Prayer Can Save a Nation
June 10, 2021
Commentary
While the heathen worship gods they had made, the Bible tells us that the Almighty God made us and all things by His power (v. 12). This is quite a contrast from the lifeless idols who can do nothing! At His command, there is a multitude of water in the heavens, which are poured out on the earth, whether for judgment or mercy as He plans them (v. 13). Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for there is no breath in them (v. 14). People who make idols are stupid and they will be disappointed, because their false gods are not alive. Idols are a joke, and when the time is right, they will be destroyed (v. 15). Israel’s God, created all things, and chose Israel to be His very own (v. 16).
After discussing the superiority of God to idols (vv. 1-16), Jeremiah continued his temple address by describing the coming destruction and exile (vv. 17-22). He identified himself with the pain of the people and prayed for God to be merciful to His people (vv. 18-19). He asked God to remember they were a weak people and didn’t know the right way. He points out that because the political and spiritual leaders didn’t seek the Lord, the people were led astray (vv. 20-21). We see from the result of the sins of the leaders (her prophets and her priests) that disaster and judgment came and a nation went into captivity. The prophet utters a prayer. He prays first that God will not chastise his people with mathematical exactness, but that in wrath he will remember mercy (vv. 23-25). The prayer is a request for retribution to be poured out upon those who have ravaged God’s people and their land.
Application
This reminds me of the leadership in our nation today. God has told me the remedy if I will but heed it! “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (II Chron. 7:14). Lord help me to follow your instruction.
Jeremiah 10:12– 25 (NET)
12 The Lord is the one who by his power made the earth. He is the one who by his wisdom established the world. And by his understanding he spread out the skies.
13 When his voice thunders, the heavenly ocean roars. He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons. He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain. He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.
14 All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.
15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.
16 The Lord, who is the inheritance of Jacob’s descendants, is not like them. He is the one who created everything. And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own. His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
17 “Gather your belongings together and prepare to leave the land, you people of Jerusalem who are being besieged.
18 For the Lord says, ‘I will now throw out those who live in this land. I will bring so much trouble on them that they will actually feel it.’
19 And I cried out, ‘We are doomed! Our wound is severe!’ We once thought, ‘This is only an illness. And we will be able to bear it.’
20 But our tents have been destroyed. The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart. Our children are gone and are not coming back. There is no survivor to put our tents back up, no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.
21 For our leaders are stupid. They have not sought the Lord’s advice. So they do not act wisely, and the people they are responsible for have all been scattered.
22 Listen! News is coming even now. The rumble of a great army is heard approaching from a land in the north. It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble, places where only jackals live.
23 Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.
24 Correct us, Lord, but only in due measure. Do not punish us in anger or you will reduce us to nothing.
25 Vent your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you. Vent it on the peoples who do not worship you. For they have destroyed the people of Jacob. They have completely destroyed them and left their homeland in utter ruin.”
Illustration: God Helped Me Find My Check Book
One day my family was traveling down the interstate in Indiana pulling a travel trailer. I heard a strange sound so stopped and went to the back of the car and found a loose chain. I hooked it up and got back in the car and traveled to our home in Ohio. The next day I needed our check book but couldn’t find it. We prayed and asked the Lord to help us find it. A few days later a letter came stating a mother and her little girl found our check book and signed it sincerely in Christ. God answers prayer even in the little things. (Lou Nicholes – Missionary/Author).