By: Dale Weckbacher
Text: Jeremiah
15:1-21
Jeremiah 15:20
And I will make you to
this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
(ESV)
We live in the disposition of
God’s grace, demonstrated to humanity through Jesus’ death on the cross for
humanity’s sins. Because of this, when
we think of the relentlessness of God it is usually the relentlessness of his
love for us by becoming flesh (John
1:14) and dying for us so that we can have eternal life (Romans
5:8). However, to receive the gift
of eternal life given to humanity because of the love of God, one must
believe. The people of Judah in the time
of Jeremiah believed in God, but it was head belief with their hearts chasing
after other gods. While God has
relentless love, He is also a righteous God, desiring hearts willing to
surrender to his will in their lives.
Judah is about to suffer God’s relentless judgment for their failure to
follow God with their whole heart.
In this passage we see,
1) The
Lord rejecting Judah and asking Jeremiah to get them out of his sight (Jeremiah
15:1-9) – The people of Judah and Jerusalem have been told to repent from
the Lord through Jeremiah but they ignored the call to repentance (Jeremiah
5:3). The people of Judah and
Jerusalem are guilty of saying with their mouth that they believe in God while
having a heart that follows after other gods because of what Manasseh did as
the king of Judah (Jeremiah
15:4; 2 Kings 21:1-9). Such hypocrisy
is not pleasing to God with even Jesus calling out the hypocrisy of the
religious leaders of his time (Matthew
15:7-9). Most of us reading this
post are familiar with John
3:16 and the promise that those believing in Jesus will have eternal
life. However, the Greek word for
believe in this verse is pisteuon which is a level of belief meaning to have
faith and a level of entrustment. In
other words, it is not just saying I believe Jesus exists for even the demons
believe and fear (James
2:19), but an entrusting of our lives to Jesus as our personal savior. Judah lacked this level of belief and why a
righteous God could not accept them. However,
Jeremiah had this level of belief, with God promising his deliverance (Jeremiah
15:21).
2) Jeremiah’s
complaint (Jeremiah
15:10-18) – Upon hearing the stern rebuke of Judah and Jerusalem by the
Lord, Jeremiah states his complaint to the Lord, lamenting his birth (Jeremiah
15:10). He then reminds the Lord of what
Judah and Jerusalem are to suffer for their sin but then offers his complaint seeking
refuge as one not participating in the duplicitous belief of saying he believes
in God while seeking other gods with his heart and instead, taking delight in
the words of God (Jeremiah
15:16). Jeremiah feels alone in his
belief in God and his complaint is in feeling the pain and injury of those
around him who have a duplicitous belief of God in their head while their heart
seeks other gods (Jeremiah
15:18).
3) The
Lord providing comfort to Jeremiah (Jeremiah
15:19-21) – The Lord provides comfort to Jeremiah by reminding him that he
is acting as the mouth of God towards those rejecting God in their hearts (Jeremiah
15:19). God promises that Jeremiah
will be like a fortified wall of bronze to the people with them fighting
against him, but not prevailing (Jeremiah
15:20). God promises to deliver Jeremiah
with him escaping the hands of the wicked people seeking to destroy him (Jeremiah
15:21). By living in Judah at this
time, Jeremiah will suffer some of the consequences of the sins of the nation
but personally will have the Lord with him as his deliverer.
Jeremiah feels isolated as he
lives among a people of duplicitous belief in God in the head while their
hearts seek other gods. However, instead
of being silent so as not to cause trouble, Jeremiah takes delight in the words
of the Lord and boldly declares them to the people, bringing persecution upon
himself (Jeremiah
11:18-20, 15:16). The persecution
brought upon Jeremiah is because he has chosen to believe in God which is not
popular in the nation of Judah at the time.
However, Jeremiah knows this is not in a popularity contest and is
reminded by God that He will be with him and deliver him (Jeremiah
15:19-21).
We live in a world where God is
becoming less and less popular. It is a
world that condones the murder of unborn children who are precious to the Lord
(Psalm
22:9-10; 139:13). It is a world that
perverts the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman through condoning
sex outside of marriage and gay marriage (Matthew
16:3-6; Romans 1:25-27). I pray those
reading this post will be blessed and challenged to be like Jeremiah and boldly
live for God in a sin-filled world, even though it is unpopular could bring
persecution and alienation.
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