You Too Have Done Evil and Have Not Listened (8/11)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 14-17.

Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the Lord declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the Lord our God?’ Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,‘ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me. So I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor” (Jeremiah 16:10-13).

The people could not understand why God would be punishing them. They had been deceived by the false prophets into thinking they were secure, yet Jeremiah spoke of calamity. They were blind to their own sin, so they challenged Jeremiah’s message. But Jeremiah gave them three reasons why God was sending a great calamity against them.

  1. Their forefathers had forsaken God – One reason why punishment was coming, which would lead to physical suffering for the people, was because of the sins of those who came before them. The previous chapter specifically mentioned the deeds of King Manasseh as the reason why they would be made “an object of horror among all the kingdom of the earth” (Jeremiah 15:4). While we do not share in the guilt of others’ sins (Ezekiel 18:20), we may certainly face consequences for their sins. This was one of the reasons why the people would suffer.
  2. They had done evil – There were other reasons for divine punishment coming besides Manasseh’s sins. If the people had been faithful, God’s wrath may have been delayed, just as it was in the case of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:26). But they were not faithful. God said they had done more evil than those who came before them and that they had walked according to their stubborn and evil hearts. Therefore, they would be punished.
  3. They had not listened to the Lord – All men, even those who strive to faithfully follow the Lord, will sin on occasion (Romans 3:23; Ecclesiastes 7:20). God’s word is designed to turn us away from sin and back to the Lord (Jeremiah 6:16). Those who will not listen will continue in their sin and eventually be punished for it.

When God punishes man, He always has a just reason for doing so. Knowing that the Lord will return one day to deal out “retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel” (2 Thessalonians 1:8), we must examine ourselves and be sure we are walking according to His word (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Tomorrow’s reading: Jeremiah 18-22

[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]


Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.


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