Passage Read: Jeremiah 9-12
Meditation Verses: 12:5-8
Thought
Jeremiah pleads with the Lord for justice, that He would judge and destroy the wicked from the land, especially those who do evil but speak God's name over themselves. God's answer? You don't know the half of it, Jeremiah! It's far worse than you think. Your own family may act politely to your face, but they rage against you behind your back! God has already given up the nation, the people, even His own house to destruction because they roar against the Lord whenever He comes near to rebuke, correct and lead them in right ways. They hate Him even while claiming to love Him, so He has come to hate them. He will destroy them. He knows how bad things really are, and He's going to reveal it all to the world before He brings in their judgement. If Jeremiah already can't take it, he's in trouble. Things are going to get much worse before He judges them, so Jeremiah had better prepare himself.
Application
There are several warnings here for me. One, it does me no good to claim to love God but refuse to listen to His instruction, correction or rebuke. God sees through me. If I blow up at Him every time He tries to correct me, I don't love Him but hate Him, and He will not put up with me. Two, as much as I long for the wicked to be cleansed from the world, as bad as I think things already are, it's only going to get worse, because things are already much worse than even I know. God wants everything to come out, to be exposed, so all will see how right He is to bring the judgement He has planned. If He judges now as things deserve, most would accuse Him of excessive violence. They already say eternal torment is too much. They don't understand how wicked men really are, so it's all going to come out! Which leads to three, if I think things are bad now, already too much to take, I'd better buckle up. Things are going to get way worse. If things already discourage me, will I continue to cling to God when the real bad stuff comes out? Or will the revelation of evil so overwhelm me that I abandon faith in God rather than endure to the end? How many have already given up on God in the face of the glimpse we already have of the depravity of man? Worse stuff is going to be uncovered where I least expect it, so I'd better prepare myself for what's coming. Especially from church and family, as this passage warns.