Threatened and Revived: Jeremiah 11-15 (4)

Pray Psalm 75.1-3.
We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!
For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.
“When I choose the proper time,
I will judge uprightly.
The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved;
I set up its pillars firmly.

Sing Psalm 75.1-3.
(Galilee: Jesus Calls Us)
We give thanks, Lord, we give thanks for Your all-glorious Name is near!
Men Your wondrous works declare, Lord; let all living creatures hear!

When you choose the time of judgment, You will judge with equity.
Then the earth and all within it by Your hand no more shall be.

Read and meditate on Jeremiah 13.15-27.

Prepare.
1. To whom did Jeremiah direct these words? Why?

2. What was the role of Judah’s leaders in bringing God’s judgment?

Meditate.
Jeremiah speaks to the “proud”, which, as we shall see, includes the king and his mother. He calls them to honor and glorify God before darkness engulfs the land and no one can see their way to the light (vv. 15, 16). He weeps to think that the proud might not heed his words (v. 17).

Jeremiah has preached to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. He has testified to priests and prophets. Here God sent him to speak directly to the king and his mother (cf. 2 Kgs. 24.12). The warning to them was the same: All the people over whom they ruled would be carried away into captivity (v. 19). They needed to pay attention to what was happening to the north, where Babylon was gathering strength and preying on the nations between them and Jerusalem (v. 20). When judgment fell on Jerusalem, these rulers would have no one to rule and nothing to say (v. 21).

It’s their own fault, though they may not believe it (v. 22). They led the people into falsehood and idolatry. They failed to honor, worship, and serve the Lord (vv. 25-27). Now they would receive the judgment due them according to the Word of the Lord (vv. 23, 24).

We can imagine that this message did not exactly endear Jeremiah to the powers-that-be. But they needed to hear it, whether or not they would believe and receive it. And this remains true in our own day. When leaders go astray, and prefer their own ideas and directions to those of God’s Word, they need to be called to account. For the judgment of God is still a vital implement in His toolkit for shaping people and nations.

Reflect.
1. How can you make sure that you don’t stray from the teaching of God’s Word?

2. What is our responsibility for holding leaders accountable to God’s Word?

3. Should we expect God to act in judgment against wickedness? How might He do that?

“After committing many transgressions,” he says, “you were not prepared to have recourse to repentance. I shall no longer demonstrate longsuffering. Instead, I will inflict punishment.” It is better, therefore, to live according to the divine laws. But since we who are human will most likely fall at some point, we ought to have recourse to the remedies of repentance, and through them placate the judge and escape the experience of the punishments he threatens. Theodoret of Cyr (393-466), On Jeremiah 3.13.27

Lord, I pray for our leaders, that they would…

Pray Psalm 75.4-10.
Pray for the leaders of our country and our churches, that God would have mercy on them, and that they would trust more completely in Him.

Sing Psalm 75.4-10.
Psalm 75.4-10 (Galilee: Jesus Calls Us)
Warn the boastful, warn the wicked: “Do not boast or raise your horn!
Do not raise your boastful voices; do not speak with pride and scorn!”

Neither east nor west nor desert shall exalting bring to man.
God is Judge, He puts one down and makes another one to stand.

For the cup of judgment foams in Jesus’ sovereign, holy hand.
He has mixed it and will pour it out on every wicked man.

As for me, I will declare it: Evermore to God be praise!
He abases all the wicked, but His righteous ones He saves!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).