Death Of A Nation

“Righteous are you, O LORD,

when I complain to you;

yet I would plead my case before you.

Why does the way of the wicked prosper?

Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

You plant them, and they take root;

they grow and produce fruit;

you are near in their mouth

and far from their heart.

But you, O LORD, know me;

you see me, and test my heart toward you.

Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,

and set them apart for the day of slaughter.

How long will the land mourn

and the grass of every field wither?

For the evil of those who dwell in it

the beasts and the birds are swept away,

because they said, ‘He will not see our latter end.’

“‘If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,

how will you compete with horses?

And if in a safe land you are so trusting,

what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

For even your brothers and the house of your father,

even they have dealt treacherously with you;

they are in full cry after you;

do not believe them,

though they speak friendly words to you.’

“‘I have forsaken my house;

I have abandoned my heritage;

I have given the beloved of my soul

into the hands of her enemies.

My heritage has become to me

like a lion in the forest;

she has lifted up her voice against me;

therefore I hate her.

Is my heritage to me like a hyena’s lair?

Are the birds of prey against her all around?

Go, assemble all the wild beasts;

bring them to devour.

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;

they have trampled down my portion;

they have made my pleasant portion

a desolate wilderness.

They have made it a desolation;

desolate, it mourns to me.

The whole land is made desolate,

but no man lays it to heart.

Upon all the bare heights in the desert

destroyers have come,

for the sword of the LORD devours

from one end of the land to the other;

no flesh has peace.

They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;

they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.

They shall be ashamed of their harvests

because of the fierce anger of the LORD.’” [1]

“If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out, how will you be able to compete with horses” [JEREMIAH 12:5 NET BIBLE]? God’s prophet was weary. He was exhausted. He had stood for what was right and good, and all it had gained for him were threats, intimidation, hostility, and imprisonment. At the time he wanted to temper his message, God commanded, “‘You shall say to [the men of Judah], Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.’ Then I answered, ‘So be it, LORD’” [JEREMIAH 11:3-5].

The message that the prophet was compelled to deliver only grew more pointed. Though he was moved with compassion for his people, the LORD commanded, “Do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? The LORD once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal” [JEREMIAH 11:14-17].

Scripture warns us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” [HEBREWS 10:31]. When God says, “Enough!” there remains no recourse, no appeal. Whether for an individual, for a congregation, for a society, or for a nation, the Lord holds our times in His hands. There comes a time when sin shall no longer be tolerated, and when He will no longer permit sin to continue unchecked, there can be no remedy. Judah had played fast and loose with the decrees of the Living God, and now the LORD was no longer prepared to overlook their sin. At last, God commanded His prophet neither to pray for the nation nor to cry out for them. God had at last said, “Enough!” Now the nation would experience His wrath, and how severe that wrath would prove to be.