Devotionals

STUDIES IN MALACHI By Henry Jaegers WHEN IT ALL BEGAN!

by Henry Jaegers
04/11/20
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STUDIES IN MALACHI

By Henry Jaegers

WHEN IT ALL BEGAN!

 Now, these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;  Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. (Jeremiah 29: 1-4,6,7)

As we consider the verses before us, you may be wondering how these verses have anything to do with the teachings in the book of Malachi. At first, they seem far removed but as we trace back from the time of Malachi to when everything began, we must go to this 29th chapter in the book of Jeremiah. When these words were spoken, all of this was looking forward to a future time and in these words, God gives the children of Israel a formula for finding happiness in the land totally hostile to everything they believed. It was a strange land indeed, consisting of strange languages, strange forms of worship, strange kinds of food to eat, strange customs and worst of all, strange leaders controlled by strange gods.

So, we ask, how can one find true happiness when all of this lays before us? And God, in these verses gives clear instructions as to how to have a happy life. The first thing he tells them to do is to settle down and do the things that they ordinarily would do. By this command, God is giving them hope that there will be an opportunity for them to do so. God tells them to build houses, plant gardens, marry, have children, and grandchildren. That's what they did before and God is telling them, that part is not going to change because he is going before them assuring them that this happiness will take place.

Now, the second thing that he tells them to do is to seek the peace of the people to whom they are going, have a positive outlook, and pray for them that they may find peace and in their find peace, they will have peace as well.

Although that is a formula for Israel, that is not at far- removed objective for us living in modern times. Very often we may find ourselves forced to move to an area that was unpleasant and different from our past. God is preparing his people for this new thing he's going to do in them, and in like manner, the hostility that you may encounter in your present move can have a happy ending if you follow these simple principles.

So, how'd did Israel do? How did they face this new situation to which God was sending them? Remember that God is always in control of our circumstances and he knows how to perfect beauty in our lives through outwardly we may not understand the possibility. We will continue in our next study.