Weep and Wail you Shepherds

Posted on February 2, 2016 by wamplerp

PhariseesThis is what the Lord Almighty says: “Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth.”   At that time those slain by the Lord will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.   Weep and wail, you shepherds; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For your time to be slaughtered has come; you will fall like the best of the rams.    The shepherds will have nowhere to flee, the leaders of the flock no place to escape.   Hear the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasture.   The peaceful meadows will be laid waste because of the fierce anger of the Lord .   Like a lion he will leave his lair, and their land will become desolate because of the sword of the oppressor and because of the Lord ’s fierce anger. – Jeremiah 25:32-38

This passage is another rebuke for the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.  Calamity is coming to those who are leading people astray and spreading ungodliness.  God has harsh words for the wayward leaders.  They will be “like dung lying on the ground”.  I don’t know about you but I would be rather upset if someone referred to me as dung.  As we will see in the passages to come they do get upset and take their wrath out on Jeremiah for bringing this message to them from God.

These “shepherds” who are supposed to be tending God’s flock of followers are going to weep and wail at the consequences of their misdirection, but they will have no place to go because they have rejected their refuge.  They have “nowhere to flee, the leaders of the flock no place to escape.”  They are headed down a dead end road with no future.  Their only hope will be to turn around and head back to the One River that provides living water and lasting peace like a river.  The sooner they figure this out the better.

God is destroying the pasture of these stiff-necked shepherds.  The place that they thought they were using to tend and raise their flock will in fact be made into a wasteland, “The peaceful meadows will be laid waste because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”  God is angry and He is showing the people of Judah and Jerusalem that He meant what He said when He asked them to obey His commandments and follow Him.  I must admit this is a very different view of God than the Jesus of the new testament.

God here is very much the Lion, “Like a lion he will leave his lair, and their land will become desolate”.  The chosen instrument is the oppressors from the north that God allows to inflict judgment on the people, but the anger is the Lord’s.  God is a patient God to a point, but I think He has reached a point here where He is saying to the people that they can have what they have been asking for all along – to be free of God.  They just do not realize how bleak this is when the reality comes.

Prayer: God help all those who are called to shepherd Your flock to realize when they are leading others down a dead end.

Posted in Christian Leadership, Covenant, Discernment, Jeremiah, Obedience, Trusting God, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Spreading Ungodliness

Posted on February 1, 2016 by wamplerp

both-ways-arrow-street-sign

Among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.” Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets: “I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land. – Jeremiah 23:13-15

God is very unhappy with the prophets in Jerusalem and the ways they are leading His people astray through their lies and evil. He compares them to the prophets of Samaria which, within the cultural context of the time, could not have been flattering. The prophets of Samaria and the prophets of Jerusalem are misleading God’s people.

The prophets in Jerusalem are not only leading the people astray but they are apparently living double lives of hypocrisy, “they commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.” So not only are they not helping the people of God to be better followers of God they are actually helping them to do more evil.

So the consequences of this epic failure on the part of the prophets is that God will “will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water”. This is not the first time in Jeremiah God has talked about offering people poisoned water. In Jeremiah 8:8-16 God was taking the scribes to task for handling His word falsely and leading people astray. I am pretty sure God would prefer to give them Living Water, but they are choosing the poison based on their actions.

God seems to reserve special punishment and scorn for those who say one thing and do another. People whose hearts are hard and act falsely in His name. Jesus when He came seemed to hold special scorn for the Scribes and Pharisees because they were saying one thing and doing another. They also were leading people astray from the love and relationship that God desired.

The key difference between an individual who is doing evil and failing to follow God and leaders who do so is the multiplier effect that this has on the people. One evil person in a leadership role can do far more harm in a short time than an individual can do in a lifetime of evil. The implication is that these prophets were entrusted with sacred gifts from God and they are not only misusing them, but they are using them for evil in God’s name.

God entrusts all of His followers with gifts that we can choose to use to lead others toward Him or away from Him. The consequences for choosing poorly would seem to be very bad. The prophets of Jerusalem, and modern day God-followers, who misuse their gifts are like someone standing on a highway giving incorrect directions. The result can be many lost people and a lot of wasted effort. It is better to say nothing at all than to give the wrong directions. At least if those who are misguided stay silent some will find the way on their own.

