Many people have a great variety of thoughts about how they think they will escape God’s judgment. Some openly mock God altogether. In truth, there is only one way to escape judgment. We must build upon Yeshua, our Messiah, as the cornerstone. Forgiveness through Yeshua is the only means to forgive and to escape judgment. Every other method, like relying on our own righteousness, will fall short. Do not mock God or His rebukes. Instead, take the opportunity to correct your attitude and actions in your life according to His word.
Judah Is Warned
14Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
16Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17“I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18“Your covenant with death will be canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling place.
19“As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
20The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.
21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
23Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words.
24Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?
25Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter cummin
And plant wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its area?
26For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.
28Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29This also comes from the LORD of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.
God is not to be mocked. Seek His counsel and His wisdom. Seek forgiveness through Yeshua and Him alone. This is actually great news. We don’t have to be worthy on our own! We are forgiven through Yeshua and His payment for our sins.
Spend a few minutes in prayer reflecting on your own life. Do you acknowledge your need for forgiveness? From where are you hoping to receive forgiveness? Is it your own works and righteousness or through Yeshua? Ask the Spirit to help you understand truly where you are and then help you to go where you need to be.
Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ
Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.