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.

The Redeemer Who Raises up Ruins...

 Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
    who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things,
    who alone stretched out the heavens,
    who spread out the earth by myself,
25 who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,
26 who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, 

‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’;

After reminding His people that He is nothing like the other gods around them, God then reminded them that He is the Redeemer, Who made them in the first place, and now was going to buy them back from their sin and rebellion and restore them to their land. He is not just some upstart who comes along for a quick show; He has been there from the beginning and will be there at the end. Idols are invented; kings come and go; the True and Living God endures for ever and is able to pay the price to redeem us, and amazingly, He wants us back.

He Is the Only One...

Isaiah 43:

24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
    you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 “I, I am he
    who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
    and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
    set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

Israel was in a mess, pure and simple.  They had a history of rebellion against God, turning to idols, and having their society and lives go down the tubes. Who could help them? Only He. No one else had the where-with-all to do so. It was simply a matter of them admitting so and calling out to Him. They resisted. So do we. He challenges us to state our case, proclaim our innocence, and come up with another Savior.  We've got nothing. He puts it clearly and concisely earlier in the chapter: 11 I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. Why do we, individually or corporately persist to claim our innocence and/or ability to save?

One Source of "Good News"

 Isaiah 41:25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
    from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name;
he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
    as the potter treads clay.
26 Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
    and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?
There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
    none who heard your words.
27 I was the first to say to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”
    and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

As Isaiah transitions from warning after warning of judgment to a message of hope, God asks the question: "Where does this good news come from?" He answers in part by making it clear that it is NOT from any of the idols or false gods Israel had been trusting in. Truly good news comes from the only One who knows what true good is: God Himself. If you are wallowing in a sea of bad news today, turn to the Source of Good News and see what He has to say? He is right all the time.