How frustrating must it have been for a prophet to be just laughed at instead of taken seriously? Does the world still ignore the warnings in the Bible? Let’s look at Jeremiah 6.
What warning about Jerusalem and nearby localities did Jeremiah give?
Run for your lives, people of Benjamin. Get out of Jerusalem. Sound a trumpet in Tekoa and light a signal fire in Beth-Haccherem. Soon you will be struck by disaster from the north. Jerusalem is a lovely pasture, but shepherds will surround it and divided up, then let their flocks eat all the grass. Kings will tell their troops, “If we reach Jerusalem in the morning, we'll attack at noon. But if we arrive later, we'll attack after dark and destroy its fortresses.” (Jer 6:1-5 CEV)
Why was God disgusted with Jerusalem as a city that must be punished?
For thus says the Lord of hosts: “Cut down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her. As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me. Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.” (Jer 6:6-8 ESV)
Would the people listen to such a warning? Would we listen today?
This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches. Who can I speak to and give such a warning that they will listen? Look, their ear is uncircumcised, so they cannot pay attention. See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them—they find no pleasure in it. But I am full of the Lord’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. Pour it out on the children in the street, on the gang of young men as well. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old with the very old. Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land. This is the Lord’s declaration. (Jer 6:9-12 HCSB)
What are some of the specific faults of the inhabitants of Jerusalem?
“Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they’re all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully. They treated my people’s wound superficially, telling them, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. Were they ashamed because they did what was repugnant to God? They were not ashamed at all—they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore they’ll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they’ll be brought down,” says the Lord. (Jer 6:13-15 ISV)
Are religious sacrifices without a change of heart useless?
Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish. (Jer 6:16-21 KJV)
Because of their sins, was a foreign invasion from the north predicted?
Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north, And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth. They take hold of bow and spear; They are cruel and have no compassion; Their voice roars like the sea, And they ride on horses, Arranged as a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion!” We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp. Distress has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth.
Do not go out into the field And do not walk on the road, For the enemy has a sword; Terror is on every side. O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth And roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us. (Jer 6:22-26 LSB)
Like an assayer of metal being refined, does Jeremiah reject the quality of his own nation?
“I have made you an assayer and an examiner among My people, So that you may know and put their way to the test.” All of them are stubbornly rebellious, Going about as a slanderer; They are bronze and iron. They are, all of them, corrupt. The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes on, But the wicked are not separated. They call them rejected silver, Because the Lord has rejected them. (Jer 6:27-30 NASB)
Did Jesus echo verse 16 by promising rest for our souls in Him? Because Jesus gave no Sabbath command, is this a transformation of that law into the Spirit of the law?
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Mat 11:29 NIV)
How frustrating must it have been for a prophet to be just laughed at instead of taken seriously? Does the world still ignore the warnings in the Bible? You decide!
