"For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.'" (Jeremiah 24:14)
I have shared the quote of Bob Mumford before, "You can control the Church, but you cannot control the Kingdom." Our text manifests this.
Israel was doing what they wanted to do, viz., choose to obey the Lord God or choose to disobey Him. Our text, though, reveals a time when the "control" of the nation was about to go beyond their control. No longer were there judges or kings who could control what was about to happen. Events were about to go from the control of Israel to the control of Babylon.
Our text is classic: From the Church to the Kingdom. The Church is in the Kingdom and the Kingdom is in the Church. Everyone who is in the Church is in the Kingdom. Not everyone who is in the Kingdom, however, is in the Church. That's a realm where even apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors and teachers have no "control."
The Great and Comforting News is that Jesus Christ is King, and His Kingdom and rule goes beyond the Church into the very, "....kingdoms of this world...," into Russia, China, into all aspects of all people groups in the earth. May we never forget that when you and I go out into an unfriendly world we need to keep in mind that though the Church may not be everywhere we go, the Kingdom is. As the Bible declares, "The Kingdom is the Lord's, and He is the Governor among the nations."
Father, in Jesus' Name, teach me more and more of Your Kingdom. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