Prayer: God help us to use our gifts wisely so that we are helping others come closer to You rather than farther away.

Posted in Discernment, Following God, Jeremiah, Love for the Lost, The Earthly Realm | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Like a Wasteland

Posted on January 31, 2016 by wamplerp

download (1)For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah: “Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a wasteland, like towns not inhabited.   I will send destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire.   “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ And the answer will be: ‘because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’ ”   Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss; rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled, because he will never return nor see his native land again.   For this is what the Lord says about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return. He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”   “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.   He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms.’ So he makes large windows in it, panels it with cedar and decorates it in red. – Jeremiah 22:6-14

The challenging passages of Jeremiah continue…In this passage God is describing a very bleak future for Judah, Jerusalem, and those who have been exiled to Babylon.  God is going to make Judah and Jerusalem like a wasteland. When I think of a wasteland I think of the land of Mordor from the Lord of the Rings.  Frodo and Sam toiled through this place of perpetual darkness, smoldering fires, and smoke.  The future that Jeremiah is sharing with the people of Jerusalem and Judah sound a lot like Mordor.  Perhaps this is why Jeremiah is not such a popular prophet among the people of Judah.

The land of Mordor is a land without light and hope.  The people of Judah and Jerusalem have made their home a place like Mordor by actively choosing to run from God and the light that He provides.  God is very specific about the destruction that will come.  They will come and “cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire.”  This was probably a reference to the cedars of the temple in Jerusalem. God predicts that people will see the destruction in Jerusalem and they will wonder why God would allow this – asking “where is their God?”

God goes on to explain what is happening and why it is happening…”because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.”  So because the people have moved away from God they find themselves in darkness.  This should not be such a surprise.  When one is in darkness and a light is available one should move toward it not away from it.

Then God makes a distinction between those who will be taken into exile and those that will remain behind.  For whatever reason God directs people not to “weep for the dead king or mourn his loss; rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled, because he will never return nor see his native land again.”  So the people who have remained in Jerusalem are seemingly a lost cause, but those who have been separated from God in exile still have a choice of returning to God or remaining separate from Him.

Jeremiah gives this final word from God, “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.”  This sounds like God is once again admonishing the leaders for failing to care for the people they have been given the privilege to lead.  They are failing the “Meribah Test” just like Moses and taking advantage of their “view from the top” like David.

There is a lesson here for all those who take on leadership as a follower of Jesus.  We are to lead while following.  All of us flawed followers, especially those called to lead, need to build our lives, and the “palaces” we are building, on God rather than a substitute in the form of an idol.

Prayer: God help us to build our lives on You and resist the temptation to follow idols rather than Your Son Jesus.

Posted in Christian Community, Christian Leadership, Christianity, Covenant, Discernment, Faith, Following God, Free Will, Jeremiah, Obedience, Prophecy, The Nature of God | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Cool Waters from Distant Sources

Posted on January 29, 2016 by wamplerp

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERATherefore this is what the Lord says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel.   Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing?    Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up.   Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads.   Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster.” – Jeremiah 18:13-17

This passage continues the rich water imagery of the passage from yesterday.  God is speaking to the people of Jerusalem and Judah and asking the rhetorical question “Who has ever heard anything like this?”  The “this” here is the horrible turning away from God that the people have been doing.  I am not sure what the meaning of “virgin” Israel is but if we are to think of it in earthly terms “virgin” would mean something not yet taken for the purposes of earthly pleasures.  It seems God is saying that the terrible thing Israel has done is to give up their “virginity” with the idols of the land.

God has been a constant in the lives of the people of Israel, even though they were not able to see him or sense him at times and desired a more tangible God.  God uses water imagery to communicate about his constancy: “Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing?”  God is describing “distant water” in the form of snow that is part of the hydrologic cycle feeding the rivers and springs from which nonstop cool waters flow.

The ever flowing waters sounds a lot like a spring that is fed by the water that melts in distant mountains.  I am originally from the state of Oregon and the Cascade Mountains are know for their beauty, and sometimes for their snow pack, which come spring provide abundant cold water for both springs and rivers that flow from the mountains.  They provide some degree of stability to the plants and animals that rely on these cold waters when the “dog days” of August arrive.

The times the people of Jerusalem and Judah are facing could very well be described as the “dog days of Babylon”.  They will face enslavement and death, but instead of relying on the water supply that God has provided in the form of Living Water they have turned to a substitute in the form of idols to “fill their jars“.  The idols they were following “made them walk in byways, on roads not built up.”  I take this to mean that they abandoned the well-worn paths that had served their ancestors in their efforts to faithfully follow God.

I think this passage provides some interesting application to modern-day God followers.  We also have become adept at seeking alternative water supplies.  This even occurs within out churches and gatherings as we try to feed consumer-driven followers.  We sometimes focus on a product rather than the process that we are called to work through together.

Prayer: God help us to seek the Living Water you provide and focus on the process of following You rather than a product we can receive.

 

Posted in Christian Community, Christian Leadership, Christianity, Covenant, Discernment, Following God, Jeremiah, Life Together, The Earthly Realm, The Nature of God | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Roots by the Stream

Posted on January 25, 2016 by wamplerp

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This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord . That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord , whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means. When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools. A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. Lord , you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord , the spring of living water. – Jeremiah 17:5-13

Well this is my favorite passage in Jeremiah so far. It has amazingly rich water imagery and it paints a very vivid picture of what a faithful follower looks like. God is comparing and contrasting those who trust in “the flesh”, with hearts that turn away from God, and those who trust in God and whose hearts are in a constant state of seeking after God.

The person who trusts in the flesh is like a “a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.” God is describing a poisonous place where it is difficult to grow and thrive. This place is anyplace that is apart from God. The opposite of this is a lush place where God is and where we can choose to plant ourselves near the water.

Those who choose to plant themselves by the One River that can provide Living Water will send out roots to access the water. The ones who send out roots to access this constant water supply will find their “leaves green”. They will be empowered to do what they have been called to do. They will be able to thrive where God has planted them and bear good fruit rather than bad fruit.

The care and feeding of our souls by God is a great mystery, indeed “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” The answer to the rhetorical questions who can understand our hearts (souls) is, of course, God. God is the God who sees us, he knows us from the inside out. Better than we know ourselves. God searches our hearts and minds and rewards us for what we do with the resources God provides.

God then turns to those who obtain worldly riches at the expense of their souls and says “Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means. When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools.” So even those who seem to “have it all together” will in the end find that they are falling apart.

“Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord , the spring of living water.” All will be as dust unless we intentionally place ourselves by the Spring of Living Water that is God. We are to take up this water into our very being and make it part of our DNA so that as we go about our lives in this land of Oblivion we feel as though we are in a foreign land. Our native country is with God and that will only come after we have crossed over for the last time into the undiscovered country.

Prayer: God help us to plant ourselves so that our roots can drink deeply of the Living Water you provide and be effective in the purpose You have for us.

Posted in Christianity, Covenant, Death and Dying, Discernment, Discipleship, Following God, Free Will, Jeremiah, Obedience, reconciliation, Redemption, The Earthly Realm, The Nature of God, The Spiritual Realm | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

An Old Apple Tree

Posted on January 24, 2016 by wamplerp
Old apple tree

Old Apple Tree by Franz Traunfellner

I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord , “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy. I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.   “Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask how you are?   You have rejected me,” declares the Lord . “You keep on backsliding. So I will reach out and destroy you; I am tired of holding back.   I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the city gates of the land. I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people, for they have not changed their ways.   I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. At midday I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men; suddenly I will bring down on them anguish and terror.   The mother of seven will grow faint and breathe her last. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. I will put the survivors to the sword before their enemies,” declares the Lord. – Jeremiah 15:3-9

The God being described in the book of Jeremiah is a bit perplexing to me.  God in this passage grows so tired of the backsliding happening under the rule of Manasseh that He is “tired of holding back”.  This picture of God is somewhat different than any I have experienced so far on my float through the bible.  I get the sense that God has lost all patience with His people and is letting them have what they deserve. I have chewed on this idea for the last week or so. What changed here to make God so angry?

As I have pondered this puzzle it occurs to me that the people of Judah and Jerusalem were not only rejecting God, but they were actively persecuting His prophets.  God has placed them where they need to be, Jerusalem and Judah, and He has given them all the resources they need to thrive and produce good fruit.  They are using these blessings to produce bad fruit.  The coming judgement sounds pretty horrendous, “I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea”.

