Year of Exposure Day 20: When the word of the Lord is not welcome, destruction follows.

“Then Jeremiah said to Baruch, “I am a prisoner here and unable to go to the Temple. So you go to the Temple on the next day of fasting, and read the messages from the Lord that I have had you write on this scroll. Read them so the people who are there from all over Judah will hear them. Perhaps even yet they will turn from their evil ways and ask the Lord’s forgiveness before it is too late. For the Lord has threatened them with his terrible anger.””

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭36‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jeremiah, as a prophet of God, prophesied during the reign of five kings of Judah. His messages contained warnings from the Lord to the people concerning their turning away from Him and turning to idolatry.

Tragically, the people’s idolatry included the worshiping of Baal, even going as far as burning their children as a sacrifice to him.

Because of Jeremiah‘s woeful warnings—seen in the book bearing his name, as well as the book of Lamentations—he has come to be known as the “weeping prophet.”

Consider this tragically poignant statement by Jeremiah:

“If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered. Oh, that I could go away and forget my people and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert. For they are all adulterers— a pack of treacherous liars.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Truly, it seemed that no amount of warning was enough to divert the people from their evil ways.

Indeed, the people’s continued rebellion against God, provoked many woeful words from the Lord to be spoken through the mouth of Jeremiah.

““My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies. They refuse to stand up for the truth. They only go from bad to worse. They do not know me,” says the Lord. They pile lie upon lie and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,” says the Lord.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭9‬:‭3‬, ‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In our opening scripture, we see that Jeremiah had been banned from going into the house of the Lord. This particular passage coming right after the Lord again instructs Jeremiah to write a stern warning and to have it read to the leaders in God’s house.

“During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king in Judah, the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: “Get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every message, right up to the present time. Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings.””

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭36‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Lord yet again wanted to give the people the opportunity to repent before the impending destruction that was to come.

How did the people fall so far away from the Lord? Well, their fall into idolatry came from many sources that we will leave to another day for consideration.

However, we can say with confidence, that falling away from the Lord into idolatry, while continuing to reject His word, will always end in destruction!

Just as Jeremiah was banned from the house of the Lord in his day, even so now we see the true word of the Lord being neglected—if not reviled—among some Christians and Christian leaders.

Of course, the rejection of God‘s word will always be seen coming from the world system. But when we see that evil course being joined by Christians, you can be sure that the Lord will deal with them through harsh warnings. And, when the word continues to be neglected, discounted, even shunned, no matter the number of warnings issued, destruction of some sort will follow.

Child of God, let’s make sure that we have in no way banned the word of the Lord from our lives. Let’s make sure that we have opened every area of our life to the scrutiny of His word. In so doing, we can save ourselves from a terrible end.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!