Oct. 31, 2012

Jeremiah 18

The potter and the clay.  We love this imagery.  God has the right to fashion us anyway He chooses.
He is the Potter.   In this passage God is showing Jeremiah that He will take a nation and act according to the evil that nation does or the repentance that nation shows.  Judah has refused to turn back.  They insist on continuing in their stubbornness and evil.  Disaster is coming and they know it, but they will not repent!

Jeremiah has had enough!  He has spoken the Word of the Lord, he has been faithful to do all the Lord has told him to do.  But the people have turned a deaf ear and now they are refusing to listen at all. They have prepared a pit to throw him into.  So, he will no longer try to turn away the wrath of God, but instead asks God to act.

Ch. 19
Another illustration is given from the potter's hand.  This time a earthenware vessel is taken to Topheth and broken into pieces, unrepairable. Here the people of Jerusalem will also be shattered.  Why? 
v4 "because they have forsaken Me."
v4b "because they have filled this pace with the blood of the innocent"
v13 "because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out libations to other gods"
v15 "because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words"

The sins of Judah are the sins of America, aren't they? 
Have we too, forsaken God?  forsaken- azab, to loosen, relinquish, fail, leave.   Many in America have chosen to leave God.  Our laws are being loosened that protect religious freedoms. Atheists seem to have more rights than Christians.  We are a nation in danger.
Have we too filled the land with innocent blood?  People in Israel and Judah were so committed to their false gods that they would even offer their children as burnt sacrifices.  Mannasseh, an evil king offered his own sons and daughters to Baal.  The Lord called this evil. So awful that He would never even think of such a thing!  God valued the life of children.  He still does.   Yet we have a nation that has legalized abortion.  A president who defends such a practice as a right and pridefully calls it a patriotic stand.  We have filled our land with the blood of innocent babies.
Have we too offered sacrifices to the heavenly host?  How many millions of dollars have been spent on missions to Mars and to space?  We may not offer sheep or oxen, but we offer the money that could feed the poor and provide of the needy.
Have we stiffened our neck also?  oh yes, our nation does not want to heed God's Word any more than Israel or Judah. We say the same thing that Judah did, " It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart" 3:12

We are a nation that has turned away from God.  Yet, there are still many who have not forsaken Him also.  Thank You Father that You are still at work in America!  The church is still alive and we must continue to keep our faces turned to Him and obey His Word. We must protect the innocent, keep from defiling our land with false idols. God have mercy on us! Work among us! Purify us! May Your kingdom come!!!
Amen