Jeremiah
9 reminds me of a recent speaker who told of a story so emotional it
gave him a “man-tear in the corner of his eye”. Like most
males, I was raised with the understanding that big boys don’t
cry. I have learned that I cry in great joy, great sorrow and
anytime I speak of the grace God has shown to me. There are
most certainly times when tears are the appropriate response.
In today’s chapter, Jeremiah is shown the results of rebellion on
the nation of Israel. Like the father of a son making bad
choices, the Lord cuts off His resources, in order that they will
learn the lessons of sowing and reaping. Jeremiah begins by
calling his eyes “a fountain of
tears“. They
“weep
day and night for the slain of my people… for they are all
adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people“.
He describes a situation in which they use the Name of God, but do
not honor the God of their fathers. Instead they use “Their
tongue like a bow, to shoot lies… They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge Me… every one of them is a deceiver… no
one speaks the truth… they weary themselves with sinning… live in
the midst of deception“.
God declares, “I will refine
and test them“. Please
understand, sometimes the most loving thing a parent can do is say
“no”.
Jeremiah
expresses the heart of the father watching his son struggle, “I
will weep and wail… The birds have all fled and the animals are
gone“. God makes the
hard decision and there is no joy in the pronouncement, “I
will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals…
no one can live there“.
God asks, “Who is wise enough
to understand this?”
Discipline is so hard to receive in the midst of pain, but later, it
can make sense. God seems to give an explanation to Jeremiah,
“because they have forsaken My
law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed Me… Instead,
they have
followed the stubbornness of
their hearts… I
will make this people eat bitter food… I will scatter them among
nations“. He says, it is
time to mourn the loss, the party is over, “Call
for the wailing women to come“.
They bring in the paid mourners because they do not yet realize this
funeral is real.
God
says to His people, it is time to stop acting, “You
women, hear the word of the Lord; open your ears to the words of His
mouth… Death has climbed in through our windows“.
Apparently there is a point where God removes His hand of protection
and all hell breaks loose. “Dead
bodies will lie like dung on the open field… with no one to gather
them“. God does not hide
His instruction, “Let not the
wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or
the rich boast of their riches“.
Friend, in what do you boast? He continues, “boast
about this: that they have the understanding to know Me, that I am
the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight“.
God gave His people a very personal symbol of commitment to honor
Him. This outward symbol was to represent the inward trust.
The chapter closes, “I will
punish all
who are circumcised only in the flesh… the whole house of Israel is
uncircumcised in heart“.
The symbol is meaningless if it is outward only. In Luke 19,
Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, saying, “If
you… had only known on this day what would bring you peace… The
days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment
against you… They will not leave one stone on another, because you
did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you“.
I believe He weeps for each of us that do not receive His peace.
Not a tiny man-tear, He sobs for all who close their heart to total
forgiveness. Tears of sorrow can be replaced by those of joy.
At the foot of the cross, the tough, battle-hardened Centurion cried
out after seeing how Jesus died, “Surely
this man was the Son of God!”
Some tears can lead us to “know”.