Response To a World Dying in Sin
January 24, 2023
Commentary
Jeremiah pictured the panic of the people when God’s judgment began. They would flee to the fortified cities knowing that God had doomed them to perish. Their hope for peace was gone and the terror of the Babylonians filled the land. As the enemies’ horses stampeded from the North the land trembled as it waited in dread for the army to come and devour it (vv. 13-17). The people of Judah felt doomed and look for protection from the coming judgment (vv. 14-16). From Dan, the northern part of Palestine, the war-horses of the approaching enemy can be heard (v. 16). The foe was so awesome in its advance that their approaching “horses” and “strong ones” seem to make the land tremble. Much as in (Num. 21:6-9), judgment comes upon the people in the form of “vipers” (v. 17). Here, however, there is no deliverance from their bite.
Those captured by the Babylonians wondered how their city could have fallen since God’s temple was there. In anguish they questioned if God was no longer there (vv. 18-19). God’s response was that Jerusalem’s destruction was brought on by their sin and not by His absence. He had given the people every opportunity to repent, but they continued to rebel. At this point in his temple message, Jeremiah breaks out into a heart rendering cry for his doomed people, uttering these pitiful words, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved.” (v. 20). Harvest and summer represents the two successive phases of the harvest season. The grain harvest was from April to June. The fruit harvest was later. If the first failed, the people could still look forward to the second. However, if both failed, famine was inevitable. For Judah the harvest season was over; no fruit had been stored for the winter and the people would not be saved (v. 21). Instead of pleading for mercy, the unrepentant and indifferent people continue with desperate and hopeless frustration .Gilead was famous for its balsam, which had medicinal properties for treating wounds (v. 22).
Application
Jeremiah responded with sorrow to a world dying in sin. I walk in a world still dying in sin. What is my response? Only when I have Jeremiah’s kind of compassion will I be moved to help.
Jeremiah 8:13– 22 (NET)
13 I will take away their harvests, says the Lord. There will be no grapes on their vines. There will be no figs on their fig trees. Even the leaves on their trees will wither. The crops that I gave them will be taken away.’”
14 The people say, “Why are we just sitting here? Let us gather together inside the fortified cities. Let us at least die there fighting, since the Lord our God has condemned us to die. He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment because we have sinned against him.
15 We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it. We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror.
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses is already being heard in the city of Dan. The sound of the neighing of their stallions causes the whole land to tremble with fear. They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it. They are coming to destroy the cities and everyone who lives in them.”
17 The Lord says, “Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes that cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.”
18 Then I said, “There is no cure for my grief! I am sick at heart!
19 I hear my dear people crying out throughout the length and breadth of the land. They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is her divine King no longer there?’” The Lord answers, “Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?
20 They cry, ‘Harvest time has come and gone and the summer is over, and still we have not been delivered.’
21 My heart is crushed because my dear people are being crushed. I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay.
22 There is still medicinal ointment available in Gilead! There is still a physician there! Why then have my dear people not been restored to health?
Illustration: Moody Trust in God Not Yourself or Money
“Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment. Trust in money and you may have it taken from you; But trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.” (D.L. Moody From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Trusting)