Get Ready!

[Christsdaughter]

Get Ready!
Tuesday March 1, 2011

“1You are always righteous, O LORD,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2You have planted them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.” (Jer 12:1-2)

In Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah acknowledged that God is righteous, but he questioned God’s justice. He was overwhelmed by all the evil and hurt by the fact that the wicked seemed to always prosper. Then he cried out to God for justice.

“Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!” (3b)

God’s answer to Jeremiah’s prayer:

“5“If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,£
how will you manage in the thickets by£ the Jordan?”

What God is basically saying to Jeremiah is that if he thinks that this is bad, how will he handle what is to come? Things were going to get much worse because Judah must be punished for their disobedience.

“7“I will forsake my house,
abandon my inheritance;
I will give the one I love
into the hands of her enemies.
8My inheritance has become to me
like a lion in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.
9Has not my inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.
11It will be made a wasteland,
parched and desolate before me;
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
12Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword of the LORD will devour
from one end of the land to the other;
no one will be safe.
13They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
So bear the shame of your harvest
because of the LORD’s fierce anger.”
14This is what the LORD says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. 15But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country. 16And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among my people. 17But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the LORD.”

We already see much injustice and evil in this world due to sin. God is letting us know that it will get much worse. We must put all of our trust and hope in Him because He is the only one who is faithful and He is the only one who can and will bring about justice toward those who choose not to turn to Him. He does not show justice toward His children because if He did, we would be in much trouble because He is a perfect and holy God and we are all sinners and fall short of His glory. He treats His servants according to His grace and mercy, but there will be suffering that we will not avoid while we are here, or until He comes back to bring justice to His enemies. The judgment will be fierce, but He promises those that turn to Him that they will be established among His people. Those who do not listen will be destroyed completely. Be ready!


A word of encouragement from Jesus to His children:

“27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”(John 14:27)