Principle: Righteous judgment reflects the unchanging nature of God; God is not the One who needs to change; we are, for God changes not (Malachi 3:6).

Historical Context: Jeremiah was a prophet in the 600s B.C. as Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom) were split due to their sin and wickedness. God was judging the nations for their sin, and Jeremiah was God’s prophet to tell hard truths to the people. The goal was restoration and redemption. But the people were recalcitrant and largely unwilling to repent and return to the Lord.

Text:

7 “Though our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against you.

8 O you hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?

9 Why should you be like a man confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not leave us.”

10 Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them;
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.”

11 The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Takeaway & Encouragement: When I survey our current situation domestically and internationally, I think it is both shortsighted and dangerous to not recognize the importance of the theology (the doctrine of God) and spirituality that undergirds our decisions. Behavior reflects belief. We do what we believe, in other words; the rest is mere talk.

Jeremiah told the hard truths to people (and to himself) for the right and noble reasons—out of love for the truth and out of love for the people’s good. Left to themselves, they invariably made a mess of things and judgment fell. May we have the wisdom to not just recognize the theology undergirding every worldview but have the wisdom to repent and return to the unchanging Lord of all righteousness who both raises nations and humbles them.