Day 226

2 Kings 24:10-20a; 1 Chronicles 3:10-16; 2 Chronicles 36:10-14; Jeremiah 37:1-10; 51:15-58; 52:1-3a.  “False Hope”

         Ever since the kingdom of Israel became divided under Rehoboam (1 Kings 12), the kings of both Israel and Judah led God’s people through a downward spiral of idolatry and disobedience.  This had resulted in Israel no longer being a major player on the world political scene as it had been under David and Solomon.  We see in Jeremiah 37 that the only relief Israel had from the Babylonians was when Egypt threatened to attack.  While this gave Judah some hope, Jeremiah was quick to point out that trusting in Egypt was a false hope.
         False hope can be quite devastating.  As we see in the Old Testament, anytime God’s people trusted anyone or anything other than the Lord, it resulted in a false hope.  I think this is a key lesson for us to glean from the Old Testament.  Anytime we trust someone other than the Lord, including ourselves, for our salvation or for the strength to battle temptation, it will result in tragedy.

General Questions for each day:
Summarize the day’s Bible passage in your own words.
What thoughts, actions, attitudes or beliefs are addressed in the passage?
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to apply this passage to your life today?