Jeremiah 40

“When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, ‘The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would . All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him.'” Jeremiah 40:2-3 NIV

I see a comparison in this verse with Nebuzaradan, the commander, and many individuals today. Nebuzaradan addresses Jeremiah’s God not as his own god, but as a God of the Jews. Although the various Gentile and heathen nations worshipped their own individual gods, they did not reject nor deny the gods of other nations – they were inclusive.

The world today embraces this idea and encourages everyone to be inclusive. Yes, we are to accept all individuals. Yes, we are to hate the sin and not the sinner. But just like in a card game, we are inclusive in using the whole deck of cards, but there can still be one card that trumps all others.

Jeremiah’s God, the God of the Israelites, is all knowing and all powerful. (Even Nebuzaradan confirms this) Rules and restrictions were put into place by the Lord and warnings of not following these rules were foretold. But the Israelites continued to disregard these warnings and the penalty was handed out.

The laws and commands by the Lord were issued to the Israelites, His chosen people, but they were intended for all. The actions of the Israelites (and believers in Christ today) are to draw the Gentiles (unbelievers) towards the Lord. The Lord is not exclusive in that He invites everyone into a relationship with Him. But He is also not exclusive in that one day we will all be held accountable for all that we have done, said, or thought, no matter which god we choose to follow.

May we choose wisely.