War is horror. For much of the world we truly don’t understand this. But there are some who do and understand it all too well, and it’s ugly. For those of us who haven’t lived this, we have no idea what it’s like.
God pleads with his people to repent and turn to him. For so very long they have continued to sacrifice children, engage in sexual immorality, worshipping other gods. Because it brings such harm to people if he does not bring discipline to them, he would not be good. Or just. He has tried lesser measures but those lesser measures haven’t worked. He sent prophets and that hasn’t worked.
And now Jeremiah is one of the last prophets to them. Proclaiming it is it. If they don’t repent, God will have to allow them to conquered by their enemies.
Jeremiah could see it. They weren’t going to repent. And the Lord showed him what it would like like.
”My anguish, my anguish! I write in agony! Oh, the pain in my heart! My heart pounds: I cannot be silent” (v. 19).
Jeremiah truly did everything he could to warn the people. They laughed. They mocked. They abused. But they would not repent.
God did everything he could. He calls them to repent and he will relent. To turn and he will bless them once again. But they would not repent.
The boots of the Assyrians were to march. It would be a wind “from the north” that was not just separating the wheat and chaff, but a strong wind that would bring terrible destruction (v. 11-12)
There were other prophets though had been preaching peace, peace. So why now a sword?
”I said, “Oh no, LORD GOD. You have certainly deceived this people and Jerusalem by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats” (v. 10.)
But it wasn’t the prophets of God who were proclaiming peace and that nothing would happen, but the false prophets.
Jer 23:16-17 NKJV – 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, “You shall have peace” ‘; And [to] everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ “
Oh, the agony of Jeremiah’s heart of what he saw would come.
“The whole land will be a desolation, but I will not finish it off. Because of this the earth will mourn” (v 27).
Why?
Because of the people.
”They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil, but they do not know how to do what is good” (v. 22).
Goodness, reading this text is like reading today’s newspaper. We too are mired down in so much evil. Just this week I’ve been reading of shootings in various places, a politician that did a porn video for his political campaign and talked about how much he learned by having sex on camera, to a teacher sued for teaching truth and not lies, to a 66 year old being beaten and dragged in the streets, to YouTube comments that are unbelievably cruel, to riots throughout the nations and more.
Will God to nothing? Certainly not. He will do something and that is why we should tremble. And repent. And pray for mercy.
And then proclaim. Not proclaim judgment but proclaim Christ. To invite people to turn from the wicked ways and follow Jesus.
Perhaps that is why there is so much chaos on the earth right now. God is on the move to do something incredible upon the earth and the gates of hell cannot tolerate it.
So we do our part. Wherever we are at in the world. We proclaim the gospel, we pray, and we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” Php 2).
I believe there will be two alternative realities for the world in the very near future. Terrible and horrific times and an extraordinary move of God. My thinking is that they will go together. But let’s pray for mercy in the meantime. Let’s learn from the preaching of Jeremiah, repent and turn to God. God desires mercy, not judgment. And I for one would prefer that mercy when he judges the nations.
