Jer. 47-48
God’s judgment was not just for His chosen people. Jeremiah prophesied destruction for all of the surrounding lands as well. We see God’s judgment declared against Moab in chapter 48. While the Moabites were not God’s chosen, they were descendants of Lot, so they certainly should have known God. Yet they had turned away from Him to serve Chemosh. And the Bible says they were a proud, arrogant, and insolent people.
We can learn from Moab. We may not serve Chemosh, but if we are honest with ourselves, I think we will find that we are all guilty of the sins for which God called them out. God told them, “For because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken” (Jer 48:7a). Yeah, that one hits home! He also said, “Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the LORD.” (Jer 48:24). That one is a little more subtle, but anytime that we resist God’s truth or place our trust in ourselves – or anything else, for that matter – rather than Him, we are magnifying ourselves against Him. We are essentially saying that we know better than He does. Rather foolish, if you stop to consider it.
Heb. 2
I wonder what the author of Hebrews is talking about when he references angels. He is making a very clear point about Jesus’ superiority and authority over them. And in Hebrews 2:1 he says, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it”. By “what we have heard” he means the message of salvation through Christ – God’s new covenant for our redemption.
He starts chapter 1 by saying that God spoke to their fathers by the prophets. Then, in chapter 2 he mentions “the message declared by angels”. It seems to me that both of these statements are referencing the same thing, which seems to be related to the old covenant for redemption under the Law. I still don’t know who or what the angels are, but the author is clearly proclaiming Jesus as ‘God made man’ to “make propitiation for the sins of the people” (vs 17) and to put “everything in subjection to Him” (vs 8).
As for that statement I quoted from Hebrews 2:1 – let that be a warning and a challenge for each of us who believes on the name of Jesus Christ. It is obviously good to believe and to receive the message of salvation. But if we don’t keep God’s truth at the forefront of our minds, working to live our lives intentionally to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18a), it is inevitable that we will indeed drift away from it.