Jeremiah 8:18-9:26 Lies Abound
Jeremiah’s heart is breaking for his people. He is not allowed to plead with God for them. God says that lies abound everywhere within them. Beware even your neighbors.
Jeremiah hears the people asking “Where is God? Doesn’t He care about us?” His heart is breaking for them but he KNOWS better than to intercede with God on their behalf. He was told specifically NOT to. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t to be moved by their distress.
God’s answer to their cries is; “Yah, but what about your sin? You haven’t even put it away and still you ask ME to help you! I don’t think so. Clean up your hearts first. THEN come to Me.”
God isn’t being unfeeling, cruel, or uncaring. He is being just. He is being loving. If He didn’t love Judah He wouldn’t care what they were doing. But as a Father, He has to be firm in His discipline. He promised punishment if they didn’t straighten out and He can’t give in, no matter how loud and hard they cry. Discipline demands consistency.
I was very interested in the goings on in the ‘neighborhoods’ of Judah. God told them to beware of their neighbors. He is not talking about the neighboring nations but the people on their own streets. God tells Jeremiah that the neighborhoods are just as full of deceit as anywhere else in their nation. Neighbor against neighbor, trying to get the best for themselves. Lies and deceit running through the streets as freely as water through a stream. ‘Every man for himself.’
In the cities in my nation, it is very common for neighbors to be strangers to one another. Few people take the time to get to know the people around them. They are also living ‘Every man for himself’ strategy. I live in the country now and I know a FEW of my neighbors but it is only a passing knowledge. We don’t socialize and seldom do we even interact. So far, I haven’t seen neighbor turn against neighbor, on a large-scale basis anyway. We defiantly have some neighbors that we are NOT friends with and don’t trust what they say. But mostly neighbor relations are quiet where I live.
There was another time in history where this was NOT the case. During the time of Hitler’s reign in Germany, neighbors were turning against neighbors on a large scale. Jews were being identified by their neighbors and turned in to the authorities. Wide scale fear ran rampant everywhere as no one trusted anyone else. There were a few exceptions to the norm, but happy neighborhoods were a thing of the past. Even in the ‘neighborhoods’ where the Jews were relocated to held suspicion and danger.
I have a feeling that, during the tribulation, these kinds of neighborly relations will rise again. Food will be scarce, security will be nearly nonexistent, disease and disaster will be all around. This will surely be an ‘Every man for himself’ time for the majority of the world. Those who band together will probably be the ones searching for the Lord, as the early church did in the beginning. Those ‘safe pockets’ may be what draws some to them, in the beginning. But they will serve an even greater purpose as they feed the word to those who come.
Father God, thank You for the neighbors I’ve had over my lifetime. There have been a few I could have done without, but even they were a gift from You. They taught me some valuable lessons that I needed. Help me be a good neighbor to those around me. No matter what though, let me speak truth, even when it isn’t popular. Let me speak of You and Your love to those who live around me. Let me also use Jesus’ definition of my neighbor when it comes to showing Your love AND Your truth.
