Days 200&201: Obadiah, Psalms 82-83, Jeremiah 45-48

Things are bad, and they're going to get worse. God has made it abundantly clear through Jeremiah and the other prophets that the nation of Israel will be defeated...they will be captured and taken into captivity. There will be many lives lost. This is all going to happen because of their disobedience to God. They just wouldn't listen. They wouldn't believe. They were enticed by all the other pagan "gods" who were nothing. They were like an unfaithful spouse prostituting herself with anyone who came along. God makes it clear that the punishment was going to be bad and that it was completely deserved.

But...

He also makes it clear that His love for His people has never wavered. In the midst of all the predictions of sorrow and suffering He wants them to know that He'll be with them...they will get through it, and things will even be better afterward.

“Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;
   do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
   your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
   and no one will make him afraid.
Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
   for I am with you,” declares the LORD.
“Though I completely destroy all the nations
   among which I scatter you,
   I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
   I will not let you go entirely unpunished.” (Jeremiah 46:27-28)

The suffering occurred...and it was bad. But God goes with them every step of the way.

God goes with me every step of the way.