Slices
Prepare
Spend a few moments quietly assessing the ways in which you have rejected God’s lordship over your life in recent days. Repent and pray for his mercy.
Bible passage
15 Then the Lord said to me: ‘Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! 2 And if they ask you, “Where shall we go?” tell them, “This is what the Lord says:
‘“Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.”
3 ‘I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,’ declares the Lord, ‘the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
5 ‘Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are?
6 You have rejected me,’ declares the Lord.
‘You keep on backsliding.
So I will reach out and destroy you;
I am tired of holding back.
7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,
for they have not changed their ways.
8 I will make their widows more numerous
than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
anguish and terror.
9 The mother of seven will grow faint
and breathe her last.
Her sun will set while it is still day;
she will be disgraced and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword
before their enemies,’
declares the Lord.
10 Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,
a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!
I have neither lent nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses me.
11 The Lord said,
‘Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead with you
in times of disaster and times of distress.
12 ‘Can a man break iron –
iron from the north – or bronze?
13 ‘Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as plunder, without charge,
because of all your sins
throughout your country.
14 I will enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for my anger will kindle a fire
that will burn against you.’
15 Lord, you understand;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.
You are long-suffering – do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.
16 When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
Lord God Almighty.
17 I never sat in the company of revellers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails.
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
‘If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wall to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,’
declares the Lord.
21 ‘I will save you from the hands of the wicked
and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.’
Explore
It is never easy to read of God’s judgement. What is reassuring is that his judgement is not arbitrary or capricious. We are given freedom by God to make our own choices, but those choices have consequences. This is one of the key things that parents seek to teach their children. God’s people have consistently rejected him, and they are now facing his judgement (vs 1–9).
Jesus expresses a similar thought with an ache in his heart: ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem … how often I have longed to gather your children together … and you were not willing’ (Matthew 23:37).
Jeremiah, as a faithful prophet, has prayed and pleaded for God’s mercy on the people of Judah (14:7–9,19–22). We are called to do the same and pray for those around us who are not yet Christians. However, Judah’s sin and rejection of God is so deep and so persistent that judgement is going to come (vs 6–9). There have been many warnings and opportunities for repentance (13:15–27), but all have been ignored.
Jeremiah continues to bring his complaints to God (vs 10–18) and is given a personal promise (vs 19–21). He never gives up being faithful to his hard call and we should never give up praying for those who resist God’s call on their lives.
Respond
Pray for five people you know who have not yet softened their heart towards Jesus.
Deeper Bible study
Without wallowing, acknowledge before God the situations and issues that are getting you down.
The singer Martyn Joseph tells of his visit to a Palestinian refugee camp, the horror and anger he felt at the injustice of the situation and the inspiration he received from Abed, a children’s theatre organiser, who carried on straining for peace and justice for his children because he couldn’t afford ‘the luxury of despair’.1 Jeremiah would have echoed that sentiment.
In the face of a weary God, committed to subjecting Judah to endless punishments because he gave them every chance and they still spurned him, Jeremiah is on the verge of giving up. ‘I’ve tried. What more can I do?’ (see v 10). Then, in the midst of personal persecution and anguish, he tentatively reaches out to God: ‘remember me and care for me’ (v 15). Why? Because, like Judah at the start of the passage, he has to ask, ‘Where shall we go?’ (v 2). Judah goes to punishment. Jeremiah goes to the only one who can save and deliver (v 21) and he is not let down.
Peter gave a similar response to Jesus.2 There was grumbling in the camp at the severity of Jesus’ teaching. Many followers had left. When given that same option, Peter’s reply was stark. Since he had met the Holy One of God, what other options were there? It wasn’t a case of ‘any port in a storm’. There was only one port worth berthing at.
It would be easy sometimes to despair at the state of the world in which we live, at breakdowns within our family and friendship relationships, at the wreckage of our personal lives. However, by turning again and again to God, there is the promise of restoration, protection and deliverance. It’s the only way we have and the only one worth taking.
Physically turn yourself in a different direction. Use the new view as a stimulus for a period of praise and thankfulness to God for his faithfulness, especially in trying circumstances.
1 Martyn’s song ‘The Luxury of Despair’ can be found on his album Sanctuary 2 John 6:68,69
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Samuel 29–31; 1 Corinthians 2
Pray for Scripture Union
Give thanks for all the Faith Guides across the country, for their passion and commitment to the Revealing Jesus framework. Pray for their work with the 95 that God will equip them and give them all they need to walk alongside children and young people as they explore the Christian faith.
