Thursday, 25 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
13 What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?14 Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.
Lamentations is a beautiful and sad book as Jeremiah describes in poetic language the tragic destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Jeremiah shares his great mourning for Israel’s continuing rebellion against God, even as judgment was falling all around them.
What do we learn from this?
In the two verses above, Jeremiah summarizes cause and effect for the situation of Israel of his day. But he lists them in reverse order.
Effect (v 13): There is ruin all around all around. In this chapter, Jeremiah tells us about how babies starved to death (v12) and women ate their own children (v20) due to the famine during the Babylonian siege. The priests and prophets were slaughtered in the temple (v20) and the walls and palaces of the city have been destroyed (v7-8). Jerusalem has been destroyed. But why had God abandoned His people like this?
Cause (v 14): The people had sinned against God, and the religious leaders of the day did not call them to repent. Instead the leaders told them that everything was fine. They did not bring the hard message of exposing sin and the coming judgment while calling for repentance. Instead, the leaders brought a soft message of excusing, condoning and ignoring sin. Their leaders told the people what they wanted to hear rather than confronting them in their sin.
The same is true today. If the leaders of God’s people do not challenge the church to live in accordance with the scriptural standard, God will bring judgment upon the church. The leaders must preach the law in all the terror of its condemnation and call the people to repent. Then they also preach must preach the good news of what God has done for us to save us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
The people do not want to be made uncomfortable. They don’t like to hear about the law and judgment. People prefer to have leaders who will wink at and ignore their sin. But although their lives will be easier for a time because they are not confronted in their sin, it will be much harder in the long run. Because if they have never realized the depths of their sins, they will not realize their need for a Savior. And if they don’t know their need for a Savior, they will not repent of their sin and come to God in faith seeking salvation from the guilt of their sin.
The leaders of God’s people must confront the people in their sins, point them to the Savior, and lead them back to repentance.
Where is Christ in this passage?
God’s prophets are to bring the message of sin and the coming consequences of judgment upon that sin. They are to call the people to repent and turn in faith to God for forgiveness of their sins. And they are to comfort those who have turned from their sins and who are trusting in God, assuring them of God’s forgiveness and restoration.
Jeremiah lamented the false prophets who did not point the people to God and the forgiveness that God promises to those who come to Him in faith. They did not point to the substitute God has provided. These prophets failed because they did not point the people to Jesus Christ.
