This People Has Thrown Away Their Future!

This People Has Thrown Away Their Future!

It is early morning; the sun should be up in a few minutes. The roosters have already started their crowing to welcome in the new day. I have gone for a walk to be alone for there are hard decisions that need to be made and the hustle and bustle of waking children and my wife preparing breakfast would interrupt my thoughts.

You may wonder what it is that I am in need of getting alone to think about. I will tell you what is on my mind. I am a prophet in the land of Israel. You may think that is a pretty easy job. All I have to do is sit around all day and listen to see what the gods have to say. Then when someone asks me for advice, I tell them what I have heard and they give me money. The better the news, the better the money. And if they ask me something I haven’t heard then I can just give them a general answer that will satisfy them and send them on their way.

Well that would be true if I were a prophet for the local baals but I am a prophet of the One true Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God that delivered my people out of the hands of the Pharaoh and brought them to this land that was once one flowing with milk and honey. But the people I am sent to tell the words of this Almighty God no longer listen to what He has to say. They may observe some of the old Holy days but they have no idea why they are celebrated and they certainly do not follow the Law that He personally gave to us through our most beloved prophet Moses. They hate to hear what God has to say to them and usually shun me in favor of the prophets that give them the good news.

So I wander thinking what do I do with my family. My friend Hosea has prophesied that soon Israel will be conquered by our enemies the Assyrians and I know him to be a true prophet. Besides that, the word resonates in my heart as being true. God has confirmed it personally to me. Israel will soon face annihilation. Do I leave and try to make a new life for us in Judah or should I go somewhere else? But where?

My mind goes back and forth between the alternatives. Where is a son of Abraham to go where I can worship my God and bring up my children in the truth of His Law? The sun is now up and already it is beginning to get hot, I sit under a tree to rest and pray. Lord, what is Your will for me this day? I sit quietly and wait. As I sit there I hear a tiny muffled cry. I wonder what kind of animal would make such a cry. I get up and look on the other side of the tree, the ground slopes downward towards what has become an ash heap for the town and at the bottom of the slope something is moving slightly. I stare trying to make it out and to my horror realize that it is a baby.

A baby! What in the world? Why would there be a baby down there? I look around and there is no one else in the whole countryside. I walk slowly down the hill, almost afraid at what I will see and also trying to be careful not to send rocks and dirt down on the tiny bundle. An old piece of cloth is lying over the infant and as I pull it back I can tell that the child is only hours old. The cord had not even been cut and the child had not been cleaned off after being born. I remember back to when my children were born and what a joy it had been. How the women fussed over my wife and they laughed and sang as they cleaned up the baby and wound them in clothes and then presented them to me the proud Papa to see my new son or daughter. Each time we had a joyous celebration and dedicated the child to the Lord at the proper time. But here this child has not been wanted or cared for. She has been brought out to this place of refuse and left to die. And dieing she was. Her cries were even weaker than when I had first heard them.

I take off my cloak and gently place the child inside the material. I wrap her and as gently as I can I pick her up. I do not know what to do so I look around. I remember that I had brought some water with me and I had left it under the tree. As carefully as I can I climb back up the hill. No sounds are coming from my precious package and I am afraid that I was too late. Even when I stumble and almost fall there are no sounds. I finally make it back to the tree and gently sit down putting the child carefully on my lap I unwrap her a bit so I can see her face. She is still breathing but only shallowly. I take my gourd and then wonder how I can give her water; she is a baby after all and not a lamb. I decide to put my finger in the water and then rub my finger against her mouth. There is no response; I do it again and again. Finally the child opens her mouth a little and takes in a drop or two. That seems to be all she is capable of doing.

Lord, my heart cries out. Please protect this child, give her a chance. I will take her home and she can be part of my family…my wife will know what to do…..just please give her the strength to live. Gently a breeze stirs and ever so lightly lifts the hair on the newborns head. A gentle caress but the words that come to me are sad. “My son, I wanted you to be here for her so that she could feel love before death comes for her. What you see here in this place is what my people have come to. They offer their sons in the fires of their lustful gods and they throw away their daughters. Their only desires are for their own appetites and they care for nothing else. You have spoken My words faithfully to this people but they will not listen. You and your family are free to leave this place and to go to a new place. I have a place prepared for you in Judah. I will be with you so there will be no need to fear. But for now sit here with the child and weep with me for my beloved.”

I do not know how long I sat there holding the child next to my heart, weeping. I know it could not have been too long but it seemed like an eternity. I tried a few times to give her water, but she was now too weak to even open her mouth for a drop of the precious liquid. I looked deeply into her eyes and knew that this was the end. A sigh escaped her lips and that was it. A cloud came over the sun and I sat there and watched as all color drained from her tiny body. I wept until I could weep no more. My heart was broken for all the might have beens.

For the first time since I had found her, I took a good look at her. She was perfect, she would have been a beautiful child but that chance had been denied her. I laid her out in my cloak and gently wrapped her up. I then knelt by the base of the tree and began to dig. When the hole was big enough I placed her inside of it and began to cover the precious bundle with the dirt. I then went and gathered rocks to lie over her grave. No animal was going to dig her up. She had been left to the elements and the predators by someone else but I was going to make sure that she was protected here in the shade of the tree.

Slowly I rose from my knees and looked to heaven. Dear God what has happened to my people? Why have they forsaken You and become like the pagans? They even sacrifice their own children, even the animals take care of their young. I then felt the comfort of the Lord as He again spoke to my heart, “My son, she was loved by you for a short while but she has always been loved by me. Speak my words, for there will be those that will hear and turn back to life”.