To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed
so they cannot hear.
The word of the LORD is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.
11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD,
and I cannot hold it in.
“Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together;
both husband and wife will be caught in it,
and the old, those weighed down with years.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
when I stretch out my hand
against those who live in the land,”
declares the LORD.
13 “From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
14 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.
15 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the LORD.
16 This is what the LORD says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, O nations;
observe, O witnesses,
what will happen to them.
19 Hear, O earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my law.
20 What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please me.”
21 Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“I will put obstacles before this people.
Fathers and sons alike will stumble over them;
neighbors and friends will perish.”
My Understanding: In these two chapters of Jeremiah is found a description of God’s people who are living in open rebellion against God by their attitudes, their behaviors and their life choices. They are a people who have refused God’s correction and who have refused to repent of their sins. Even their leaders, in one accord, have broken off covenant with Almighty God. The people and their leaders are rebelling greatly against God, and their backslidings are many. They have forsaken the Lord, their God, and have followed after “other gods” that are not gods. They have committed spiritual adultery against God and have thronged to the “houses of prostitutes.” They are utterly unfaithful to the Lord.
They have lied about the Lord their God by saying that he is a “do nothing” God (he will not judge his people) and that his messengers are but wind. They are a foolish and senseless people who have eyes, but do not see, ears, but do not hear. They do not have the fear of God within them and they do not stand in awe or respect at his presence. They have stubborn and rebellious hearts which have turned away from God and have gone astray. They are full of deceit and they even deceive their own hearts into believing that they are ok. Yet, the word of God is offensive to them (the parts of it they don’t want to hear, that is), and they find no pleasure in the parts that speak to their spiritual condition and that call them to repentance.
The leaders of the flock are greedy for gain, they practice deceit, they put Band-Aids over people’s serious spiritual wounds, which are oozing with puss from the deep infection of sin, telling them to be at peace, when the seriousness of their wounds shouts loudly and clearly that a Band-Aid is not going to heal wounds that are festering with rot and decay and infection. Yet these leaders have no shame. They speak the words that the “itching ears” of their people want to hear so that they will gain the people’s approval, and so that their numbers will increase. They appeal to the flesh of man to attract man to “church” and to “the gospel,” but that is no gospel at all if it leaves people in their sins and it tells them that they don’t have to repent and they don’t have to obey, and that God is pleased with them no matter what they do. These leaders are giving out a false gospel and a false hope to people who are expecting to go to heaven one day because they have been given that false promise of eternity with God in heaven absent of repentance, obedience and true faith in Jesus Christ.
The Solution
First of all, God is sending out his servants to sound the trumpet call to the church to repent, and to warn of impending judgment of God if the people of the church do not repent of their ways and they do not turn their hearts back to faithful obedience to their Lord Jesus Christ. God will punish his church. He will give her a serious dose of divine discipline and correction. This is not just Old Testament teaching. This is New Testament teaching, too. Judgment begins with the family of God (I Peter 4:17). The letters to the churches in Revelation let us know that God will judge the churches which are living in rebellion, apathy, lukewarmness, spiritual adultery, and idolatry, et al. When we come to communion, we are to examine our own hearts and to judge ourselves so that we don’t come under God’s judgment (I Corinthians 11:31). God has appointed watchmen to give warning and to sound the trumpet, but the problem is that the people are saying, “We will not listen!”
Second of all, God is appealing to the people to consider the ways of truth that have been tested and tried by those who have gone before them in faith and practice and faithfulness, and to follow their example by walking in the “good way,” i.e. the ways God has laid out for his people to follow. We will find rest for our souls when we know we are walking in faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus. We are never at peace when we are rebelling against God or we are living out of fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ by our unfaithfulness, i.e. when we have thrown off the yoke of our covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. Rest for our souls is only found when we take Jesus Christ’s yoke upon us, when we learn of him at his feet, when we walk in fellowship with him, when we obey his words and our heart’s desire is for him and not for our “other gods.” Yet, the situation and problem presented here is that the people are saying, “We will not walk in the good way!”
The Judgment
One day God is going to judge the people of his church and of the world and he will bring disaster on the people who claim to be his yet have not listened to his words found in the Holy Bible (Genesis-Revelation). God is not interested in what we do for him or what we give to him in the way of sacrifice or offerings if our hearts are not in the right place and we are not living in obedience to him. Imagine a marriage in which one partner decides to live independent of his or her spouse in decision-making, in living as though he or she is still single, and in emotional and/or physical adultery, and yet the spouse does “good things” for his or her spouse and thinks that his or her spouse should be happy with his or her “offerings.” It doesn’t work that way, though. The spouse wants his or her partner’s heart, devotion and faithfulness, not his or her “good deeds.” God is just like that. He is a jealous God, and he desires that our hearts be his and his alone and that we not come to him in falseness, thinking that God should be happy with what we choose to offer to him while we hold back our hearts and obedience. Our “good deeds” are not acceptable to God if they are not accompanied by truth, humility, repentance, faith and obedience to God/Jesus Christ. In other words, God is NOT PLEASED with us no matter what we do!
The purpose and goal of God’s judgment is to bring his people back into right relationship with him. God is a loving God, patient, compassionate, merciful, and slow to anger, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He is not quick to come to this decision to judge his people. He grieves greatly over our sin and rebellion and he longs to be gracious to us because he loves us so much. Yet, he is a loving Father who will bring divine correction and discipline upon those he loves. So, if this description describes where you are in your life and you know you are not in a right relationship with God, then I pray you will consider these words prayerfully, that you will be willing to examine your heart before God to see where God is not pleased with you, that you will repent (turn from your sin) and that you will walk humbly in obedience to God for your sake, for the sake of God’s holy name, and for the sake of eternity with God.
Tick Tock / An Original Work / May 1, 2011
Tick tock, tick tock, time is a passing.
The time on the clock keeps ticking
While the church is fast a-sleeping.
Satan’s on a rampage
‘Cause his time is running out.
Will you worship God the Father,
God the Son and Holy Spirit?
Will you obey all of His
Commands for you today?
Jesus died to pay your ransom,
So that you could be forgiven.
Won’t you come to Him in truth
And penitently pray to Him?
Tick tock, tick tock, time is a wasting.
The cross of our Lord awaits you.
Won’t you come and share His table,
Drink the cup and eat the bread
In memory of Him?
Take a heart examination,
And accept our God’s salvation.
Humbly bow in adoration
And proclaim His name.
He wants for you to believe in
Him who interceded for you
When He died for your sins
And He rose from death in victory.
Tick tock, tick tock, time’s end is nearing.
How He longs to take and keep you,
In His arms He wants to hold you,
If you will but come to Him
And call on Him today.
His desire is that you please Him
In all of your life’s ambitions;
Be a living sacrifice
And be transformed today.
Let Christ’s love and grace sustain you,
And His promises prepare you
For His soon return to earth
To gather all His saints to Him.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Song
No comments:
Post a Comment