A Roaring Lion

In today's passage from Jeremiah, the enemy who is about to attack Judah is compared to a lion. This brings to mind another verse found in the New Testament, I Peter 5: 8 - 9: " Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, stand firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings".

Today's passage is a prophecy of the invasion of Babylon, which by the way, is in what we know today as Iraq.

"A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant. So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the firece anger of the Lord has not turned away from us. ' In that day', declares the Lord, ' the kings and officials will lose heart, and the priest will be horrified, and the prophets will be appalled".

The Lord told them to put on sackcloth - that was a sign of repentance, and that's what he keeps trying to tell us over and over again. I can't stress enough, the importance of taking God at his Word, and that our greatest need in this country is to repent. We saw firsthand on 9/11/01, how a great enemy sought out to "lay waste" to our land, and if anyone thinks that he isn't still over there calculating his next plan of attack, I would dare to say that you have your head in the sand.

Just as the people of God in Judah were warned about the attack that was to come upon them because of their continual sin, so are we warned all throughout the scriptures, about the consequences of sin. Ignorance is not going to be a valid excuse when one stands before the Lord in that final day.

It's no accident that Satan, the enemy, is referred to as a roaring lion in both of these texts. Jesus told us that "Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy".

Here's the good news! Jesus told us in John 16: 33, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!". I pray today that you will seek this peace of Jesus that he speaks about - it's a peace that lives in our hearts, that gives us hope for our future with Him. Get to know God through his Word, and get before him to find out what his will is for your life. As he said in the opening passage from I Peter, we need to stay alert and have on the armour of God ( Ephesians 6), so that we have the right equipment to fight this spiritual battle with.