scroll and then read them to the people of Judah who had traveled to Jerusalem for the fast. This was likely after the first exiles were transported to Babylon but prior to the taking of the second group. People could still travel and there was probably little if any Babylonian military presence [12].

Baruch complied with Jeremiah’s instructions, but when palace officials heard him reading from the scroll, they were alarmed, knowing they would have to report these events to the king. Still, being sympathetic to Jeremiah, they sent both Baruch and the prophet into hiding before making their report.

Seated before the fire in his winter quarters, the king demanded the scroll be read in his presence. As three or four columns were read, Jehoiakim took a knife and cut that portion from the scroll and burned it in his firepot. By the time the assistant was finished reading, the entire scroll had been burned to ashes. It’s probably a good thing that neither Jeremiah nor Baruch were present – could have been hazardous to their health.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

How do you respond to Scripture that makes you uncomfortable? Wouldn’t it be a waste of time if it never did?
 

Day 240: Jeremiah 31, 32 and 33

Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land (Jeremiah 32:15).

Times were bad in Jerusalem. The first (the best) and second (the brightest) waves of exiles had already been transported to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was besieging the city, Jeremiah was imprisoned by the palace guard, and things were looking bleak. Then Jeremiah’s cousin showed up and asked him to take a field off his hands in Anathoth (where Jeremiah was from – in the tribal holdings of Benjamin – probably to the north, but not far from Jerusalem).

While your city is being besieged and the country is being trampled underfoot by a vast army is probably not the best time to try and sell property – not exactly a seller’s market. On the other hand, Jeremiah was the one who prophesied Jerusalem would be defeated while other prophets were saying it would be spared. Jeremiah would hardly be the most likely candidate to buy a piece of property… but he did.

In spite of their hard times, Jeremiah knew things were going to improve. Not right away… in fact things were going to get much worse before they got better, but things were eventually going to start looking up. He bought the field from his cousin, sealed the deed away in the sixth century BC equivalent of a safe deposit box, as a witness that one day things would once again be good in Jerusalem.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

During hard times, how can you demonstrate your faith that things are going to improve?

Day 239: Jeremiah 28, 29 and 30

Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have (Jeremiah 29:8).

After the first wave of captives was taken from Judah to Babylon, there was an expectation among those exiles that their release would be speedy and they would soon return to their beloved Jerusalem. The prophets who accompanied them not only shared that expectation, but felt pressured to tell the people what they wanted to hear. They encouraged the Judean exiles that they would not be there long; that deliverance was at hand.

Jeremiah knew differently and wrote God’s people a letter from Jerusalem: Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce… Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage (vv. 5,6). He went on to warn them not to listen to those whose prophecies were influenced by the expectations of those around them. Even though they might be well meaning, they were too reluctant to give the people bad news.

The bad news: Get comfortable; you’re going to be here awhile. The good news: Even seventy years in Babylon cannot thwart God’s plan for you (Author’s Paraphrase, v. 10) . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (v. 11)

Is bad news ever really bad news if God has your back?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Ask for strength to speak the truth this week, knowing that even bad news falls under the promise of Romans 8:28 – “In all things God works for the good…”
 

Day 238: Jeremiah 25, 26 and 27

The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city . . . Do with me whatever you think is good and right (Jeremiah 26:12,14).

On August 5, 1864 during the Civil War, the Union Navy sailed into Mobile Bay. The lead ship was destroyed by a tethered mine and those following faltered amid the confusion. Taking charge of the situation, Rear Admiral David Farragut steered his ship around those adrift and uttered the famous charge: “Damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead!” The remaining ships followed him; there were no more losses, and the forts lining Mobile Bay surrendered.

Jeremiah’s ministry was about as welcome in Jerusalem as the Union Navy in Mobile Bay, and the potential consequences no less disastrous. But Jeremiah knew he had been sent by God and, regardless of the outcome, he must be faithful to his mission.

Jeremiah’s courage was not without consequence; he was hated, labeled a traitor, imprisoned, and eventually forcibly removed to Egypt. In his declining years, however, he could lay his head on the pillow at night and know he had done everything asked of him.

A dear saint in my congregation shared with me she committed long ago to live her life so, when the time came, she could leave this world with no regrets. Would that we all could make that same vow.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Is God prompting you that it’s time to say, “Damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead”? Ask for the strength and grace to be true to his calling.
 

