Jeremiah 13
It is devastating to think of the things that we mindlessly say to our children. We think that they are not listening, but everyone seems to remember every word that was said about them, even when we may have made a light or inconsequential remark. It is not this way between God and His people. They seem to become hard of hearing when He says to them the most important words of correction over the centuries. They simply will not listen, so the curse of the covenant is coming upon them swiftly.
Now God’s assessment of His people is the darkest storm cloud, without any silver lining: “My people are good for nothing.”
Jeremiah lives out these words in purchasing a loin-cloth, and then hiding it near the
God tells them that they should have stayed so close to Him like a garment on a man, but they would not. Mind you, they have been interested in religion – just not in the God who formed them, who provided for them, who rescued them on so many occasions, and who condescended to speak to them over and over again. They have had the inclination to worship other gods, but they will not listen to their Lord.
A drunken man may be quite insensible to the seriousness of danger all around Him. We do not prepare men for battle by plying them with alcohol, placing guns in their hands, and then announcing that there is an enemy in the vicinity. No, we want them to have the full use of all their faculties. They need to have sharp eyes and ready ears in order to avoid the danger of hostile fire. We want them to be in good shape physically, and completely alert mentally. But God’s people have been made drunk. He says that He has filled them with drunkenness, no doubt due to their persistent unwillingness to hear and obey Him.
How are they drunk? They are drunk with their own pride, thinking that they will not face the discipline of the Almighty. They are insensible to the threat of the Lord’s judgments. There is little question from the various historical materials throughout the Bible that they are well aware of the dangers posed by foreign enemies near and far, but have they rightly considered their most significant danger? They can be overtaken by the judgment of God at any moment of His choosing, but somehow they presume upon their status, and forget that God has warned them that He will take action against them through the means of enemies from the north.
The only wise course of action for them would be to turn away from the deep waters of pride in which they are drowning. They need to turn toward the God who has called them by name, and cling to Him. The day of disaster will come upon them suddenly and there will be no way out. Like a woman in labor, there is no way to stop the frightening pain. The child will be born, and in this case the spiritual fruit that they can expect is desolation, grief, and exile, all because of their persistent iniquity.
Their issues are deep. The Ethiopian is a black man, and no one can change the color of his skin. The leopard is a spotted animal, and he will not lose his spots and turn into a zebra or a lion. Similarly God’s people are steeped in their own sinful ways. They are accustomed to doing evil, and they cannot seem to do what is good. They have behaved like the worst lewd woman who should have been a loving wife to the best of all husbands. There is no excuse for their behavior, and no particular hope that they will ever be able to amend their ways.
What we have is a situation of crippling inability. This is why a Messiah was so very necessary for the Lord’s elect. God would never relax His holy requirements. To have fellowship with Him we need perfect obedience. Only the Lord could provide the necessary righteousness that has been credited to us through faith in His Name. His death on the cross has removed the insurmountable obstacle of God’s just wrath against us for our disgusting rebellion, idolatry and hard-heartedness.
We needed to be made clean in order to be in the Lord’s blessed presence, but when would we ever have been able to have what we needed? It is obvious that the answer is that we never could have done what was necessary – not because of some physical impossibility to hear and obey, but because of indwelling sin that has proven our moral inability. Where we were not able, Christ has been and is forever able. This is the way that those who have been given the awful name of whore, could now be called a glorious bride, without spot or blemish or any such thing.
posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM
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