Jeremiah wasn’t being overly dramatic when he wrote, “Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the agony of my heart!” in chapter 4. He was genuinely anguished by what he saw would happen. Let’s not forget that the judgment of God on Judah was horrible. Think about what it would be like to have a fearsome army march on your home, topple buildings, set the city on fire, and leave it a flattened ruin. That is what happened to God’s Old Testament people. Jeremiah gets pretty emotional throughout this book. Whenever you are tempted to feel exasperated by his drama, think about how traumatic his visions would be.
A just God would not impose judgment more harsh than the sin deserves. As horrible as the judgment was, it indicated how awful the sin of the people was. Consider as you read, of what were they guilty? They felt no pain when struck by God in correction; how often do you claim, “I’m okay,” when you really are cold spiritually? They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent; how readily, how frequently, do you repent? They complacently chose to believe that God would not do anything in correction or judgement – they didn’t honor Him as the all-powerful, holy God He is; how big is God in your eyes? They didn’t acknowledge God’s good provision; how thankful are you? They grew fat and sleek yet failed to take care of the needs of the poor and helpless. They didn’t want to hear the truth; do you give the Holy Spirit quiet in which to speak to you? They were greedy for gain. They were not ashamed of their conduct; do you make excuses or shift blame rather than acknowledge shameful conduct? They brought lavish sacrifices to God, of things that He had no interest in, and refused to give Him what He wanted from them; what do you give to God? These are sins that could be prevalent in our churches, even perhaps in our own lives; they aren’t the biggies we think are worthy of the harsh justice God dealt His Old Testament people. So we either have to believe that God is not just, or we have to rethink our estimation of these sins. Today’s reading challenges us to consider how closely our thoughts align with God’s.