Based on Jeremiah 16:1-15 (New King James Version)
“O you children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; for disaster appears out of the north, and great destruction. I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman. The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place.’ ‘Prepare war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are lengthening. Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.’ For thus has the Lord of hosts said: ‘Cut down trees, and build a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. She is full of oppression in her midst. As a fountain wells up with water, so she wells up with her wickedness. Violence and plundering are heard in her. Before Me continually are grief and wounds. Be instructed, O Jerusalem, lest My soul depart from you; lest I make you desolate, a land not inhabited.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; as a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.’ To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it. Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord. I am weary of holding it in. ‘I will pour it out on the children outside, and on the assembly of young men together; for even the husband shall be taken with the wife, the aged with him who is full of days. And their houses shall be turned over to others, fields and wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,’ says the Lord. ‘Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down,’ says the Lord.’
The event of which the prophet Jeremiah spoke was, sadly, fulfilled in 586 BC, when the Babylonian army besieged and subsequently destroyed Jerusalem—demolishing all its defenses and the Temple of the Lord, and in doing so, killing thousands upon thousands of people. The Bible teaches us that King Nebuchadnezzar deported thousands of people to Babylon, leaving behind in the lands of Israel only the poor and the peasants to work the land for his kingdom. This was something utterly unthinkable. No one in Israel imagined that this would happen, for they had never taken seriously God's many warnings that national punishment would ensue if they did not repent of their wicked ways.
To understand what happened—and why the people never thought it possible—we must grasp the historical context. The Jewish people constituted a nation of immense power and wealth—a reality owed, of course, to the way God blessed them and continued to bestow His benevolence upon them. They were practically invincible, possessing a fully armed and organized army. During the era of Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel stood as the center of the world; great kingdoms would come to Israel seeking peace and desiring to learn from its greatness—much like the Queen of Sheba, who traveled to Israel solely to meet its king, having heard of his wisdom from lands far away. Thus, from a human perspective, it seemed impossible to conceive that they could be conquered, defeated, and even scattered as a people (as had been prophesied), given that they had so much in which to place their human trust. It defied all logic. They believed that Jerusalem—their capital—was invincible, protected by its massive walls and flawless structural defenses. Yet, it was God Himself who provided Nebuchadnezzar with the means to overcome such a fortress. It was God who brought Babylon to the very gates of Jerusalem, for He had grown weary of holding back—weary of witnessing the ceaseless sin and rebellion of His people. He could no longer bear to witness the wickedness of a people to whom he had given so much—and whose constant response was ingratitude.
We must ask ourselves: How does this relate to the present? We have passed the time where the Gospel had reached practically the entire world. There was a certain period of peace—marked by a wave of conversions several years ago—during which people in general, at the very least, held a certain measure of respect for God, and many of us turned to Him. In my own nation (the U.S.), for example, a great spiritual awakening swept through back then, with thousands upon thousands of people turning to the Lord almost daily. You may recall an evangelist named Billy Graham, whom God used to evangelize nearly the entire world—through massive stadium rallies as well as via radio and television—proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. Millions upon millions of people were exposed to sound doctrine: the teaching that a person must repent of and turn away from all their sins, receive the Lord Jesus Christ as both Lord and God, and follow Christ daily to be saved. And like him, there were many others who also carried this message of salvation to the world—missionaries who left their homes and traveled thousands of miles to offer an opportunity to those who did not yet know of the Lord's love. Yet today, we observe—both across the vast majority of the world and within the majority of our own churches—a great deal of rebellion and sin; people are engaging in the very same practices for which God punished His people, Israel, so many years ago. There are many pastors and preachers who speak of peace when there is no peace; they speak of prosperity and healing instead of repentance and conversion. They deceive the people with an "easy," permissive, and liberal gospel—one that preaches neither of change nor of transformation, nor even of doing good to one's neighbor—but rather promotes a self-indulgence that seeks to turn God into our servant, rather than us serving God. They have twisted the grace of God into licentiousness—a license to sin freely and to live selfishly. And naturally, a great many people are quite pleased with such doctrines, and they seek out even more of them.
And what does God say about this? Do we please God with such an abomination? Will God's grace tolerate such things—from people who mock the cross of Christ, and the entire purpose God had for it? It is written: For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:26-31. The wrath of God is coming, and it is already manifesting, for nothing that happens in this world is by accident. Therefore, my most excellent counsel is this: repent and turn to the Lord—not merely for a moment, or solely to appease an adverse circumstance, but from the heart—so that when His wrath descends upon the world, you may at least be found justified before His throne through the Lord Jesus Christ at the Great Judgment, where we shall all give an account of our deeds, whether good or evil. So, will you be prepared for that moment? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel!