Day 172: How strong is God? - Jeremiah 5 vs 20 -31

20-22 “Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. 23-25 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest. Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.’”

26-28 “For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. 29 Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?”

30-31  An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes? Jeremiah 5:20-31 From the English Standard Version

Speaking through His servant Jeremiah God put a very important question to the people when He asked “Do you not fear me – do you not tremble before me?” What evidence does God give in vs 20-22 why they ought to to afraid of fighting against Him?

If even the pounding waves of the ocean can't overcome the ribbons of sand that God sets, how could these weak people think they could ever win against God? They were denying their physical senses of sight and sound. That's true of people all over the world. The Bible teaches that “what can be known about God is evident, because God has shown it to us. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made.” (Romans 1:18-20) The awesome world around us tells us everyday how strong God really is. What was one of the sad results of their not fearing God and walking in humility before Him? (vs 23-25)

If they'd used their eyes and ears they would've realized that it is this all-powerful God who is in control of even the weather and the seasons. And because of their rebellious lives He had had not blessed them with good harvests.

Verses 26-28 give some very descriptive pictures of the how sinful they'd become. They trapped people ‘like a cage full of birds’ – there were ‘no limits’ to the evil they got up to. No wonder God says: “Shall I not punish them for these things, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?” (vs 29) And, if that wasn’t bad enough, vs 30-31 tell us that the prophets and priests supported one another in all the corruption that was taking place. So what do vs 26-31 tell us about the sort of things God wants to see in our lives?

I think the answer can be found in the words of Micah – one of the prophets who stayed faithful to God. He said: “God has told you what is good; and what does the Lord require of you - but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8.

What about us? Do we take in what are our eyes and ears tell us each day? Do you ever take time to look at the awe inspiring world around you and say to yourself: “God must be so strong to create all these things, and to keep them all under His control.”? And when we look at the life of Jesus Christ, we see that same power in action. Like the Father, He too is to be both feared and loved. (See note below)

For anyone who uses these notes on a daily basis, I am changing the order the posts appear and from this coming Monday the first post of the week will be in Luke’s Gospel, followed on Tuesday by Deuteronomy.