Jeremiah 4-6 "God's Plan For Deliverance"

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Out of the many priests and prophets during the days of Jeremiah, sadly it appears he was the only one who was truly hearing from God's and lovingly trying to warn the people about God's soon-coming disaster upon Judah. Jeremiah must have felt all alone. The people saw him out of step with what the other prophets were saying. And God hated it!  In fact, in 5:13, God calls his prophets "windbags" who fail to truly hear from Him. As these other prophets doing all they can to convince Judah's leaders that everything will be fine, Jeremiah is the only one prophet hearing from God and trumpeting God's warning to His people. To the average person walking the streets of Jerusalem, Jeremiah is an outcast, a freak, a pessimist, and horrible example of a sideshow gone wrong. To many, he appears to be mentally deranged simply because he isn't prophesying the same message as the other prophets and priests. He's all alone.

In the news recently, I watched a news clip of President Vladimir Putin, the dictator of the nation of Russia, inviting his cabinet into his office and asking their opinions on about his idea of invading the sovereign nation of Ukraine with the idea of expanding his power and presence to control other countries. Now, as a cabinet member, you know what he wants to hear. You know he wants to expand his power to control other nations, and you know that if your advice is in opposition to his plans as well as the advice of the other cabinet members, death or imprisonment could be your fate. On the news clip, this is exactly what happened. He invited each cabinet member to nervously explain "why" they support his idea. In fact, one of the members was very nervous and tried to share his thoughts honestly. But, that's not what Putin wanted. And before the television crew that filmed the meeting and in front of all the other cabinet members, Putin humiliated the man. In the end, the cabinet member agreed with his boss and lived another day. Fear of telling the truth can be excruciating when death is on the line, but Jeremiah didn't care.  He knew God has his back. And, guess what, He has yours too!

As we read these 3 chapters, we begin in chapter 4 seeing how lovingly God calls His people to repent. Like a father who's hurt over the wayward ways of his son or daughter, God cries through the words of Jeremiah and literally begs the people to repent.  Notice how God provides a simple 6 step process of setting things right with Him:

1) "Come back to me" - 4:1

2) "Throw away your idols" - 4:1

3) "Go astray no more" - 4:1

4) "Swear by his name" - which means to be steadfast and diligent in faithfulness to God. - 4:2

5) "Live good, honest lives and uphold justice" - 4:2

6) "Be a blessing to the nations of the world" - 4:2

God's plan is always so simple. But we like to complicate it by doing things our way. We often get in the way of God and tune Him out. That's what Judah and Israel did. They rejected the God who saved them from the bondage of Egypt and led them to the Promised Land where He defeated all the armies throughout the entire region and caused nations to fear Israel and their God.

But the people are so far gone!  They've lost their way. Their hearts have become hardened by sin. That's why God tells them exactly what they need to do to begin the path of coming back to God. He tells them in 4:3 - "Plow up the hard ground of your hearts!" and in 4:4 "surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord."

God offers a sad indictment on His people in 4:22 - "My people are foolish and do not know me,” says the Lord. They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!”

I'd say the same is true today, not just about the nation of Israel, but Christians as well. Many Christians do not "know" the Lord. I mean truly understand and know Him. They don't. Most know a few things about God and a few bible stories, but most NEVER study the Bible. They think they know the bible, but challenge them to a game of bible trivia and watch them get scared!  It's sad that many of them can't remember the 10 commandments, or knows where to find the Sermon on the Mount, or can't even recite the books of the bible - all stuff I learned in my grade school Sunday School class.

God isn't an angry God, He's a loving God who wants His children to feel loved and cherished. However, many forget that He's a holy God also who absolutely abhors sin! God will not tolerate unconfessed sin. He must deal with it at some point because of His holy nature. Like a father who loves and cherishes his son is deeply broken heartened when learning of his son's disobedience and the need to discipline him for it.  As a father, it's deeply painful! Most fathers hate to discipline their children because of their love for them, but they also know they must do it for the ultimate goodly benefit of the child.

The three chapters we read is one compilation of God asking the people to repent, the people not wanting to, and the discipline that must follow that will destroy an entire nation.

Are you following God's will with all your heart?  Not a half-heart, but with ALL YOUR HEART?  If not, break up the fallow ground of your heart, change your heart, come back to God, throw away your detestable idols, live a good honest life with justice, go astray no more, and be a blessing to the world!