Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
Jeremiah 5:1-3
A video that I shared Monday and could not finish watching has had me so burdened over America. It is absolutely apparent to anyone who understands the Bible that our nation is ever tumbling down the precipitous slope leading to an encounter with God's utter holiness. In a post last week from Isaiah 5, we examined the last few decades of our nation as they paralleled Isaiah's message to Judah before God sent final judgement. Reading Jeremiah 5-6, I can see more parallels to Judah's demise as a nation and their inability to repent as compared to our current condition in America. Will we heed the warnings, or will we fall under ever more severe punishment as a nation?
The word reprobate means to be rejected, refused, found spurious, or unaccepted. As the word's origin is studied, it is found to be related to the assaying of precious metals. Under fire, the metal is found to be unfit for the task assigned it. It simply did not stand the test of the assayer. In Jeremiah 6:27-30 God was looking for precious silver (symbolic of redemption and its fruits) but all He could find was brass and iron. These two semi-precious metals are both representative of judgement. The silver that God did find was considered "reprobate silver". It did not meet God's standards of righteousness. What a terrible rating for a people He called His own! God, the assayer, cast them away. Under His ever diligent eye, where does America stand today?
Jeremiah's message begins with a similar plea similar to Abraham's prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah. If enough righteous people could be found, God would hold back judgment. If they would repent, as did Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah, God's disciplining hand would be stayed. God always wills to redeem before He sends His justice. As Jeremiah looked he only found unrepentant men who could not understand that the nation had already been chastised to a certain degree in order to draw them back. (We will investigate Jeremiah's reasons for this negative assessment in another post.) With no one heeding the call to turn things around, God was forced to reject them and allow the nation to be crushed by Babylon. Until May 14, 1948, Israel has never been a sovereign nation since God refused them after the preaching of Jeremiah and the other pre-exhilic and exhilic prophets. The Jews were either dispersed or under foreign rule. God did as he said he would do! They exist today as a part of God's faithful covenant promises to Abraham, David, and the remnant of the ancient nation. This is THE sure sign that we are in the Acharit Hyamim--the last days!
Where are we today in America? We seem to be a land unhooked from the spiritual moorings that we were founded on. Are we crying out to God for our nation? Some are but more are needed. Are we seeking to win the lost? Are we showing love and preaching the everlasting gospel to those estranged from God while revealing the truth that their sin has separated them from God? Do we cry and weep at the injustice in the land? Are we burdened at the ever increasing judgments upon our nation?
It is apparent that we are terribly backslidden as a people. Christ's redeemed need to weep for the lost and cry out while sharing the only means for salvation--the cross of Jesus Christ. We need to quit living for self and start living as His servants. We need less of this world's trash (the fruits of the materialism that is continually preached as the signs of "God 's blessings") and more of heaven's presence in our lives. If all we "serve" God for is more blessings, who is really being served? We need to petition God continually for our nation! It seems we are failing the Assayer's evaluation. Here is proof!
VIDEO: ‘Hunky Jesus’ Contest in San Francisco Mocks Christianity on Easter Sunday, but Don’t Look for ‘Hunky Muhammad’ Contest Anytime Soon » Americans for Truth Such wicked blasphemy can only exist in a once "Christian nation". God, in your judgment remember mercy!
I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
Jeremiah 6:27-30
Israel and the Middle East
The Lord certainly is grabbing peoples attention with this weather. Even the unsaved are noticing that something abnormal is happening, but as usual the devil has that covered and explains it all away with global warming. We really do have our work cut out for us. There never seems to be enough people working for the Lord. Jesus said to pray that God will send more workers for His Kingdom.
ReplyDeleteMore and more people are waking up as He grabs their attention through the weather.