A Word of Truth

“Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the LORD says: “‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again? When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back? Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path? Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back? They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around. I listen to their conversations and don’t hear a word of truth. Is anyone sorry for doing wrong? Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”? No! All are running down the path of sin as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle! Even the stork that flies across the sky knows the time of her migration, as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane. They all return at the proper time each year. But not my people! They do not know the LORD’s laws. [Jeremiah 8.4-7]

What in the world is Jeremiah saying here? Or, do we really want to know?

Jeremiah starts this little discourse with a couple practical questions:

When people fall down, don’t they get up again? When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?

Jeremiah is appealing to human logic. These two simple questions reveal what Jeremiah views as the absurdity of God's people, in the destruction of their chosen path, that they do not simply turn around. Instead, they deny the obvious implications of the destruction they are experiencing and refuse to make the necessary corrections to stop it.

In even more clear language, Jeremiah points out that they further refuse to confess, “What a terrible thing I have done...” and instead they only accelerate their pace in the wrong direction (that is destroying them) as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!

Jeremiah goes on to explain, in no uncertain terms, why this happens: They do not know the LORD’s laws.

The problem Jeremiah points out here is timeless in its application to God's people. His question, "Is anyone sorry for doing wrong?" should speak to every heart who would follow God even today - and especially so as we recognize destruction upon our lives. However, like Israel of old, God's people today also cannot discern the curses on their lives as obvious indicators of the need to repent - to quit believing lies and turn around from their path of destruction. As Jeremiah said, "They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around."

In modern man's estimation of what is important today, namely self-esteem and self-preservation, man has given himself over to "victim-mentality" emotion. Consequently, few today ever conclude that human problems are the result of human errors. Instead, (and we hear this ALL the time) they first question God's intentions ("Why, God?"), and, if their relationship with God survives this stage, they move on to pacify themselves in their suffering with untrue man-made estimations of God's character that are completely unsupported by the Bible (and make statements like "bad things happen to good people"). The end result is that they do not repent and it is all because they do not know God's Word.

An important consideration when we encounter destruction is the "universal effect" of sin. In man's pride and arrogance, he often isolates himself as the only reason life exists. By this statement, it is meant that man should instead understand his place in the human race. Society today is totally self-absorbed in individualism, but the Word of God is clear that every individual in a family or nation or even the world can suffer for the sin of only one member. All too easily we forget that Adam and Eve set mankind upon a path of destruction that only repentance and faith can correct. Man has erroneously concluded that he is not responsible for the sin of his race (the human race).

It is a shame that so much effort must go into correcting man's conclusions about destruction. But until man acknowledges that destruction is the result of sin (every time), that repentance is the solution (every time), and that individual innocence does not relieve individual responsibility for group sin (in other words, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God), then the words of Jeremiah here must be repeated because man remains woefully ignorant of God's Word particularly as it relates to obedience and blessings, disobedience and curses (see Deuteronomy 28).

Father help Your people to reject the notion of "victim-mentality" and all the emotion attached to it when we experience destruction and curses. Help us instead to humbly repent for ourselves and our kind in accordance with Your Word and the knowledge it provides us of Your character. May Your people reject the world's infatuation with "self" and instead focus on others as Christ our example demonstrated. Help us to follow the example of Jesus' global identification with man and man's sin when in contrition and humility He cried out on the Cross, "Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing..."