Day 237: Jeremiah 22, 23 and 24

Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness (Jeremiah 22:13).

What condemnation for the rich and powerful of Judah, who had exploited the poor and the weak to build their fortunes. And it wasn’t that the exploiters were just scratching out a meager existence, trying to feed their own families. They were driven by a lust for luxurious living and lost no sleep about bleeding the poor to maintain their own comfort.

It’s probably no surprise that the throne did not make one immune to this materialism sickness: Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? (v. 15). The prophet reminded Jehoiakim that better kings before him had been content with having enough to eat and drink, and were not driven by the hunger for conspicuous consumption.

Are we any different? Does it matter to us where the clothes we wear or the toys we play with are manufactured? …and under what conditions? Does getting a shirt for a few dollars less make exploiting God’s children okay? And if we don’t pay close enough attention to know for sure, can we claim plausible deniability? My kids are warm and well-fed. I’m not responsible for other people’s kids. But would we want them to say the same about our kids if the roles were reversed?

When I build my palace on the backs of others less fortunate than myself, Woe to me.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Why is it the more I have the more I want? How much is enough? Are you your brother’s keeper?

Day 236: Jeremiah 19, 20 and 21

Whoever stays in this city will die (Jeremiah 21:9).

Have you ever been the bearer of bad news? Jeremiah would answer: Been there, done that! In fact, this was Jeremiah’s lot in life. His was the unpopular job of sounding the death knell for Jerusalem. Once, after sharing a warning from God, he was confined in stocks for 24 hours because of it. That ought to shut him up! Upon his release, he started right in again (20:1-6).

Then Jeremiah prayed a prayer of protest to God: I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long (20:8). It cost Jeremiah dearly to preach God’s word.

So how did Jeremiah feel when messengers came to him again asking, on behalf of King Zedekiah, for a good word about the impending Babylonian attack? God has delivered us before. What kind of miracle does he have up his sleeve for us this time? I wonder if Jeremiah was tempted to soften the blow. What he said must have hit the king like a sledgehammer: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: . . . I myself will fight against you (21:4,5).

Today, Jeremiah is one of the most respected of all God’s prophets. In 590 BC, not so much. But I think he understood: A follower of God cannot measure his success by how much he’s liked. Might as well accept it; ministry is not a popularity contest.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Reflect on times you’ve rejected an unpopular truth spoken by another. When’s the last time you were rejected for speaking an unpopular truth? What can you learn?

Day 235: Jeremiah 16, 17 and 18

You have behaved more wickedly than your fathers (NIV 1984, Jeremiah 16:12).

When people asked why God had turned his face against them, Jeremiah was instructed to give this response: “It is because your ancestors forsook me,” declares the Lord, “and followed other gods and served and worshiped them . . . But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors” (vv.11,12).

It’s easy to blame previous generations for all the ills of the world. After all, I never took part in the crusades; I never owned a slave; I never turned a black man away from my place of business; I never sold guns to warlords or criminals; and I never dumped toxic waste in a wildlife refuge. Don’t blame me for the crimes perpetrated by those who came before me!

But the writers of the Bible don’t let us off that easily. We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to our own way (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Part of growing up is taking responsibility for our own actions and attitudes. Kids blame everyone else for their troubles. Adults don’t get that luxury. In The Bait of Satan, author John Bevere writes: “There is a false sense of protection in harboring an offense. It keeps you from seeing your own character flaws because the blame is deferred to another” [11].

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Ask God to show your culpability in things for which you’ve been shifting blame to others. If necessary, acknowledge the truth and repent.
 

Day 234: Jeremiah 13, 14 and 15

When the enemy attacked, a woman with seven sons felt faint because they would all die (NCV, Jeremiah 15:9).

Having seven sons was a Hebrew word picture of perfect security. A mother’s retirement plan was her sons – with her husband gone they would care for her in her old age. The unspoken message here is that even if one of her sons (or, God forbid, more than one) preceded her in death, she could rely on the others for her needs. But Jeremiah’s grim warning is that during the siege of Jerusalem her sons would be KIA, and her social security would be no more.

The Scriptures are replete with warnings about putting our trust in the wrong things. Hezekiah reassured the kingdom during the Assyrian siege a hundred years earlier: With [them] is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles (2 Chronicles 32:8). The psalmist wrote: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). Jesus warned us not to put our trust in treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal (NIV 1984, Matthew 6:19).

There are many securities in which we can put our trust: a bank account, insurance, a job, a spouse (and of course these are good things), but they can all fail us. When our trust is in the Lord, though everything else in our world should fall apart, God will never let us down. When everything else is gone, God will still be on our side.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What does your life say about in what (or whom) you have placed your trust?
 

Day 233: Jeremiah 10, 11 and 12

Do not learn the ways of the nations (Jeremiah 10:2).

When my son Ben was about 4 years old (he’s now 21), he witnessed a little girl launch a tantrum to assert her will over her parents. I could see the wheels turning in his little head: Brilliant! He tried it a couple times but found out it wouldn’t work in our family… not usually anyway.

On more than one occasion I have counseled my children: “Be a good influence on your friends; don’t let them be a bad influence on you.”

Perhaps a similar sentiment can be found in God’s heart for his people Judah as communicated through the prophet Jeremiah. The indictment is that Judah has been persuaded to walk in the ways of its neighbors and follow their gods.

It is a dangerous thing to brush shoulders with those who do not hold our values and beliefs. We are called to be the salt of the earth, but salt must come into contact with food to season or preserve it (Matthew 5:13). We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:20). As ambassadors we have to ask ourselves, Am I rubbing off on society – or is society rubbing off on me? How can we live in the real world without getting sucked in?

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

TODAY’S MEDITATION

How can we be a good influence on others (or society) without others (or society) being a bad influence on us?
 

Day 232: Jeremiah 7, 8 and 9

The whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart (Jeremiah 9:26).

The message delivered to Judah is an indictment of its arrogance and stubbornness. Even animals know to whom they are accountable for the seasons and their sustenance, and obey that inner voice that prompts them when it’s time to migrate (8:7). But of Judah it is said the people are too stiffnecked to know when they are beaten. They did not listen to me or pay attention (7:26); they insisted on following the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts (7:24).

According to Rabbi Abraham Heschel, God’s anger is always measured and for a purpose. “There is no divine anger for anger’s sake. Its meaning is . . . instrumental: to bring about repentance; its purpose and consummation is its own disappearance” [10].

The point is that people should have the good sense when confronted by God’s anger or discipline to change their ways. But a lesson we can take from Jeremiah is that too often we doggedly march on to our own destruction when a simple change of course would make all the difference. We may be lost but we’re making good time.

Physical circumcision was supposed to be a symbol of the inward circumcision of the heart – resulting in submission of the whole person to the sovereignty of God.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Submission can be one of the hardest things we’re asked to do. When you try to be the boss, how’s that work out for you? Meditate on how things would be if you tried God’s way.
 

Day 231: Jeremiah 4, 5 and 6

Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:13,14).

A hundred years earlier the great-grandparents of these same people were convinced the Assyrian army was going to overrun the city. Panic was running rampant, but Isaiah told them to hold fast – that God would deliver them. And God came through. Isaiah’s reassurance and the eventual outcome of those events were congruent with the prevailing Zion theology. Yahweh is the greatest God; he lives in the temple; the temple is in Jerusalem. Therefore, Jerusalem is invincible.

Now it was Jeremiah’s unenviable task to convince the people that Jerusalem would in fact be destroyed by the Babylonians – the new superpower on the block. He was speaking in opposition not only to Zion theology, but also to the established priesthood and the politically correct temple prophets who said, Don’t worry; be happy.

At the root of Jerusalem’s troubles was a very real problem – its rejection of the first commandment and its treatment of the poor. Religious leaders refused to acknowledge the gravity of the nation’s sinfulness. While they were saying, These societal wounds aren’t serious; let’s apply a clean Band-aid and cover up the ugliness, Jeremiah sounded a warning that Judah needed surgery… and that surgery was going to be performed by the Babylonian army.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Denial never healed anything, but can be used by Satan to lull us to sleep while the very real wound is turning gangrenous. Are you ready to rip off the Band-aid and receive real healing?
 

Day 230: Jeremiah 1, 2 and 3

My people have done two evils: They have turned away from me, the spring of living water. And they have dug their own wells (NCV, Jeremiah 2:13).

