I am reading Jeremiah, and even very early on, God is upset (rightfully so) highlighting issues with Israelites.
But as I am reading and marking specifics, I realise that this is a repeating pattern. I am reading 2023 not 580BC!
We keep on digging into the things that is wrong…
God asks “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me?” (Jeremiah 2:5 NIV)
And…
“I planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt wild vine?”
(Jeremiah 2:21 NIV)
But what did the Israelites do? God speaks through Jeremiah and complains:
“…But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols…” (Jeremiah 2:11)
Are we not exactly in this world now? The worthless idols are not carved from wood and stone anymore but living idols… we idolise the rich and the powerful, the Youtube stars and the bitcoin billionaires. We idolise their lifestyles (“do not envy”?) and their stuff!
God says: “Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror…” (v12)
“My People have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of Living Water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
(Jeremiah 2:13 NIV)
Again, is this not exactly where we are? Not a day goes by where there aren’t some gender fluid story. Where God is removed from schools and replaced with some worldly “knowledge”. We create our own water to drink from, instead of living water.
Claiming offence holds more power than calling out wrongdoing, and we are so careful as not to offend that we try and understand our way around a sin until we can justify it to have a place in society and worse, in our churches.
As Christians we kick against the idea of a man having two wives, or even three. But as Levi Lusko points out, it is not so uncommon for Christians. We just have them consecutively instead of simultaneously.
“The priests did not ask ‘Where is the Lord?’. Those that deal with the law did not know me. The leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols”
(Jeremiah 2:8 NIV)
Are our churches slowly becoming Prophets for Profit?
Are we teaching acceptance of sinful lifestyles? “Love the sinner, hate the sin” but we never want to bring up the sin because we do not want to offend and then we never handle and get rid of it?
I have to confront myself this day and ask which of God’s complaints are true in my life today?
