2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” – Jeremiah 36:2-3
Turn or burn
You have heard the expression. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once preached a sermon with the title. The text he preached from was Psalm 7:11-12.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow.
God is loving. God is long-suffering. In His grace, He warns us of the consequences of our sins and gives us time to repent. As I mentioned in the last devotion, to ignore the Word of God is foolishness. Unfortunately, as we look at today’s text from Jeremiah, we see foolishness exemplified.
Verse 1 tells us that this warning came during the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah. This date is significant. Chapter 46 tells us that this was the year that Babylon conquered Egypt. After Pharoah Neco killed King Josiah, Judah had been subject to the rule of Egypt. Although they were a vassal of Egypt, God has been warning His people of an imminent and greater danger of an enemy from the North. The people seemed indifferent. Hard to believe we can not take God seriously despite the fact that one prophecy after another is fulfilled before our eyes. One might think Nebuchadnezzar and his approaching army would get the attention of God’s children. Just in case, God is giving Jeremiah another warning. Disaster is at your doorstep. Turn so I can forgive your iniquity and sin. Or else.
Man’s Sin & God’s Heart
Can you hear the longing of God? Can you feel the passion of His heart? Look at Psalm 7 closely. “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.” Talking about sin is not politically correct. It is not popular. It is not the way to fill an auditorium. But it is the loving thing to do. Like the children of Israel in the days of Jeremiah, man still has a problem with sin. And so does God. It makes Him angry. He extends His hand of mercy and too often men slap it. He offers His grace and men reject it. In so doing, by default, they are choosing the fires of hell. Turn or burn.
“It may be…that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” God’s passion for sinners sent Jesus to the cross. In the death and resurrection of Christ, God offers the only means of salvation from sin. To avoid condemnation, man must repent of his sins and place his faith in the atoning work of Christ’s shed blood.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” – John 3:16-18
Life in Christ
Apart from Christ, men stand condemned and are destined to perish. This is not my opinion but is the truth. This is what God says in His Word. His Word of warning. The Words He inspired Jeremiah to write down were fulfilled. His children suffered the consequences just as He told them and so will we if we do not turn. God takes sin very seriously and so should we. Now is not a time to ignore. Now is not a time to procrastinate. Now is the time to heed God’s warning and turn from your sins. Perhaps Jesus can convince you.
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” – Luke 16:19-31