Thursday, January
18, 2018
This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a
clay jar. Then ask some of the leaders
of the people and of the priests to follow you.
Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley
of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message.
Say to them, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord, you kings of
Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! This is
what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will bring a terrible disaster on this
place, and the ears of those who hear about it will ring! “‘For Israel has forsaken me and turned this
valley into a place of wickedness. The
people burn incense to foreign gods—idols never before acknowledged by this
generation, by their ancestors, or by the kings of Judah. And they have filled this place with the blood
of innocent children. They have built
pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I have never commanded such a horrible deed;
it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing! So beware, for the time is coming, says
the Lord, when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the
valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. “‘For I will upset the careful plans of Judah
and Jerusalem. I will allow the people
to be slaughtered by invading armies, and I will leave their dead bodies as
food for the vultures and wild animals. I
will reduce Jerusalem to ruins, making it a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will
gasp at the destruction they see there. I
will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is
gone. Then those trapped inside will eat
their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’ “As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the
jar you brought. Then say to them, ‘This
is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter
the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the
garbage dump, until there is no more room for them. This is what I will do to this place and its
people, says the Lord. I will cause
this city to become defiled like Topheth.
Yes, all the houses in Jerusalem, including the palace of Judah’s kings,
will become like Topheth—all the houses where you burned incense on the
rooftops to your star gods, and where liquid offerings were poured out to your
idols.’” Then Jeremiah returned from
Topheth, the garbage dump where he had delivered this message, and he stopped
in front of the Temple of the Lord. He said to the people there, “This
is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will bring disaster upon this city and its
surrounding towns as I promised, because you have stubbornly refused to listen
to me.’” Jeremiah 19:1-15(NLT)
There are some parts of
Scripture which, beyond setting the context, need very little comment; Jeremiah
preached a very clear sermon that day. When
a nation stubbornly digs its heels in the sand, refusing to follow God, all
hope for that nation is empty.
Jerusalem had entered the
no-hope zone. The shattering nations of
the North were gathering on the horizon and God’s people were still offering incense
to statues and burning their children on the town garbage heap. Having become a world power because the hand
of God had strengthened them against all enemies, Jerusalem was about to be
broken to pieces like so many discarded clay pots. And, despite the reality that was threatening
utter destruction, they were as proud as an emperor wearing an invisible suit
of clothes to the parade.
America: superpower, a nation under ONE
God?
·
Our diversity of conflicting
faiths says not
·
Our aborted babies strewn
on the law books proclaim otherwise
·
Our obsession with sex
laughs at terms like adultery
· Our preoccupation and love of money and power are hardly Godly
This list is only the tip
of a sordid, shameful iceberg.
We need to take a lesson
from Jeremiah!
For You
Today
Many who call themselves
Christian stand quickly to reverence the flag, which is simply due respect for
one’s homeland. However, in the larger
picture, it is getting more difficult for a committed disciple of Jesus Christ
to honor a nation that lives like the Jerusalem of old – shattered pots on the
garbage heap.
So, where does your
bedrock loyalty fall?
