By: Dale Weckbacher
Text: Jeremiah
6:1-30
Jeremiah 6:8
Be warned, O
Jerusalem,
lest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you a desolation,
an uninhabited land.”
(ESV)
My wife and I like game shows, in
fact, it is a borderline addiction. One
of the most enjoyable parts of watching a game show is trying to correctly
answer the question. This can often lead
to yelling at the TV when the contestant incorrectly answers an obvious
question. When reading about the exile
of Judah and Israel after numerous warnings and the Law of God specifically spelling
out the consequences of disobedience to God (Deuteronomy
28), it is easy to yell at the Bible as you read of their continued
disobedience and a belief there will be no consequences. However, these passages of Scripture are not
there for us to yell at but as a lesson reminding us of the consequences of
rebellion and disobedience to God.
Israel and Judah have continued
to rebel against God and refused to turn back to Him after many warnings. Jeremiah
6 is a warning of impending disaster coming against Jerusalem due to their
continued disobedience and begins with Jeremiah telling the people of Benjamin
to blow the trumpet in Tekoa and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem for disaster
from the north is looming. The details provided
in this passage tell us that the attack from the north will,
1) Not
occur without warning (Jeremiah
6:1-8) – God is a God of mercy and grace and will not subject His people to
wrath without warning. The attackers
have the destruction of the palaces in Jerusalem in mind with the shepherds
coming with their flocks and pitching their tents around Jerusalem (Jeremiah
6:3-5). God compares Jerusalem’s refusal
to turn from their evil to one keeping water fresh in a well, with Jerusalem
keeping evil in the well of their hearts (Jeremiah
6:7). Their hearts of evil will
result in God making the land desolate and uninhabited (Jeremiah
6:8).
2) Be
complete destruction (Jeremiah
6:9-15) – The northern invaders will take the inhabitants of the land
prisoner like one gleaning the grapes on the vine (Jeremiah
6:9). Continued failure to heed warnings
from the Lord has filled the Lord with wrath, making the Lord weary from
holding it back. So full of wrath is the
Lord that he is going to pour it out on all the inhabitants of the land with
them taken into exile (Jeremiah
6:10-11). The invaders will also
take over the houses of those driven into exile (Jeremiah
6:12). God then reminds the people
that all the destruction was avoidable had they been ashamed of their rebellion
and repented, turning back to the Lord (Jeremiah
6:13-15).
3) Was
avoidable (Jeremiah
6:16-17) – The warning of impending disaster ends with the Lord asking the
inhabitants of Jerusalem to seek the ancient paths where the good way is and
where they can find rest for their souls (Jeremiah
6:16). However, they continue to refuse
to heed the warnings from the Lord and will suffer the consequences of their
rebellion and disobedience (Jeremiah
6:17).
4) Provides
an example to anyone choosing to ignore God (Jeremiah
6:18-30) – Even though Israel, Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem are
God’s chosen people, this does not exclude them from the need to live in
obedience to the Lord. The people in the
time of Jeremiah’s prophecies were living under the law with the requirement to
live in obedience to every statute commanded in the law (Deuteronomy
28:15). While the Church does not
live under the law but the new covenant of grace, it does have a calling to
share the Gospel and make disciples (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20). Unfortunately,
many Churches focus more on numerical growth, management of facilities, and finances
and have lost sight of their mission to share the Gospel. One benefit from Covid19 for the Church may
be allowing the Church to focus less on nonessentials like numbers and
facilities and more on the spiritual health of those in their communities who do
not know Jesus as their Savior.
If you are reading this post and
are frustrated, angry, or depressed at what is occurring in the world, I invite
you to take a moment to pray with me now to accept Jesus as your savior. While the problems will remain after accepting
Jesus as Savior, those accepting Jesus have the promise of eternity with God
where there will be no struggles like occur in our world. This gives one hope and provides a source of
joy during these uncertain times. For
those frustrated, angry, or depressed readers who do not know Jesus as Savior,
I invite you to pray now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead, and now declare you
Lord of my life.
The people of Judah have gone
from the spiritual high of reformation under the leadership of Josiah (2
Kings 22-23:30), to the low of capture and exile (2
Kings 24:10-19). Jeremiah
6 provides details of what is to come for Jerusalem unless they repent of
their rebellion against God through their worship of other gods. With this proclamation of pending disaster,
the people of Judah have the choice of continued rejection and rebellion
against God or repentance and returning to God with the promise of forgiveness
and acceptance by God (Jeremiah
25:11-12; 29:10-14). We have the
benefit of historical hindsight and know Judah and Israel chose to reject
prophetic warnings like this one and experienced exile for their sin (2
Kings 17:6-23; 25). However, after a
time of reflection while in exile, the people of Israel and Judah did repent
and return to their land, demonstrating the continued grace of God (Ezra
2).
The Church has a clear mission
from God, to declare the Gospel (Mark
16:15), and make disciples of the nations (Matthew
28:19-20). This message of the
Gospel is not a message of condemnation for Jesus did not come to the world to
condemn the world, but to save it (John
3:17). Instead, the message of the
Gospel is a promise of eternal life for those choosing to believe (John
3:16). The object of belief is Jesus
Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection (Romans
10:9-10) and does not require one having some great theological knowledge
but a belief of the heart. It is this
simplistic heart belief the inspired the Samaritan woman to tell everyone in
her town about Jesus, bringing revival (John
4:28-30). I pray the Church will not
use the message of the Gospel to condemn others but to point people to Christ, as
the Samaritan woman did so they can come to Christ, believe, and be saved.
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