Not only are the rejecting God’s prophets they are strangling any hopes of people who want to faithfully follow God.  They are behaving like the kudzu vine that uses the tree on which it is growing to gain height and access the sun. Unfortunately it also kills the tree it is growing on in the process. God seems to be saying in this passage that he must subject the people to a refining process to rid them of this corrupt spirit.

God wanted the people to be in Jerusalem for the right reasons and using the blessing he was providing to further His kingdom.  The people have become like a large unproductive fruit tree.  God has sent many prophets to prune the tree, but they are killed.  God is left with no other choice but to cast the unproductive tree out of the orchard (Jerusalem) so that those whose choose to return are there for the right reasons.

There is a poignant reminder here for all those who follow God.  Thrive where you are planted and use the blessings God provides to further His kingdom.  The consequences of doing otherwise may not be so good.

Prayer: God help us to bear good fruit with the blessings you give and help us to thrive where we are planted to further Your kingdom here on earth.

Posted in Conflict, Covenant, Discernment, Following God, Free Will, Jeremiah, Obedience, Prophecy, The Earthly Realm, The Nature of God | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do Idols Bring Rain?

Posted on January 23, 2016 by wamplerp

Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.   We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord , and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you.   For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.   Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this. – Jeremiah 14:19-22

Apparently the people of Jerusalem and Judah have gotten the message of the last couple of passages and are ready to acknowledge that they messed up.  They are still asking the equivalent of “why me”, but at least they are willing to acknowledge some culpability in the conflict.  They acknowledge their wickedness.  Which I guess is  the modern equivalent of confessing our sins.

They also get the nature of their sin correct in that it is a sin against God and no one else.  Then they wander into the weeds and use an interesting argument for why God should not “despise them”.  They argue that it is for the sake of God’s name and “glorious throne” that they should not be despised by God — in essence saying to God “I missed the part where this is our problem”.

They would seem to be appealing to God’s vanity, as if that were possible.  They don’t want to be despised because it would make God look bad –very strange logic.  I guess modern God followers sometimes use similar logic when we say things like “God answer this prayer and I will follow you forever”.  What we are really saying is make me look good and it will make You look good.

They also appeal to God’s sense of fairness, “Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.”  Imagine a misbehaving child reminding their parent that their wickedness is actually the parent’s fault — probably would not end well.  I think until the people of Judah and Jerusalem find true humility and repentance they will not find the peace like a river they are seeking.

The last part of the passage almost seems to be cotton candy complements after the preceding lapse in logic.  The people admit that their idols are worthless and do not bring rain.  Neither are the showers sent from the skies merely a natural occurrence.  They are ultimately brought on by the Father of the Rain, God.  The passage ends well with the people confessing that their only hope lies with God.  Not a bad place for us to end up either.

Prayer: God our hope is in You and the rains that you provide to make us grown and thrive.

Posted in Christianity, Covenant, Discernment, Discipleship, Following God, Jeremiah, Obedience, Prophecy, reconciliation, Redemption, The Nature of God | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Famine and Sword

Posted on January 22, 2016 by wamplerp
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Her Majetsy Famine – By Maximilien Luce

Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.   “Speak this word to them: “ ‘Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.   If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I go into the city, I see the ravages of famine. Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they know not.’ – Jeremiah 14:14-18

This passage has only a passing reference to water in the form of tears and I was tempted to skip it as I find it very confusing, but I signed up for the entire river so I will give it my best shot.  What is confusing to me is the betrayal that God is describing.  The very prophets who are supposed to be God’s mouthpiece to the people are “prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds”.

The prophets are telling lies in God’s name.  I am not sure what motivation they would have to do this except perhaps to get something for themselves or perhaps avoid some form of persecution.  The main lie that the prophets seem to be spreading is that “No sword or famine will touch this land”, meaning Judah and Jerusalem.  They are essentially telling the people that there will be no consequences to their estrangement from God.  This is not the truth that God wants the people to realize as we saw in yesterday’s passage.

The message that God wants to convey comes in the latter part of the passage “Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow”.  God wants the people to know that they will see pain and suffering and He weeps with them and for them.

It is almost as if God is likening this betrayal by the people called to lead His people to a member of your family abusing of one of your children.  This seems very personal.  I think God is especially grieved when those who are given the responsibility to lead others end up failing the Meribah Test and lead people away from Him.

