Sun, 23 July, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the LORD’s house and said to all the people: 15 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words.”
In this chapter of Jeremiah, he once again lays out the dire consequences of Israel’s continuing disobedience.
What do we learn from this?
Jeremiah, and the other prophets, clearly presented God’s words to the people. They told the people what God required of the them, how they were failing to do what God required, and what the consequences of their disobedience would be. They also called the people to repent of their actions, turn to God, and seek His mercy.
But there is a limit to God’s patience in sending His word to call the people to repentance. At some point, if they continue in their rebellion, refusing to hear God’s words to them, He will bring about the woes He has promised.
Today, we don’t have God sending men with His message to us. We don’t have prophets like Jeremiah informing us of God’s special revelation to us, speaking what God has directly revealed to them. But we do have the God’s word to us recorded by Jeremiah and the other prophets and apostles, recorded in scripture. We have God’s word expounded to us every Sunday, when the pastor reads the word of God from scripture and explains it.
In this way, we have God’s word, explaining what we are to do, pointing out where we are disobeying God’s command, and calling us to repent of our sin and seek God’s mercy. We have been richly blessed with God’s word. But we had better listen to it and respond to it. There is a limit to God’s patience with us. He has provided His word. We listen to it and obey.
Where is Christ in this passage?
There are temporal consequences for us if we refuse to listen to God’s word. As we see from this chapter of Jeremiah, those consequences can be extremely dire. But dire as they are, the temporal consequences pale when compared to the eternal consequences of refusing to listen to God’s word.
As we see in scripture, all are guilty before God of having sinned against Him. Since the penalty for sin is eternity in hell, all stand before Him condemned to eternal punishment.
However, God, in His great love, has sent Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, to come as a man. Jesus Christ lived the perfect life, completely obeying all of God’s commands. As our representative, He has fulfilled the law. He also died on the cross, bearing the full weight of God’s punishment upon sin. In doing so, He became the substitute for sinners, dying in their place.
Now, God calls all to repent and come to Him, trusting in the Substitute He has sent for salvation. If we believe and trust in Jesus Christ, we will be saved. That is what scripture teaches, from beginning to end. We are told what to do. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ. We are told the consequences if we do not do what God commands. Eternity in hell. And there is a limit to God’s patience with us. When we die, our eternity is sealed. If we die outside of faith in Jesus Christ, we will spend eternity in hell.
