When the Fire Falls

 

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Again the Lord spoke to me and said, “I have discovered a conspiracy against me among the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  They have returned to the sins of their ancestors.  They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping other gods.  Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.  Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am going to bring calamity upon them, and they will not escape.  Though they beg for mercy, I will not listen to their cries.  Then the people of Judah and Jerusalem will pray to their idols and burn incense before them.  But the idols will not save them when disaster strikes!  Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns.  You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.  “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah.  Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress.  “What right do my beloved people have to come to my Temple, when they have done so many immoral things?  Can their vows and sacrifices prevent their destruction?  They actually rejoice in doing evil!  I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit.  But now I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken.  “I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed.  For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, arousing my anger by burning incense to Baal.”  Jeremiah 11:9-17

Fire can be good or bad, depending on how it is used.  In the kitchen it is a wonderful presence, helping to prepare a delicious meal.  In a dry forest it is a death knell for wildlife’s habitat.  The same is true in spiritual matters. 

God’s Holy Spirit is sometimes represented as holy fire, such as at the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit energized the birth of Jesus’ church[1].  Fire is also a reminder of God’s judgment.  Jesus often taught of God’s love, but the theme of judging those who say no to God’s ways was always close at hand.  When teaching his disciples about His love for them, and how vital it was to stay close to him, enabling God’s mission to bring His love to the world, Jesus whispered the consequences of refusing…the fire would fall.  And, unlike the good fire of God’s presence on Pentecost, it would be the consuming fires of God’s judgment:

Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers.  Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.  John 15:6

The theme of judgment for sin is laced all the way through Scripture, from Cain’s killing of his brother in Genesis, thru Revelation’s Great White Throne judgment[2].

In Jeremiah’s prophecy it is hard to miss how clearly God said that it was He, Who was responsible for the woes that would fall on His people because they had wantonly broken their covenant vows with God.  God also claimed it was His right to do so, because it was He Who called and blessed them…He had planted the olive tree of Judah’s Jerusalem, and it would be God causing the fire to fall.

For You Today

Among most of the world’s once-Christian churches there is a deadly coldness when it comes to Pentecost’s fire.  They are like ovens without heat, only housing a possibility.  But, as it was with the prophets, it is not too late for the remnant of God’s people to return to faithfullness:

Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.  Amos 5:15

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these:                                                            

After the Party and A Pathway Through the Darkness

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

---

[1] See Acts 2:1-4

[2] See Revelation 8:7 & 16:9

After the Party

[i][ii]

Monday, March 25, 2019

Again the Lord spoke to me and said, “I have discovered a conspiracy against me among the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  They have returned to the sins of their ancestors.  They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping other gods.  Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.  Therefore, this is what the Lord says:  I am going to bring calamity upon them, and they will not escape.  Though they beg for mercy, I will not listen to their cries.  Then the people of Judah and Jerusalem will pray to their idols and burn incense before them.  But the idols will not save them when disaster strikes!  Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns.  You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.  “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah.  Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress.  “What right do my beloved people have to come to my Temple, when they have done so many immoral things?  Can their vows and sacrifices prevent their destruction?  They actually rejoice in doing evil!  I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit.  But now I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken.  “I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed.  For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, arousing my anger by burning incense to Baal.”  Jeremiah 11:9-17

While we’re deeply-immersed in the Season of Lent, the Scriptures abound in darkness.  There is little joy in Jeremiah’s weeping over God declaring imminent judgment coming against Israel and Judah for their sins.  However, the entire theme of Lent is judgment for sins!  Therefore, Lent is a time to recognize when the party is over.  It’s a time for introspection, the evaluation of our lives in light of God’s holiness.  Part of that reflection is a look at what’s left after the party.

Don Meredith was an NFL quarterback, who, after his retirement, became Howard Cosell’s booth partner on Monday Night Football.  In the last few moments of most of those Monday night games, recognizing the losing team’s chances of winning had slipped-away, Meredith would break-into song, crooning in his Texas-best country singer impression:  turn-out the lights, the party’s over.  Anyone who has ever partied a little too hard the night before knows the price of that indulgence, groggy headache, queasiness and general despising living at all.  As my late friend Homer Rothrock used to say, there ain’t much romance in it!

There are some alarming parallels between the behavior and attitudes of God’s special people, Israel during Jeremiah’s time, and the current generation in our land.  Both Israel and America were birthed as a knee-jerk to oppression.  Both began as highly moral covenant people, called to live in freedom and respect for their Creator.  Both eventually fell into sin, and had to be called to the judgment bar. 

The parallel most disturbing to me is that of idolatry, giving what belongs to God to anyone or anything else; those things being fidelity in worship, obedience in behavior, and hearts of love, mercy and compassion towards each other.  Israel incorporated worshipping the local gods (including the fertility god Baal) in their religious ceremonies.  They did this for political reasons, making sure to offend no one.  As a covenant people they were bound to the one, true, living God; as sinners they gave away that heritage to cultic worship forms that took away their vows.  Baal is not just the name, it describes the relationship; in the Semitic languages it always means owner.  And that’s what sin is…it owns you.

It’s hard to miss the parallels between Israel and America; we bow at the altar of materialism, pleasing everyone who demands “rights” in the name of tolerance.  We elevate portrayers of violence, sexual perversion, evil behavior, and too many other expressions of the seven deadly sins that would overflow this short devotion.  Worship in America’s churches has become optional, out-of-date, or not relevant.  All the while anger, violence, dissipation, and deceit have replaced kindness, holiness, and self-discipline.

For You Today

Jeremiah was instructed to NOT pray for Israel; they had passed the point of no-return.  I do pray for our nation that we have not joined the parallel completely!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

---

[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©