READ Jeremiah 9–12
Patterns in the OT give insight into trials and struggles in the NT and even today. Back then, God made a covenant with His people but they didn’t keep it, despite His warnings about sin’s consequences. Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ took away eternal damnation yet those who believe still need to obey. We have new life in Christ to enable godly living and the love of God motivates changed behavior. However, sin has consequences, not always lifted by grace but experienced as a result of sinful choices.
In the OT, this is vividly described as God speaks through His prophets. He tells His people to beware of deceivers and liars who refuse to know Him and instead make and worship idols. The consequence is a ruined land that no one wants to pass through, bitter food, poisoned water, scattered lives and death. (Jeremiah 9:4–16) The people were relying on other things and the Lord said:
“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)
His people are supposed to be different from the world. He said: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them . . . .” (Jeremiah 10:1–2) and this thought is repeated in the NT:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)
Also, the Word of God mocks idols, saying they “are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.” (Jeremiah 10:5) Instead, God’s people should honor Him:
There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood! . . . . But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. (Jeremiah 10:6–10)
God made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. He controls the weather, including lightning and wind. In comparison, mere mortals are “stupid and without knowledge.” Those who make idols are put to shame for these “images are false, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.” It is God who “formed all things . . . the Lord of hosts is his name.” (Jeremiah 10:12–16)
Like Jeremiah, I know that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man to direct his steps. I also want Him to correct me, but in justice; not in anger. I know that the evil I see is related to why that “gentle lamb led to the slaughter” is hated by evil people who want to destroy Him along with those who believe in Him, cutting us off from the land of the living, that His name be remembered no more. (Jeremiah 11:19) At the same time, I sometimes ask, as Jeremiah did:
Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? . . . . How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”
And with Jeremiah I hear the answer from God. If I live safely right now and complain against evil, how will I manage when it moves in next door? Life could be much worse!
He also reminds me that anyone who repents will turn to Him, but those who do no listen will be destroyed. In other words, God still reigns. I can trust Him to care for me and rely on Him to take care of the messes in this world. I also know that sin still has consequences and that is one more reason that obedience is vital.
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