Lifted Skirts...

 Jeremiah 13:25 This is your lot,
    the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.
26 I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
    and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen your abominations,
    your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings,
    on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
    How long will it be before you are made clean?”

God had repeatedly called His people to repent and turn back to Him. Jeremiah had even interceded on their behalf when he saw the severe judgment and exile that lie before them, yet they would not turn away from their sin and idolatry. God now used the "shame" approach. We may not be as impacted as they were in that day because we are not much of a shame/honor culture, but the message is still clear. Their immorality was rampant. To have one's skirt lifted (male or female) was total humiliation. God was going to show how unfaithful they had been to them, make them totally vulnerable, and execute judgment. Yet, notice how He ends: there is still hope for them to be made clean? What shame will it take?

What the Lord Delights in...

Jeremiah 9:23 Thus says the Lord: “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, 24 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.” 25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

Israel got so much wrong. But are we any better? They clung to the externals, while God is looking for actions related to the heart.  They compared and contrasted themselves to the pagan nations around them, thinking they were so much better, but their hearts were not truly devoted to God. When God says He delights in something, He is telling us what He really cares about, is passionate about, pursues as His purpose. He wants us to first and foremost pursue Him, to know and understand Him, and then because of that act as He acts. What do we delight in?

Do You Have a Stiff Neck?

Jeremiah 7: 22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 24 But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. 25 From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

Chapter after chapter of Jeremiah hits the reason all these judgments are coming upon Judah and Jerusalem: a refusal to listen to God.  He had not been overbearing and demanding, but calling them to turn their hearts and ears to Him, recognizing that He had chosen them, cared for them, and had the best plan for them.  But they repeatedly "stiffened their neck", refusing to turn their ears or their hearts to Him, insisting on their own way- the wrong way, the way backward and not forward.  How do we do the same today, just to say: "I did it my way."?

The Infiltration of Evil...

 

Jeremiah 5:

23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
    they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their hearts,
    ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season,
    the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these away,
    and your sins have kept good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people;
    they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap; they catch men.

As Jeremiah continues to warp his people of the impending judgment due to their rebellion, he looks everywhere for those who still fear the Lord, but he cannot find them. Poor and rich, unlearned and educated, even religious and governmental leaders all lack the fear of God. Wickedness had permeated the whole of their culture and institutions. There was a deeply rooted stubbornness of rejecting God and thereby missing out on His blessings.  Can we identify? Are we a part of the problem?

Can You See and Feel the Anguish?

 

Jeremiah 4: 22 “For my people are foolish; they know me not;

they are stupid children; they have no understanding.

They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.”

23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void;
    and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
    and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no man,
    and all the birds of the air had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,
    and all its cities were laid in ruins
    before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

God had sent Jeremiah to warn them that judgment was coming, yet they refused to repent. This left Jeremiah in total anguish.  He cried out over the foolishness and sin of his people. God helped him see what it would look like when that judgment came: a lack of light and life; total desolation. There was nothing left but the quaking of the mountains and the shaking of his heart.  Can we feel it and see it like Jeremiah did. Do we plead as he did? 

When You Turn Your Back on God...

Jeremiah 2:26

“As a thief is shamed when caught,
    so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets,
27 who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
    and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me, and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us!’
28 But where are your gods that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble;
for as many as your cities are your gods, O Judah.

Just as the northern tribes of Israel had turn from the Lord to trust in idols, so did Judah. Isaiah had focused mostly on the former; Jeremiah on the latter.  They not only stopped looking to and worshipping Him; they turned completely away from His path to follow these idols away from Him altogether. When times of trouble came, they expected Him to come running after them to deliver them. He right asked (and still asks): Why don't you call out to these false gods you have been worshipping?" Simple answer: They cannot deliver. 

The Hope for Rescue...

 Isaiah 49:24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
    or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
    and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
    and I will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
    and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
    that I am the Lord your Savior,
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Once again, after describing the fierce and ruthless tyranny of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, God reminds His people of what He is able to do.  In the animal world, when we see a predator grab hold of its prey, we usually see things as impossible. In the world of wars, we see large nations gobble up small and weak. The end.  But God sees much differently, more clearly. He is able to rescue. He can rescue those caught and trapped by sin.