Prayer: God we all fail to follow You faithfully at times.  Help us to listen carefully to your whisper so that we can hear Your voice.

Posted in Christian Leadership, Christianity, Discernment, Discipleship, Jeremiah, Obedience, The Earthly Realm, The Nature of God | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unfilled Jars

Posted on January 21, 2016 by wamplerp

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:   “Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.   The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.   The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads.   Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.   Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of food.” – Jeremiah 14:1-6

The prophecy spoken to Jeremiah in this passage is rather bleak and depressing.  There is apparently a drought affecting the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  The people are responding by mourning and wailing — for the land.  I think this is an important detail.  From God’s perspective they have lost their relationship with Him and that is the ultimate reason for the “drought”.

The people respond to the drought by looking to their own intellect and resources rather than looking to the father of the rain in Heaven.   They send their servants to find water from the cisterns but they are empty and the servants return empty handed.  The jars they take to fill remain unfilled, one might say unfulfilled.  The servants are dismayed and despairing.  They cover their heads.  This must be a cultural reference that escapes me.

What is it about their heads (and their hairy crowns) that makes them want to cover them in their despair?  The very land is parched and cracked because there is no rain to moisten the land and make things grow.  The farmers who tend the land are also dismayed and cover their heads, presumably for the same reason the servants covered their heads.  This drought affects even the animals and their young.

The more I read this passage the more I am convinced that there is rich allegory here that God is using to get the attention of a recalcitrant people.  I will try to unpack it and see where this rabbit trail leads.  First of all it seems to me that the “drought” here is more than just a lack of water.  It is a spiritual drought.  We all go through “dry” spiritual times as we attempt to follow God, it is part of the spiritual cycle, but this drought seems different.  The people have chosen to move away from their water source rather than just enduring a dry spell between rains.

The people have separated themselves from their source of life, God.  What they see as empty cisterns and cracked fields is really what is going on in their souls because they are refusing to accept the living water God offers.  They are refusing to get their water from the Great Cistern and they have become disconnected from the spring.  They fail to see the spiritual nature of their predicament and call out to the heavens for rain.

What they should be calling for is God’s reign.  Until they understand this they will be like wild donkeys and “stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of food”.  They will be “…ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ (Mark 4:12; quoting Isaiah 6:9,10).

Prayer: God when dry times come in our lives help us look to You rather than our own water sources so the we can turn and be forgiven.

Posted in Christianity, Covenant, Following God, Free Will, God's Love for Us, Jeremiah, Obedience, reconciliation, Redemption, religion, The Earthly Realm, The Nature of God, The Spiritual Realm, Trusting God | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Darkening Hills

Posted on January 18, 2016 by wamplerp

wpid-wp-1422574078822.jpgHear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.  Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom.  If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord ’s flock will be taken captive.  Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads.”  The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away. – Jeremiah 13:15-19

Jeremiah continues his conversation with God about the coming darkness that will befall the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  Light and darkness have come up before but this reference sounds almost more like the new testament.  God is calling the people on their arrogance toward Him.

When one is faced with a coming darkness it is encouraging to know that light will return. Each day the sun sets and we endure the cold and darkness of the night.  It would be a very different thing if we knew that the onset of darkness had no clear ending.  That is where the people of Judah and Jerusalem find themselves.  They see an impending sunset but have lost sight of the subsequent sunrise.

The passage then turns to tears over the recalcitrance of the people, “If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord ’s flock will be taken captive.”  As I read this it sounds like the “I” in this sentence is Jeremiah, but it could also be God.  I am not sure it matters for the meaning as I think Jeremiah shares God’s grief for the people.

Both God and Jeremiah are “soul sick” over the people’s descent into darkness.  They have chosen the path they are on and it will take great hardship and pain to convince some of them to return: “Come down from your thrones, for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads.” The cities in the Negev will be shut up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away.”

I am struck by the last part of that description “All Judah will be…carried completely away”.  I think in a sense the people were jumping into the arms of their future captors by taking on their idols and customs and not obeying God’s commands.  This trap is ready to ensnare all those who lose sight of the light and pursue paths that lead to darkness.  But the snare has now been broken by God Himself when He came to lead us out of darkness into the light.  We have but to faithfully follow Him.

Prayer: God help us to reject the paths that lead to darkness and follow You into the light.

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