epcblog

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

Monday, January 14, 2008

Jeremiah 8

The desecration of a grave is a horrible thing. We must deal with the wrenching grief of death in this fallen world. Survivors do what they can to show respect for the remains of a loved one. When people give an orderly burial for a person who is gone, they do well. They would love to call the deceased back to life, but this is beyond their power. Though it may feel so horribly inadequate, our feeble efforts at such a time are a measure of human dignity. It is a horrible attack against the memory of a person to have that grave disturbed in any way.

It is a measure of God’s judgment against the life and character of a deceased king that God would choose to have his bones disturbed. The kings of God’s people have worshipped the sun, the moon, and the stars. Now their remains are left uncovered before the celestial bodies they seemed to prefer to the invisible God. There is some justice in that destiny. As bad as death and a dishonorable treatment of ones bones may be, life will be worse for the members of the ruling class. They have dishonored their God, and He has driven them out of the place of their former privileges into lives of open shame and dishonor.

God has sent many warnings, yet these have not been heeded. Even birds of very little brain seem to be able to avoid the same foolish thing over and over again. God’s people, on the other hand, show no sensitivity to His hand of correction. They are in a freefall of perpetual rebellion.

Despite the Lord’s words and actions against the leaders of His people, their prophets and priests are stuck on the idea that they are wise, and that they are in the right concerning their understanding of the Law of the Lord, and their obedience to that Law. They think that they will soon experience “peace” from the hand of God, but the future before them is not bright. God will cause some to lose their wives and their fields to conquerors. God has come to His fig tree Israel and examined her for ripe fruit, but has found none.

If such a message reached the ears of the ruling men, they should have returned to the Lord and His law according to His solemn word of warning. Instead, once it was clear that destruction was imminent they simply fled to fortified cities and prepared for their doom.

The Word of God against such rebels has no particular note of hope, and they know this. They will face destruction from overwhelming adversaries. There is no question from the prophet’s word that Judah is missing the fruitfulness that would be the display of a great faith in the Lord. When Jesus came, he found the fig tree of his people Israel did not produce any fruit. Therefore He cursed that fig tree. Many years prior to the Lord’s appearing, it was clear that God demanded the fruit that proceeds from a vital faith in Him. Unfortunately it was sorely lacking.

As the chapter ends it would appear that there is no hope for the Lord’s people. Though they cry out in grief and seek immediate assistance, true repentance seems to be unattainable, and there is no medicine for what ails them. There is no balm in Gilead for the people of the Lord.

It is inescapable that our biggest problem is the righteous judgment of God against our sin – not that God is the problem, but He will punish the wicked. There would one day come an answer to this problem. Christ would come as the Great Physician – not the false doctor who tries to convince the patient that the wound is slight when it is life-threatening, but the man who would cure our disease by taking our soul sickness upon Himself.

He did not share our illness in His own soul, but He took our sickness. That sickness of sin and guilt He had none of, but He took all of our guilt in the wonder of the cross. What a horrible load of sin from all His beloved children He took that day. One sin can destroy a relationship and alter the course of generations to come, but Christ faced the specific penalty of millions upon millions of sins, and was successful in defeating this enemy in his one great act of obedience.

Now our hope goes far beyond the grave. The Lord’s promise for us is so much more than an honorable and orderly burial. The graves will be opened, not for dishonor, but for glory. The dead in Christ shall rise to eternal blessedness, and there will be a final separation between the world and the church. This day could only come through the provision of a sinless substitute. That provision has come, and He has defeated sin, death, and even the grave.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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