In Jeremiah's Judah we see a prototype of who we are as a nation before God. They worshipped and preferred other gods, disrespected His word, and slaughtered their innocent children. So do we. They did not believe God would punish them, and were astonished when He did. We do not expect Him to punish us, either. He will, but we are still frighteningly incapable of reading the writing on the wall. In Jeremiah Chapter Seven we get an overview of what happened to Judah. Given that we follow in their footsteps, we should take a long, hard look at our ever-looming future. It is not just what the LORD had me preach at the pit this morning. It is what we need to hear, as well.
Thus said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Amen your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place." -- 7:3
The first thing God does is send His messenger to plead with the disobedient to repent and return to Him. He assures us that if we repent, we will be forgiven and blessed. But that little two letter "if" word is very powerful, because it literally means that we must change our ways to be forgiven. He requires that we act on our repentance.
Trust ye not in lying words, saying: "The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these. -- 7:4
They believed that God would not punish them, because the temple was still in their midst. We believe that God will not punish us, because the Lord is our sacrifice. God had left the temple because they were too disobedient. Christ is only our sacrifice if we choose to be His obedient followers.
"For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt; then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever." -- 7:5-7
God's remedy for their sin and ours is the same. We have to stop sinning. He never intended that we abide in sin. No, He intended that we be holy as He is holy. He will not be mocked (Gal 6:7, 8). He will not have a people who are His in name only.
"And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by My name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh." -- 7:13, 14
Shiloh is where the Lord's temple was first set up when the Israelites entered Canaan. It was utterly destroyed because the people there abandoned the truth of God's word. God uses it to point out that their security did not come from the temple. No, it came from Him, and He would only protect them as long as they were obediently His.
This is where we miss it as well. We tell ourselves that because Christ died for our sins, God will not punish us. What we forget is that He died that we might be freed from sin, not abide in sin. So we are in every bit as much danger as they were -- and the truth is He is speaking to us today, calling out to us to repent in the same way He did them.
"And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." -- 7:15
God is no respecter of persons. He never has been. He loved Israel, but He cast Ephraim out completely. The disobedient will be cut off -- regardless of who they are.
Therefore, thus saith the LORD GOD, "Behold, MINE anger and MY fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground. And it shall burn, and shall not be quenched." -- 7:20
Like Judah we have a bad habit of thinking that we will somehow survive God's wrath. Precious few of them did. The vast majority did not. They were His chosen people, but they did not survive His wrath. I don't know who's more foolish because we have their example -- but they also knew what He was capable of.
But this thing commanded I them, saying, "Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people. And walk ye in all the way that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. But they harkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." -- 7:23, 24
Again, their problem was a lack of obedience. They hardened their hearts. He sent them messengers, but they would not listen. They would not turn, until all that remained was judgment.
But thou shalt say unto them, "This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction. Truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth." 7:28
They turned away from God so completely that they would not tolerate the truth. Are we not exactly the same? Surely there are few things more endangered in our society than the truth.
"Therefore, behold the days come," saith the LORD, "that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. For they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away." -- 7:32, 33
Truly the people of Judah were slaughtered brutally, and their bodies were left to be eaten by the birds and beasts. This, too, is our destiny if we do not repent. It's sobering. It's horrifying, but it is what awaits us if we do not stop our sinful ways. God was long-suffering and patient with Judah. He has been so with us. But there was an end for them, and there will be an end for us.
Time is running out, folks. Like Judah we are about to find out first hand just how horrible God's wrath can be. It doesn't matter how loudly we proclaim ourselves "His people" if our actions prove us to be the devil's own.
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