epcblog

Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Jeremiah 5

How do we know the soul of a city? How do we discern the heart, mind, and will of a nation? We are so limited in our ability. We can only make educated generalizations based on our limited ability to rightly interpret the evidence that we can gather from a very small sample of individuals. To do much more that this would take a lifetime, and no city stands still for our analysis. God, on the other hand, has his hand on the pulse of any place that we can think of. His knowledge of any one man or woman is complete, and His awareness is never limited to a sample. He has the fullness of knowledge concerning all of His creatures. Furthermore, His interpretation of the facts is always flawless.

If He were to send out an army of observers to run throughout the streets of Jerusalem and to take note of what can be seen by the eyes of men, they will never be able to rightly contradict the perfect understanding of the Lord. God invites everyone to examine the details of the city. He is confident that they will not be able to find even one man who does justice.

We may think that our assessment of matters would be somehow better than God’s, but we are easily deluded. We too quickly believe the word of men. We often ignore the contradictions that can be seen in their deeds, and we know so little about their hearts. God knows all of these things. He is not impressed by those who say, “As the Lord lives,” but who tell lies and try to back them up with the name of the God that they do not fear. This is offensive to God, and He knows all about it.

Even when we see evidence of depravity in Jerusalem, we may conclude that the problem is one of intellectual ability or good breeding. Yes, the common people present a distressing picture, but surely the best in the society will give us a different hope. In the case of Jerusalem, those who seem to be great will be just as bad as the simple poor. All of them alike are lawbreakers.

What will they do when enemies come upon them like the most ferocious animals of the wild? There is no indication here of a widespread turning from sin as people pay attention to the law of the Lord. Their show of obedience is only that – a show. They are full of spiritual unfaithfulness and immoral adultery. How can the Lord pardon hard-hearted unrepentant Jerusalem. He knows their hearts, and they are committed to the way of evil.

A nation is coming from afar and Jerusalem will be destroyed. Yet despite the seemingly universal wickedness of the Lord’s people, God states here that He will not make a full end of them. Their treachery seems endless, but God’s discipline is not.

The people are not hearing with their ears. They are not seeing with their eyes. The enemy will destroy. The rain will be withheld. The hand of God is against His people, and the fault is entirely theirs. They abuse the fatherless and the needy, and they have forsaken God. Yet still God will not make a full end of them.

What would complete justice look like? This is what our great Redeemer faced for us on the cross. There we see the fullness of God’s justice which we deserve. The sinless substitute is given the pains of hell and a torment that you and I will never know. Because He took the hell that we deserved, our outlook is one of the fullest blessing rather than the endless curse of our holy God. Because of this love, there is an end to God’s plan of destruction for Jerusalem.

There is a lesson in all of this for us to learn. When the prophets prophesy lies and the priests rule according to the wrong way, God’s people must yet resist the devil. If we love the Son of God and the way of the cross we cannot love the way of corrupt men. We must choose God’s way today, though all His people choose corruption.

Look all around the city of Jerusalem. See if you can find one man who does justice and seeks truth. Thanks be to God, there is one such man now in the Jerusalem above. The power of His death, and the power of His justice and truth are more than enough to make the whole of this new Jerusalem full of people who are righteous in the sight of God because of the credited worthiness of Jesus Christ. What a great city that is! What a delight to the Father! What a blessed hope! The soul of that city is flawless.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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