Aye Yai Yai!

Jeremiah 5

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“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the LORD . “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.

Jeremiah 5:1

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Aye Yai Yai! Can you imagine the despair Jeremiah must have been feeling? Especially when God says, just find one person who is just and honest, and I will spare the coming destruction.

JUST ONE!

This must have made a grown man cry like a baby.

JUST ONE! 

But chapter 5 of Jeremiah tells us, Judah set their faces like stone, refused to repent, and continued to rebel. There wasn’t even ONE. In verse 6, we see that their sins are described as MANY!

We can be a whole lot like Judah. When we set our minds on this world, we can also be swept up in much sin. 

Jeremiah was a lone voice to the people of Judah. Even their own prophets are described as WINDBAGS. (v. 13) Although serious and sad, this description makes me chuckle just a bit. We all know folks who might fit the windbag category: a lot of verbiage and not a lot of accompanying wisdom.

These prophets were talking, but nothing of value was coming out. They made up the facts and played down truth.

Here is the thing: God takes it very seriously when those meant to shepherd his children are just blowing hot air. So seriously, in fact, that in the very next verse (v. 14), God gives the words coming from Jeremiah’s mouth some real power. We are told Jeremiah’s words had the ability to flame out of his mouth, burning the people like kindling wood. In other words, they would totally get the message that God is serious here! 

Have you no respect for me?
    Why don’t you tremble in my presence?

I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline
    as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.

The waves may toss and roar,
    but they can never pass the boundaries I set.

 But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
    They have turned away and abandoned me.

Jeremiah 5:22-23

The people of Judah, didn’t hear the hoofbeat of the oncoming armies, but Jeremiah certainly did. No wonder he had to weep!

Judah’s wickedness deprived them of some wonderful blessings. (v. 25) God told his people it was their sin that robbed them of these GOOD THINGS.

Chapter 5 closes out with words that should send shivers up the readers spine. A horrible thing has happened. The prophets give false prophecies! The priests rule with an iron hand! But worse than all those sad things, JUDAH LIKES IT THAT WAY! They loved their delusional life. Ignorance was, well, blissful! But only for a short while.

Okay, so what do you and I do with this? Is there anything we can learn from this interaction between God, Jeremiah and the people of Judah?

I think we, too, must put our ears to the pavement and listen for oncoming hoofbeats. Now as believers in Jesus, we are not under condemnation, but God certainly still corrects a believers lifestyle that is sinful. He does it because he loves us. We need to listen and learn when God speaks to us.

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The bottom line is our salvation as believers completely rests in Jesus’ work on the cross. The cross was and is enough. But God has some amazing things for us as believers, some benefits of being his child. The abundant life of John 10:10 being one of those things. The spirit-filled life is a life that is full, abundant, overflowing and oh, SO good! Sadly, we also can be content in our sin and miss the good things God has for us. So, today let’s take a minute and let God speak to us about our lives.

Let’s make sure we are listening and making the changes needed.

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