I’ve never dug a well, but I have dug trenches for footers and water lines. It’s hot, dirty work. Put yourself in Jeremiah’s place. It’s a hot, dry day. You offer someone a pitcher of pure, refreshing water, but rather than accept your   thirst-quenching, even life-saving gift, they raise their hands in the international symbol for Stop, and declare, No, I’m going to dig my own well. Not only will the work be physically exhausting, but the muddy water they’re going to get (if any) is hours, maybe days away. And the taste won’t even compare. Sure, it might keep them alive, but that’s about all.

Who would make that choice? We do – every day. Why is it when God freely offers us his best, we go digging for something inferior?

We’re like hemoglobin. (How’s that for a left turn?) You see, I was a paramedic before I became a pastor. Did you know that if the hemoglobin in our red blood cells is given the choice, it prefers to bond with carbon monoxide rather than oxygen? That means if hemoglobin has a vacant seat, and both an oxygen molecule and a carbon monoxide molecule are waiting on the curb, the hemoglobin will pick up the carbon monoxide almost every time. It seems to make the hemoglobin happy… and then we die.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Think about times you’ve settled for muddy water in the past. Christ offers you the free gift of living water today. Will you receive it, or insist on muddy?

Day 246: Jeremiah 49, 50, 51 and 52

So Judah went into captivity away from the land. (Jeremiah 52:27)

Jeremiah chapter 52 details the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. What took years to build, the fire and the battering ram took just days to destroy. King Zedekiah had been blinded, his children executed in front of him. The temple priests and gatekeepers were killed. So Judah went into captivity away from the land. It was done… Or was it?

More than 600 years earlier Moses had declared: When you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul . . . then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you (Deuteronomy 30:2,3).

Once again we see a glimmer of hope beyond the present fog of despair. The truth is that no matter how lost we might be, no matter how far off track we may have wandered, there is always a way home.

“In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it.” (Jeremiah 50:4,5)

The blessing of exile is that it makes us long for home.

Is it time for you to leave your exile and turn your face toward home?

Day 245: Jeremiah 46, 47 and 48

I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished. (Jeremiah 46:28)

God was bringing judgment on Egypt. Just as Babylon was a tool in the hands of God to discipline Judah, so would it be wielded to discipline Egypt. But God has assurance for the Jews living there: Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you (v. 28a).

God speaks through Jeremiah: I will discipline you but only with justice. As we said just a couple weeks ago, Rabbi Abraham Heschel teaches that God’s anger/punishment is never without a purpose. Its purpose is to change our attitudes and behaviors so that we can live the life God designed us to live. God cannot bless us while we are living in disobedience. His punishment provides a way for him to bless us once again.

I will not let you go entirely unpunished. God has always been clear that there are consequences for bad behavior: He does not leave the guilty unpunished (Exodus 34:7). Yet as Isaiah and now Jeremiah make clear, God still loves us even when he has to punish us, and we can be assured there is a future beyond judgment.

How would it affect your attitude toward God’s discipline if you really believed it was a tool paving the way for him to bless you once again?

Day 244: Jeremiah 43, 44 and 45

Ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing (Jeremiah 44:18).

After Jeremiah was kidnapped and taken to Egypt, he warned the Jews living there about continuing in the disobedience that led to Jerusalem’s destruction. The refugees scoffed at Jeremiah for they saw no connection between behavior and blessing.

The things that are best for us don’t usually offer an immediate reward. We exercise for thirty minutes and still aren’t buff, so we say, Forget this! We start putting a few bucks a week in savings and at the end of the first week we have… a few bucks. This isn’t getting me anywhere. Might as well go out to dinner! On the other hand the things that are worst for us don’t usually pose an immediate threat. We eat a greasy hamburger without having a heart attack. We spend too much time at work and our wife and kids still love us.

The fact that the consequences of our choices are cumulative rather than immediate allows us to live in denial. But just because the outcome is delayed doesn’t mean it’s not coming.

 

The Jews remembered fondly life in Judah back when they had been worshiping the Queen of Heaven. [1] They totally missed the connection between their previous lifestyle and their present circumstances.

What behaviors would you change if you were thinking long term?

[1] This title probably refers to the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth.