Repentance or Imminent Judgment

Jeremiah 4:1-18

1 "If you will return, O Israel," says the LORD,
"Return to Me;
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
Then you shall not be moved.

2 And you shall swear, 'The LORD lives,'
In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness;
The nations shall bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they shall glory."

3 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
"Break up your fallow ground,
And do not sow among thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings."

5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
"Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, 'Gather together,'
And say, 'Assemble yourselves,
And let us go into the fortified cities.'

6 Set up the standard toward Zion.
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I will bring disaster from the north,
And great destruction."

7 The lion has come up from his thicket,
And the destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
To make your land desolate.
Your cities will be laid waste,
Without inhabitant.

8 For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail.
For the fierce anger of the LORD
Has not turned back from us.

9 "And it shall come to pass in that day," says the LORD,
"That the heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder."

10 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD!
Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,
Saying, 'You shall have peace,'
Whereas the sword reaches to the heart."

11 At that time it will be said
To this people and to Jerusalem,
"A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness
Toward the daughter of My people—
Not to fan or to cleanse—
12 A wind too strong for these will come for Me;
Now I will also speak judgment against them."

13 "Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
And his chariots like a whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!"

14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan
And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim:

16 "Make mention to the nations,
Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem,
That watchers come from a far country
And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 Like keepers of a field they are against her all around,
Because she has been rebellious against Me," says the LORD.

18 "Your ways and your doings
Have procured these things for you.
This is your wickedness,
Because it is bitter,
Because it reaches to your heart."

God called for His people to repent from their idols and sin to turn back to Him, or face certain judgment through armies sent against them as His agents.  He desired them to call on Him in truth, judgment, and righteousness; they were to be sincere as they discerned their confessed sin and they were then to turn to follow according to His word in holiness.  They were to glory only in their LORD God and nothing else, for He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9) requiring their absolute loyalty.  They were to farm their dormant fields of their hearts and sow their seeds of works in good ground instead of thorny places which are unfruitful and painful.  Furthermore, God’s people were commanded to circumcise sin cut away and discarded from their hearts (Colossians 2:11) to be holy as He is to escape God’s due wrath.  This is a picture for us of the call of repentance to faith for deliverance from sin and of God’s wrath on us because of it.  The call was for Israel to come together and exhort one another to run to the LORD for forgiveness.  Judgment and destruction were fast approaching to hold them accountable for their sins and their only refuge from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10) was in the LORD Himself through active repentance of changed lives.  Jeremiah asked God if He had deceived His people in offering peace when judgment loomed near, but the refusal of the call to repentance was earning them this.  The offer required turning from sin to Him, washing their wicked hearts clean in holiness of thought and deed and cease their rebellion of sin.  This is the call to us all in Christ Jesus our Lord.  The wages of sin is certain judgment of death (Romans 6:23) and we must acknowledge our sin in confession to Him and each other to turn from wickedness and fulfill the two greatest commandments to love Him and others made in His image (Luke 10:25, 27).  We have all earned our judgment through Adam (Romans 5:12, 17-18) and repentance through faith (Acts 20:21) is the only balm for our mortally wounded souls.  There then only remains imminent judgment of spiritual death or repentance to eternal life.  Choose life!   Acknowledging God as truth, just, and righteous, this glorifies Him.  Cutting back the evil in our hearts, washing clean in repentance as John came doing, this is the gospel told even in Jeremiah's time.  God does not change; He wants to deliver us from sin, from within the heart and not just in outward religious show.  We earned our sin's punishment (justice), but God's grace in Christ is freely given, not earned.  It all begins with turning from sin to Him.