I had a visit with a new client yesterday and one of the things I was looking at was a dilapidated in-ground greenhouse with cisterns inside. Of course its roofing is gone, and nature has taken over with debris and vines. So the cisterns don't hold water anymore and it just looks like some dystopian fantasy world. I'm tasked with trying to imagine what can be done with this feature. Not just breaking it down and caving in the walls and burying it all under new earth. It's a challenge for sure, and as is my nature, I've seen revelation, meaning, and correlation with the lessons of the Bible in this adventure. I mean, honestly, if it were my home, I'd probably build it back into its original purpose. The new homeowners aren't interested in a greenhouse, don't need or desire it. So what to do, what to do? Probably build an outdoor man-cave space out of it. I don't know yet...it's interesting though.
At any rate, it caused me to think about the good book...check it out 👇
"I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.”
Jeremiah 1:10
When the nation and its people has forsaken God, the corrupted systems and their idols must be torn down in order to rebuild their cities into righteousness and peace with God.
"...They will fight you, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Jeremiah 1:19
The King of The Universe sends terrors of judgment into these nations that have deserted Him, those who have worshipped idols made by their own hands. The people who used to sing God's praises have forgotten their first love. And judgement follows those who have followed after the worthless idols, making themselves worthless. And the Lord is both angry and jealous of them. God is trying to understand these people who have rejected Him.
“What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me?"
Jeremiah 2:4
The priests, and pastors did not look for the Lords wisdom. The church leadership who taught Jesus' word ignored his advice found in there, and their authorities turned against his instructions because of their completely liberal views. And the prophets spoke in the name of pagan gods, wasting everyone's time on these worthless idols. They created their own philosophies. They built for themselves broken empty cisterns. And this wickedness literally shakes the heavens and leaves them in horror and dismay at their polluted lives. And their punishment will be of their own making for they went out into the world like a wild donkey in heat, sniffing at the wind looking for whatever males that might be on the wind. Strange gods, strange flesh, unnatural affections will bring you down.
Jeremiah 2:19
"Your wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him. I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!"
Their children have prostituted themselves by bowing down to strange idols. Their clothes are stained with the blood of the innocent and poor. And their churches teach them that they are owed the patience and grace of God.
They pollute the land with wickedness and cry out to the Lord in times of trouble saying,
Jeremiah 2:35
‘I have done nothing wrong. Surely God isn’t angry with me!’
The land has been polluted. They play the harlot. There is only a surface revival in which the church has only pretended to be sorry. It's populous faith. No meaning or significance in the lives and conduct of the communities. They have a divided love for God. A pretender, a full true commitment that lusts after the world.
And yet the Lord God gives grace and hope.
“My wayward children,” says the Lord, “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.” Jeremiah 3:22
"And I will give you pastors after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding." Jeremiah 3:15
And all that is required is confession.
"Acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree.
Confess that you refused to listen to my voice." Jeremiah 3:13
It's the wayward heart that requires tearing down and rebuilding. And a new heart must be built upon the foundations of truth. A heart not mingled with the vain idolatry of the past with its religious orgies and delusions. They must change their hearts before the Lord, for God's anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all their sins (Jeremiah 4:4).
It's a circumcised heart that the Lord desires, in Spirit and in truth.
Romans 2:29
"a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That man’s praise is not from men but from God."