Thursday, June 25

Jeremiah 25:11-12 (HCSB)
This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’—[this is] the Lord’s declaration—‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.

I read this prophecy in Jeremiah 25 and I thought of Daniel chapter 9:

In the first year of Darius, who was the son of Ahasuerus, was a Mede by birth, and was ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70. So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes (verses 1-3).

Daniel was probably reading Jeremiah 25. Just think: we are reading the same thing that Daniel was reading 2500 years ago! He began to count up the number of years they had been in Babylon…the seventy were almost complete. He knew something was about to happen. He became very excited and his prayers intensified. “Lord, what are You about to do?”

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be in his place?

What does this say to us?

First, God fulfills His Word. His prophecies came true in the past, and they are coming true now. We can trust God to keep His Word.

Second, we should do what Daniel did and be a student of the Word and an observer of our times. This requires discipline. The only way to know the Bible is to spend lots of time in the Bible!

Third, I believe that we will experience the same feeling Daniel did. I believe that prophecy is unfolding before us right now. Significant things are unfolding on the world stage. We need to pay attention. We need to be prepared. We will soon be saying as Peter 2000 years ago, “Brethren, this is that which was spoken by the prophet….”

Don’t read another book on prophecy this year. Just read the Bible!