Backsliding....Jeremiah 8

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,


Jeremiah 8 is the backsliding chapter...Israel was going backwards rather than forwards in their relationship with the Lord.  Why were they backsliding?  The short list is that they were content believing lies.  They did not want to admit the truth nor heed the truth. Repentance was not on their radar....everyone turned to his own way.  They were happy with the shallow ministry of the false prophets.  They could be religious and still live the way they wanted to. They had rejected the word of the Lord and went backward...

Verse 14 asks "Why do they sit still?" They sit still because they do not really believe the enemy is coming. They are believing the false prophets lies in regard to peace.

We do that...we put off repentance because we are enjoying our life and our sin.  We forget that the moment is all we have. We figure there is time. The truth is, however, that sin and a lack of repentance hardens our hearts to our own sin and the sin of the world around us.  We do not see it through the same lenses any more.  As time goes by our sin not only continues but we start to do things that we never thought we would.   As opportunities pass and we continue in our sin, it becomes harder and harder to turn.

Here is an example...You have done something wrong...you know you should apologize...there is a battle waging inside.  "Put aside your pride,"  the first voice says,  "humble yourself and apologize." The other voice  that fills your head and makes it swell and it is definitely the loudest tells you that you did not get what you deserved.  You were not treated as you should have been treated so you should not reach out first...the longer you put off repenting, the harder it becomes and the more you begin to believe the second voice that tells you that you are deserving of better.  This is the way of selfishness...it has been the way of death for many many relationships. Pride kills.  Marriages are destroyed, families are destroyed....why?  Because someone felt they deserved more and stood there doing nothing while their world was destroyed around them.  Pharaoh allowed all of Egypt to be destroyed and his first born killed, rather than give way to God.  On the other hand humility breeds unity and peace. Take a deep breath and do the right thing, when the opportunity presents itself.  It just gets harder if you don't and as you wait your sin hurts you as well as those around you. Look what happened to Egypt...look where Pharaoh wound up. 


¹⁹ Listen! The voice,
      The cry of the daughter of my people
      From a far country:

      “ Is not the LORD in Zion?
      Is not her King in her?”


      “ Why have they provoked Me to anger
      With their carved images—
      With foreign idols?” 

Why have they provoked the Lord to anger...

The people of Judah thought they could get away with serving God and idols.  They really didn't abandon the Lord they just equated Him with their false gods. They served both Him and sin except they served Him only with their lips because with their hearts they served sin. Their deeds reflected what their hearts truly believed. Think of it as an unfaithful spouse who has chosen another over his beloved.  We grieve God when we choose anything else over Him.

I see this so often.  People begin to think about the things of God and rather than really look they deceive their own hearts and do the outward. They make things in their life look a little better from the outside. They go to church or do some charity work or even just voice belief.  They compare themselves with those around them and they think they come out  pretty okay.  They hedge their bets so to speak.  They are not really comfortable in their sin so they deceive themselves into thinking their hearts are for God.  Their lives, however, reflect what their hearts DO NOT BELIEVE. If your word and your deed are not matching there is a problem in your heart.  You cannot serve two masters.  God demands total commitment.

There was no recovery...verses 20-22.  God does suffer long with us and gives us every opportunity to repent. There comes a time, however, when His  long suffering ends...The limit is reached.  Judah did not heed God's warning while there was still time. It says this in Jeremiah Chapter 4:

¹ “If you will return, O Israel,” says the LORD,

      “Return to Me;
      And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
      Then you shall not be moved.
       ² And you shall swear, ‘The LORD lives,’
      In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness;
      The nations shall bless themselves in Him,
      And in Him they shall glory.”

³ For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:


      “ Break up your fallow ground,
      And do not sow among thorns.
       ⁴ Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
      And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
      You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
      Lest My fury come forth like fire,
      And burn so that no one can quench it,
      Because of the evil of your doings.”

It was now too late...there was no remedy.  The prophet was broken-hearted.  Jeremiah had such compassion for his countrymen.  It is difficult to watch someone you love go down a path of destruction thinking they can navigate it differently than others have in the past and escape consequences and judgment.  Our sin truly does make us stupid and the longer we wait to get back on the right road the less we see our need.  When we go over the cliff, it is too late...the opportunity is past and judgment comes.   Turn now...in time it may be too late and your life will be in shambles around you.


Love
Mom