BE STRONG AND BE BRAVE
"How long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
Because of the evil of its residents..."
Jeremiah asks in 12:4
God replies:
"I have abandoned my house;
I have deserted my inheritance."
"I have handed the love of my life
over to her enemies."
Jeremiah 12:7
Here we are today. We've become like a deformed baby bird, pecked to death by its siblings. We're not hearing the Lord over all the roaring and laughing. And even the shepherds, the Pastors, Preachers, and Teachers that the Spirit had called have trampled on the vineyards. They have made it a desolation, but no one takes it to heart.
Jeremiah14:10
This is what the Lord says concerning these people:
"Truly they love to wander;
they never rest their feet."
"So the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins."
The Lord God of angel armies is sending darkness. The people will be carried away by the wicked because God's judgment is coming.
The Lord says,
"I will finish them off by war, hunger, and pestilence.”
Jeremiah 14:12
The Teachers, Preachers, and Pastors have prophesied in God's name, "do not fear, these terrors will not cause you suffering, it's all a conspiracy, peace is your inheritance." Just keep the offerings coming and trust in the good works of your own hands.
These deluded fools are prophesying to the congregations a false vision, a worthless divination, and the Holy Spirit is not inspiring this false gospel. Its source is from the deceits of their own minds. And so the Lord is sending a drought, a spiritual drought. And the children suffer and starve for the truth because their parents refuse to give them spiritual milk. Instead these parents give them corrupted foul spiritual food. Opinions and social justice causes have replaced the truthful testimony of Jesus Christ.
Jesus teaches, "repent and follow my commandments, teaching all nations about the kingdom of God", and the people say, "peace peace, the earth is our mother, she will not abandon us."
Jeremiah 13:9
"These evil people, they refuse to listen to me, they follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and have followed other gods to serve and bow down in worship to them."
The Lord's eyes are filled with tears for his people because they have become slaves to the wicked ways of the false shepherds and teachers. These people, they wait for light from their Mother Earth , but the Lord, King of the Universe brings the darkest gloom. Because of their PRIDE they will not listen to the Father and his rebukes. They've persisted instead in their own way and in their anger they've rejected the truth. They instead follow after the teachers who say the things they want.
The Lord grows both sad and angry as the people persist in these wicked ways.
Jeremiah 13:27
"Your adulteries and your lustful neighing, your depraved prostitutions on the hills, in the fields—I have seen your abhorrent acts.
Woe to you, Jerusalem! You are unclean—for how long yet?"
Okay okay...this is some heavy stuff.
Mike...isn't there some hope?
ABSOLUTELY
The Lord has never failed to rescue the those who are determined to be stronger in their faith. He always shows mercy and grace for those who are willing to repent of their sins and return to their righteous Father.
Joshua 1:7-9
"be strong and take courage. Be careful to observe the entire law that my servant Moses gave to you. Do not turn away from it to the right or to the left, so that you might prosper wherever you go. Do not let this book of the law be absent from your mouth; meditate upon it day and night, so that you might carefully observe everything that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful. I have given you a command. Be strong and brave, do not be afraid nor dismayed. I, the Lord, your God, will be with you wherever you go.”
That promise is never going to be rescinded. Only the people can undo it. They turn from it and refuse it. And the Lord weeps.
"So be strong and be brave", the Lord said.
But over time they weren't brave. In fact they compromised their nations spiritual inheritance often, mingling pagan rituals with their own religious beliefs. And they compromised their lands as well. They sold their inheritance to foreign interests. They lost their blessings. The blessing from God, their inheritance, was the territory between the Mediterranean sea (including the modern Gaza Strip) and went as far east as the Euphrates river in modern Iraq. Thats all the lands of modern Israel and of Lebanon and Syria. But over time because the people of God put their eyes on people, places, and things, and took their eyes off of the Lord, nations rose up and conquered much of these territories.
And everytime the people of God have remained brave and strong in their faith, the Lord prospers them and protects both their lands and their souls. Because...you see...the land and the soul are one. You cannot separate God, the King of Kings, from the land. If you do, you bring judgment upon yourself and all the people. A souless nation is a poisoned land. A nation with a soul will become a promised land.
The King and the land are one. And the land thrives because the sword of truth is in the hand of the King and his people follow his commands.
If they follow.