Passage Read: Jeremiah 17-20
Meditation Verse: 17:15
Thought
How bold and brazen men can be in their rebellion and confidence that God can do nothing either good or bad. "Where is the Word of the Lord? Let it be fulfilled now!" they say. Yet all that Jeremiah has been preaching is wrath and punishment, unless they repent. Because the Lord delays, because He displays patience and compassion, they think He is powerless. For Jeremiah's words to be fulfilled means the nation must be destroyed. They probably say they will believe if the Lord does something, but the Lord calls them to repentance so that they can enjoy His favor and blessing rather than His wrath. They want blessing without obedience; but they're really asking for destruction before they'll believe.
Application
Stubborn and rebellious men are fools. They want to control and dictate terms to God, but really, they're not interested in repentance and submission to God. They're intent on going their own way. So Jeremiah actually calls on God to bring on the judgment. He's frustrated and tired of proclaiming woe; let God just end it. God knows their heart, but He keeps sending Jeremiah with new messages, or variations on the same theme. God is compassionate and gracious, beyond what we understand, but He doesn't change His message: Repent or be destroyed. Compassion doesn't change the terms of God's salvation, compassion just delays the destruction, to prove God's compassion, if nothing else. There is a limit to His patience, but it is far beyond mine. Yet in all His waiting, He doesn't relent and excuse sin to receive sinners. Neither can I. The message is repent, receive forgiveness and walk in God's ways, not believe in Jesus and that's it.