Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me...

Jeremiah 14:11-15:21 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

So the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. ¹² When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.”

¹³ But, “Ah, Lord God!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds. ¹⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end! ¹⁶ The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will pour out their own wickedness on them.

¹⁷ “You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound. ¹⁸ ‘If I go out to the country, Behold, those slain with the sword! Or if I enter the city, Behold, diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest Have gone roving about in the land that they do not know.’” ¹⁹ Have You completely rejected Judah? Or have You loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We waited for peace, but nothing good came; And for a time of healing, but behold, terror! ²⁰ We know our wickedness, O Lord, The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You. ²¹ Do not despise us, for Your own name’s sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us. ²² Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things.

15 Then the Lord said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go! ² And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:   “Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword;
And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity.”’

³ I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ⁴ I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. ⁵ “Indeed, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, Or who will mourn for you, Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare? ⁶ “You who have forsaken Me,” declares the Lord, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting! ⁷ “I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent of their ways…

¹⁹ Therefore, thus says the Lord, “If you return, then I will restore you— Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman.
They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them. ²⁰ “Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” declares the Lord. ²¹ “So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”

In today’s text we see an account of God’s anger toward the sin of His people. It says:  “Ah, Lord God!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end! The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will pour out their own wickedness on them.      Many today would say that thankfully we live in the age of grace; under the covenant of grace. They say Jesus paid for sin, once for all, so we no longer need to fear God’s judgment against sin. I fear that in the church today, as there were in Jeremiah’s time, there are many false prophets who speak false words to the people. We indeed live in and under the covenant of grace. Our sins are forgiven through the blood of Christ and the cross. We are redeemed in God’s sight and reconciled to Him through Christ. It is by grace we are saved, through faith in Christ. But, sin has not been redeemed. God’s grace reconciles us to Him. Sin is not reconciled to God. God will judge the sin of world, our nation and even the sin in the church.

1 Peter 4:12-19 says:  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled  for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;  but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.    In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus Himself says:    “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”     God is still and always will be angry at sin. We should not teach, or listen to anyone who teaches, that sin does not matter because of grace.

Today’s text says:   Then the Lord said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go! And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:   “Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity.”’     There are many people today who join a church and follow a leader. There are many dynamic and charismatic voices speaking to the church and the world today. There are many who speak messages of grace and prosperity in order to appeal to the masses and build a large following. Even in his day, Paul warned of a time that this would happen. In 2 Timothy 4:1-4 he says:  I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.    Even Moses and Samuel, two of God’s greatest leaders could not change God’s mind about the sin of the people. There is no leader, no preacher, no one today who can change God’s mind about sin. There is only one. Two thousand years ago, on the cross, Jesus said: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Only Jesus Christ can change God’s mind about sin. Grace came to us through Jesus sacrifice on the cross. Surely if we will stand at the cross, we will not choose to remain in sin. To live in and under the covenant of grace, is to live and walk in the shadow of the cross, redeemed, reconciled, forgiven and righteous in His sight.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for grace, that You no longer see us as sinners, but as those redeemed and forgiven at the cross. May I walk in Your grace. May I speak of Your grace, that through the cross, we are forgiven for and redeemed from sin. May I never relax Your standards and presume on Your grace. May I always embrace the cross and never embrace sin. If anyone would stand before You on my behalf, may it be Christ.  Amen.