(Jeremiah 4:1-31)
“If you will return, Israel,” declares the Lord,
“Then you should return to Me.And if you will put away your detestable things from My presence,
And will not waver,
2 And if you will swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
In truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the nations will bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they will boast.”
3 For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your uncultivated ground,
And do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord
And remove the foreskins of your hearts,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My wrath will spread like fire
And burn with no one to quench it,
Because of the evil of your deeds.”
5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and let’s go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 Raise a flag toward Zion!
Take refuge, do not stand still,
For I am bringing evil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a destroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To make your land a waste.
Your cities will be ruins,
Without an inhabitant.
8 For this, put on sackcloth,
Mourn and wail;
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned away from us.”
9 “And it shall come about on that day,” declares the Lord, “that the heart of the king and the hearts of the leaders will fail; and the priests will tremble, and the prophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; yet a sword touches the throat.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness, in the direction of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, 12 a wind too strong for this—will come at My command; now I will also pronounce judgments against them.”
13 “Behold, he goes up like clouds,
And his chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are ruined!”
14 Wash your heart from evil, Jerusalem,
So that you may be saved.
How long will your wicked thoughts
Lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan,
And proclaims wickedness from Mount Ephraim.
16 “Report it to the nations, now!
Proclaim to Jerusalem,
‘Enemies are coming from a remote country,
And they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 Like watchmen of a field they are against her all around,
Because she has rebelled against Me,’ declares the Lord.
18 Your ways and your deeds
Have brought these things upon you.
This is your evil. How bitter!
How it has touched your heart!”
19 My soul, my soul! I am in anguish! Oh, my heart!
My heart is pounding in me;
I cannot keep silent,
Because, my soul, you have heard
The sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
20 Disaster upon disaster is proclaimed,
For the whole land is devastated;
Suddenly my tents are devastated,
And my curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the flag
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For My people are foolish,
They do not know Me;
They are foolish children
And have no understanding.
They are skillful at doing evil,
But they do not know how to do good.”
23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a formless and desolate emptiness;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
And all the hills jolted back and forth.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no human,
And all the birds of the sky had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the Lord, before His fierce anger.
27 For this is what the Lord says:
“The whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will not execute a complete destruction.
28 For this the earth will mourn,
And the heavens above will become dark,
Because I have spoken, I have purposed,
And I have not changed My mind, nor will I turn from it.”
29 At the sound of the horseman and archer every city flees;
They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks;
Every city is abandoned,
And no one lives in them.
30 And you, desolate one, what will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you adorn yourself with jewelry of gold,
Although you enlarge your eyes with makeup,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your lovers despise you;
They seek your life.
31 For I heard a voice cry as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child.
The voice of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
Stretching out her hands, saying,
“Ah, woe to me, for I faint before murderers.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
While this scripture is prophetic, and gives us information on the end times, we can see that the Lord is to be respected - and feared! And loved, because even though He will punish those who reject Him, He loves every person, of all time, so much that He came to suffer and die for our sins! And so when we put our faith in Him, it should be in Jesus alone. God will know the sincerity of our hearts. Just like circumcision is physically obvious, but very personal, so is the circumcision of our hearts, to humbly give it to the Lord to have a personal relationship with Him. Once we are a believer, there isn't anything that can cause us to lose our salvation; but if and when we stray from the Lord, it is us who dampens our relationship with Him.
If one's faith is "also" in one's self, and/or in another person, and/or in another god, and/or in horoscopes, etc.. then that person has to ask themself, have they actually put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Or have they just made it a religion with a set of do's and don'ts? Have they actually gone to Jesus in humility, realizing that they are sinners, asking for His forgiveness, and making Him Lord, Savior and King of their life?
And one of the biggest questions to ask oneself in this decision is, do you believe that Jesus is God, and that we can trust in Him unequivocally, and that His word (which is the Bible) is true, right and relevant?! Because the answer to all of this is "yes", and in our walk with the Lord, He will strengthen, heal, nurture and equip us. And as we ask and allow Him to work for us, in us and through us, He will bless us, and we will experience His peace, courage and joy.
Imagine a person who wants the blessings, but not the relationship! They break into a home, where there is a loving and generous father, with a heart so big, that he is willing to adopt those who need and want a home and a parent. But this person just tries to blend in, eating from their food, feeling entitled, getting angry when they can't use the car or that the father won't pay their college tuition, as well as feeling disdain for the father's actual children, accusing them that they aren't doing enough around the house... all the while completely ignoring the father. And when they do talk to the father, it is only to ask for something.
Meanwhile, the father knows exactly which kids are his! Imagine being this father. He'd be hoping that this person would decide to actually want him as a father, and be part of the family. But it becomes more and more evident that this person never wants this, and starts to mock and disrespect the father, as well as hurt his children, and even tries to turn the children against the father... The father's anger would be very justified, and he would have every right to throw this person out of his house!
Obviously, God knows exactly which people are His children, and who will become His children. And God knows that as Christians, we will experience doubts, our trust will waver, we will stumble and stray. This is why our salvation is eternally secure through His grace! This is why when we doubt and question things, we can go to Him and ask that He help us know and understand. And this is why, when we stray, He disciplines us, so that we can mature and grow in our trust in Him, realizing that we can depend on His strength and guidance for everything, because He does want the very best for us!
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