Jeremiah 14:1-12 Tenderizing
Judah is in the middle of a drought and is calling out to God. He refuses to answer them. He is ‘tenderizing’ them like meat to be eaten.
This idea occurred to me as I was reading this section. A strong Judah would have put up a fight and more people would be lost in battle. Famine consumed many of them. Even the armies of Judah stayed behind the walls of Jerusalem instead of engaging in battle to protect the king. A VERY weakened people would meet a VERY strong one in the near future. They were ‘tenderized’ like a steak to make them easy for their adversary to chew them up.
This is NOT to say that God can’t use something small and seen as weak to defeat that which appears strong. David and Goliath are a perfect example, as well as the battle of Jericho for what God can do with even on man who is committed to Him. During those times, more than just one person was following the Lord. In our story’s time, VERY FEW are.
God withdrew His hand from His people in stages. It was in effort to get their attention at one point or another. By the time He got to this point, He was done with their excuses AND their pretense. They failed to respond to Him as they should. They were after ‘acts’ of God, not His presence. The only reason they were even calling out to Him was because they needed something; rain. That is where all their energy and ‘repentance’ was aimed. “Forgive us enough to give us rain.” Too little, too late.
Judah was also trying another ‘tactic’ that had worked for them in the past. “Not for us, for we don’t deserve Your help, but so others will know Your name. You are after all the God of Israel. What happens to a God’s name when His nation falls? You might want to think about that and protect Your name.”
The thing is, if God had saved them in the state they were in, He would have been known as a God who had no standards. A ‘push over’. One who lets you get away with anything. One whose word meant nothing. But God HAD & HAS standards. He also made promises that He will NOT break. And one promise He had just made to Jeremiah was that He wasn’t going to listen to the cries of His people. NOT because He didn’t love them but because He KNEW what was really in their hearts when they were ‘crying out’.
God wasn’t only a “hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble” (verse 8a). He was MUCH MORE than that. He STILL is. He is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card you play when trouble comes. He is the one you build relationship with BEFORE trouble comes. He is the ‘life jacket’ you put on even before stepping into the boat. He is ‘wrapped’ intricately through you whole life. Every pore is filled with His Spirit. And when trouble comes, you don’t have to go looking for Him. He is already right there.
Does this mean you will never fail. No. It means that you have the relationship built that can restore you after failures. It is another kind of ‘tenderizing’. The kind that softens you heart so much that it can’t help but ‘take on the flavor’ of the Spirit. A process that, when the two of them are ‘cooked’ together, their ‘flavor’ is exquisite! A life that shows forth the Spirit of God residing in it in as many ways as possible. One not searching after the ‘acts’ of God but after the presence of God on a continual basis.
Was Judah really ‘too late’ or was it still ‘too little’? Is there really a ‘too late’ with God if the change is the right kind of change? Probably for a nation, but how about for an individual? With a nation, there are a LOT of hearts involved. Many will make a pretense of repentance and it will impact the overall quality of the whole. An individual is judged on their own merits; the truthfulness of their own heart. Enough individual hearts given to the Lord CAN change a nation though, when He is in it.
Father God, I wish I had the answer to this ‘equation’ of how far and when is it ‘too late’. I keep looking at the world around me and wondering if we have reached that point. I want to believe there is still hope for a return to You by the nation I’m living in. But I’m discouraged. I don’t see a way back from where we have gone as a nation.
But I also have hope is seeing this. The slide in morals brings me hope that You will be calling Your people home soon. Because then the HARD lessons will begin and those who are ‘holding out’ or pretending will have an unmistakable wake up call. Some who would never come any other way will be brought to You. THAT excites me! AND scares me.
Direct my heart in what to do in this time. How to pray for my nation and this world. I want to say, “Come Lord Jesus” but that means BAD times are right on the heels of that. For me it will be great but for those left behind… I supposed the best thing to pray is “Thy will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven.” I can get behind that. But I’m still hanging on with the “what now God” feeling. I need Your peace Father for whatever it is You have in store.
