The Wages of Sin and Repentance

Jeremiah 14:1-22 

1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.

2 "Judah mourns,
And her gates languish;
They mourn for the land,
And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

3 Their nobles have sent their lads for water;
They went to the cisterns and found no water.
They returned with their vessels empty;
They were ashamed and confounded
And covered their heads.

4 Because the ground is parched,
For there was no rain in the land,
The plowmen were ashamed;
They covered their heads.

5 Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field,
But left because there was no grass.
6 And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights;
They sniffed at the wind like jackals;
Their eyes failed because there was no grass."

7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us,
Do it for Your name's sake;
For our backslidings are many,
We have sinned against You.

8 O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble,
Why should You be like a stranger in the land,
And like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why should You be like a man astonished,
Like a mighty one who cannot save?
Yet You, O LORD, are in our midst,
And we are called by Your name;
Do not leave us!

10 Thus says the LORD to this people:
"Thus they have loved to wander;
They have not restrained their feet.
Therefore the LORD does not accept them;
He will remember their iniquity now,
And punish their sins."

11 Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for this people, for their good. 12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence."

13 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets say to them, 'You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.'"

14 And the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. 15 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land'—'By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; they will have no one to bury them—them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters—for I will pour their wickedness on them.'

17 "Therefore you shall say this word to them:
Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,
And let them not cease;
For the virgin daughter of my people
Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.

18 If I go out to the field,
Then behold, those slain with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
Then behold, those sick from famine!
Yes, both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.'"

19 Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Has Your soul loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace, but there was no good;
And for the time of healing, and there was trouble.

20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness
And the iniquity of our fathers,
For we have sinned against You.

21 Do not abhor us, for Your name's sake;
Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory.
Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.

22 Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are You not He, O LORD our God?
Therefore we will wait for You,
Since You have made all these.

Reaping what they sowed, Israel cried out for mercy because of their sin and wickedness which they confessed to save themselves from the oppressive consequences.  Once prosperous Israel in the land flowing with the abundance of milk and honey, these who had constantly rebelled against God and sought lifeless gods of wood and stone now found lifelessness all around them.  The rains from heaven stopped and the land dried up to bear nothing more, as dry and unfruitful as the people who left their God.  They corrupted the creation around them (Romans 8:21) so that the deer and donkeys left due to lack of grass which dried up without the blessings of rain from above.  Jeremiah spoke for the people by confessing their iniquities that condemned them as guilty as their wanderings of backsliding.  The hope and Savior of God’s people was able to save them, so he cried out for Him not to forsake them, but deliver them even though they were unworthy.  God answered by saying how the people just loved to wander without restraint when they knew better and could have chosen otherwise, and therefore rejected delivering them from the circumstances they found themselves in.  God even commanded the prophet not to pray for them or their feigned attempts at worship by going through the motions of sacrifices.  Jeremiah responded with how their prophets had assured them peace and not starvation or war, but the LORD God reminded him that those were false messengers of empty prosperity who He had not sent with His words of peace when they faced judgment instead.  They gave false hope in their worthless made up visions which were the imaginations of their own creation in order to be popular and listened to, even though the results for the people were disastrous.  This still happens now with prosperity messages which ignore accountability and sin, promising health and wealth from an imaginary and unholy God as an idol to replace the Holy and righteous One who holds us accountable in the midst of grace and forgiveness.  The false prophets then were given their own lies back as their due; how much more should we be aware of unbiblical messages now since we have the examples of scripture like these?  The prophets and priests of Israel wandered about without direction because they did not hold to the whole counsel of God.  May we not travel that road again.  Though they seemed to have lost all peace and healing of body and soul, they did acknowledge their sin and begged forgiveness for themselves and those before them who brought them to that condition.  They therefore cried out to be loved again instead of hated, to honor Him instead of disgracing His glory, and reminded God to keep His covenant which He promised them for good (though that agreement made by God was contingent on their following His word).  They acknowledged that only He was God above, that no idols could bring rain and other kinds of common grace to them.  Therefore, they waited on Him to answer as their Creator and Sustainer.  The hope we have now is that the new covenant in Christ’s blood keeps Him from counting our unrighteousness against us for eternal judgment because we are seen in the righteousness of Christ instead.  We are still accountable for our sin, however, and our loss of the rewards to give glory to our Savior are great in spite of our secure hope in the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 3:11-13, 14-15, 16-17).  These are the wages of sin atoned for and repentance unto promised eternal life.  We face a refining fire which will test our works and how we worship in holiness from the temples of our bodies, yet we will not be cast aside and abandoned.  Yes, this is a reminder of the wages of sin and repentance seen in sinful Israel as our example of warning and learning and our hope eternal.  May we then be holy as He is and live in light of eternity by glorifying Him.