Year 9, Day 57: Jeremiah 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Jeremiah gives another warning.  It is always amazing to hear a prophet speak about the wrath of God.  They pull no punches; they do not stop when it is uncomfortable.  They speak truth as it is, not as humanity can tolerate.

Do you hear Jeremiah’s words?  The whole land is laid waste.  The cities are laid up in ruins.  The land is desolation.  The cities will be forsaken.  The anguish of Judah will go forth as a woman in labor.  It will be as though in the presence of murderers.

Sometimes I think human beings simply don’t get it.  If the Lord wants to bring destruction, He can do it!  He can burn up a city with fire from the sky.  He can send plagues upon a nation.  He can lead a nation into bondage.  However the Lord wishes to bring about punishment, He can do it!  How will want stand against Him should He desire to bring us to our knees – or worse?

This illustrates the importance of the earlier verses in this chapter.  Jeremiah calls the people to repentance.  He asks them to turn from their sinfulness.  Jeremiah knows that this is the only effective weapon in our arsenal.  The only thing we can do in the face of God’s wrath is to repent and hope that He relents!

Of course, repentance is really what God is after.  It isn’t like our repentance tricks God into forgetting our wrongdoing.  When we repent, we demonstrate to God that we have gotten the message.  We show Him that we understand.  This is all God asks of us.   That’s why He respects repentance so much.  This is why Jeremiah encourages repentance.  It isn’t that Jeremiah wants to appease God, it is because Jeremiah knows that repentance is the very thing that God is after!

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