Old Sandals

And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.   Jeremiah 25:33

If we think our destiny is in our own hands or that we are in this magnificient universe all by ourselves, we are sadly mistaken.  The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.  He is the Judge.  He is the Only Savior.  Fall on your knees.

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans.  For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.   Jeremiah 24:5-7

I will give them a heart to know Me.  We are mortal, sinful, self-centered.  None of us are God-seekers, on our own.  The grace of God is prevenient, and enables us to respond to God in faith.  But still we must respond.  God won’t (can’t) do that for us.

Am I a God near at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? says the Lord; Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.   Jeremiah 23:23-24

Things are not what they seem.  We live and move and have our being in God, and in His kingdom.  Indeed, His Kingdom is upon us.  There is a mystical reality to life that is more real than the things I can see with my eyes or hold in my hands.  This is not just a fantasy. It is not a fantasy precisely because some day in God’s future I will see with my eyes; the faith will be sight, the clouds will be rolled back as a scroll, as the beloved hymn says.  If God is near to us now, how much nearer will He be then?

O earth, earth, earth—hear the word of the Lord!   Jeremiah 22:29

The word of the Lord is the gospel.  It is a clear word.  But it is not, relatively speaking, a loud word.  There is loudness—noise—all around us.  Bombarding our ears.  Inside our heads.  The word of the Lord, the gospel, is really that still, small voice crying in the wilderness of our everyday life:  “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.  Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Shut up and listen, and obey.

I have seen your adulteries and your lustful neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?   Jeremiah 13:27

The idolatry of Jerusalem was a vile thing in the eyes of the LORD, and likened to the animal cravings of the beasts in the field,  and to the brash lewdness of the harlots in the dark alleys of the city.

For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, My fierce anger, says the Lord;  and I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them. I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes, says the Lord. But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam, says the Lord.   Jeremiah 49:37-39

I will bring back…The Lord is fierce in judgement, yet in His wrath He remembers mercy.  Who is this God?

For because you have trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken. And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together.   Jeremiah 48:7

Chemosh was the pagan god of the Moabites, or one of them at least.  He never was the real  God, only a false, powerless idol.  His day, and day of all those who worshipped him, is now at an end.

At the noise of the stamping hooves of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers will not look back for  their children, lacking courage.   Jeremiah 47:3

The LORD is here announcing the destruction of the Philistines, a sinful and cowardly nation.

Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, says the Lord, for I  am  with you; for I will make a complete end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, for I will not leave you wholly unpunished.   Jeremiah 46:28

The LORD intends His punishment to be restorative, but if it is resisted, it is destructive, without restoration.

And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts: You shall certainly drink! For behold, I begin to bring calamity on the city which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord of hosts.   Jeremiah 25:28-29

Wickedness will not forever go unpunished.  The great punishment that comes as a result of wickedness is internal, not external. It is what sin and rebellion turns one into.  Sin is the abolition of man.