Oh, that my head were waters,
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the daughter of my people! Jeremiah 9:1
This was the prayer and life of the prophet looking at Israelites’ wilful disobedience and the approaching God’s judgement. Jeremiah found himself caught in between the people and God. People failed to recognise God’s approaching judgement because of their wicked sinful lifestyles and willful disobedience. Only Jeremiah foresaw God’s approaching judgement. Chapters 8 and 9 of Jeremiah discuss about the approaching disaster and Jeremiah’s response. In Chapter 8, God might have only spoken to Jeremiah about the coming judgement. This verse Jeremiah 9:1 could be written looking at the disobedience of Israelites and God’s impending judgement.
The Israelites were unwilling to repent of their wicked lifestyles and sinful ways. Sin has become part of their lives. They saw or felt that there is no need for repentance. Everyone is given to covetousness( Jeremiah 8:10). The priest and prophets along with the Israelites, are given to covetousness and dealt falsely. The land is saturated with sin, deception and false peace. Jeremiah might be the only person whose spiritual eyes are opened to see the approaching destruction. When the priests and prophets are caught up in false peace, how will the condition of the nation be – it will be in a state of sin.
Only Jeremiah’s eyes were opened, while the land was living in false peace. Jeremiah was caught in between approaching God’s great wrath and Israel’s enormous sins and disobedience. Because the people are unwilling to repent, God has issued a decree for great destruction. Imagine yourself living in such a situation and time period. When God opens your eyes to see the approaching destruction and reveals the people’s disobedience and sins of the land. What will your response be?
Jeremiah described – his head were waters i.e. His head were a reservoir full of water. He wished for his head to be a reservoir capable of holding a large amount of water, so that there would be no shortage of tears. Every part of his head should be used as reservoir to hold the water. Jeremiah mentioned His head specifically because he didn’t want any other thoughts running through his mind apart from the thoughts about weeping for people and praying for God’s mercy. He wanted to weep continuously all night and all day for the people to repent of their wicked ways and for God to have mercy and stop the coming devastation. He desired a continuous storage of water in his head so that his tears would not stop. Days and night, tears should flow out of his eyes.
Where are these kind of people and prophets like Jeremiah. Instead of praying for God to bless them and their ministries, they pray for God to make their lives weeping vessels, containing a reservoir of tears to lament for people’s sins day and night. Weeping prophets or persons who constantly intercede for the people and sins of the land have the ability to stop or avert the destruction. Some weeping prophets will not see the impact of their tears on earth, but when they reach heaven, they will be rewarded magnificently.
Jeremiah wanted that His eyes be a fountain of tears. Jeremiah wanted his eyes to be continuous fountain flowing with tears day and night. The approaching destruction was so great that it required continuous weeping for day and night to put a stop to it. How did Jeremiah cultivate such a life and prayer? Maybe he would have caught a glance of weeping Jesus. He might have seen Jesus as a man whose eyes are a fountain of tears. We know many aspects of Jesus, but have we ever seen Jesus as a man whose eyes are a torrent of tears or a fountain of tears? Did we receive a glimpse of Jesus’ weeping nature as he prayed for all of humanity? Did we see Jesus’ eyes when he wept for our sins? Did we receive a revelation of Jesus as a man of weeping and overflowing tears?
Today if God shows you an approaching destruction, what is your immediate reaction now? Is it tears, fasting or praying? God expects you to get down on your knees and start praying like Jeremiah. Let your eyes be a fountain of tears overflowing with prayers for the land or situations. Don’t be silent; instead, stand in the gap and begin weeping for the people to repent, for the sins of the land to be forgiven, for God to have mercy and avert the destruction. When God shows or foretells you of an approaching destruction, he also shows you the cause or reason (sins) for that destruction. God is a faithful steward.
Don’t be in a hurry to tell people about it or share it with others. If God has shown you, he has placed his trust in you as a prophet for this situation. No one other than you can completely understand the burden of the approaching destruction. God has trusted you with this responsibility( pray for this approaching destruction), and he mainly expects you to pray for it. Others can join you in prayer, but it is your responsibility to pray and stop the destruction. Your prayers and tears have an impact on those around you and have the potential to save many lives. When prophets in the Old Testament perceived that God’s wrath is coming, they were the first to weep day and night and then share their grief or burden with others. Before sharing it with others, you need to weep and pray.
Nowadays, people do the opposite: they share it with others before praying or weeping. They don’t even pray and weep. Telling others about the coming destruction does not make you a prophet, but weeping and praying does. Don’t believe prophets who predict disaster but don’t weep for the sins of the land and people. If you don’t know how your eyes can be a fountain of tears, pray to God for a fresh revelation of Jesus as a weeping saviour whose eyes are a fountain of tears. When you get this revelation of Jesus weeping, you will automatically begin weeping and praying for the approaching destruction.
