Day 200: Lesson from the birds – Jeremiah 7 vs 30 – 8 vs 7.

30-31 “The Judeans have done what is evil in my sight” declares the Lord. “They have set up their abhorrent things in the house that bears my name in order to defile it. They have built the high places of Topheth ('The fireplace') in Ben Hinnom Valley in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought 32-34 “Therefore, look, the days are coming” the Lord’s declares “when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley. Topheth will become a cemetery, because there will be no other burial place. The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away. I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride, for the land will become a desolate waste.

8 vs1-3 “At that time” the Lord declares “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of her officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves. They will be exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky, which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the soil’s surface. Death will be chosen over life by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them.” 

4-6 This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. “You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: Do people fall and not get up again? If they turn away, do they not return? Why have these people turned away? Why is Jerusalem always turning away? They take hold of deceit; they refuse to return. I have paid careful attention. They do not speak what is right. No one regrets his evil, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has stayed his course like a horse rushing into battle. 7 Even storks in the sky know their seasons. Turtledoves, swallows, and cranes are aware of their migration, but my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.” Jeremiah 7:30-8:7 ( From the Christian Standard Bible )

What did the questions that God puts to the people in Chapter 8 vs 4-6 point out?

Surely it was that their actions were contrary to all reasonable behaviour. They stubbornly refused to turn away from their sinful ways and continued rushing headlong towards the terrible punishment that lay before them. God points them to the wonder of bird migrations and how even birds know when it is time to fly to safety. But not so the people of Judea. What was the big reason we see in vs 30-31 for God's anger with them?

They had copied the pagan nation practice of sacrificing children on altars of fire. God had never taught them to do that. It was something Satanic. This was why God would bring the disasters described in vs 32-34 upon them. And can you see how God's punishment was going to fit their other crimes as described in Chapter 8 vs 1-3?

They had become a people who turned to the occult and astrology and the false gods associated with those things, things which God had forbidden. So the armies of Babylon who were coming would even desecrate the graves and their bones would be exposed to the planets and stars that they had put their hopes in.

I know this is heavy stuff and many people won't like reading a book like Jeremiah because it speaks so much of God's judgement. But notice again that God's punishment was only coming because these people were not willing to examine their ways and absolutely refused to repent! (vs 4-6). The world needs to hear what a man like Jeremiah was sent by God to tell rebels. But the good news of the Bible is that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Even the birds of the air know when it's time to fly to safety. The gospel calls us to do the same.