“Because the people have forsaken Me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into My mind – therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds.” Jeremiah 19:4-8
Devotional Thought For The Day
We go about our daily lives generally oblivious to the conditions that prevail in our cities, and in the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. The abortion clinics are generally obscure – no fancy flashing electronic signs advertising them. Likewise, we skirt around areas of economic and moral decay on the interstates and freeways so that we are not imperiled by the crime and violence that accompanies drugs, sexual immorality, poverty, and squalor. We do not want to see or contemplate the frivolity, superficiality, and depravity of others; there is enough that we share with them that we can still relate with them – why stir up trouble and strife. Besides, we are not really that concerned about substantial matters, not that committed to marriage and the health of families, or to real honesty and forthrightness; and the acceptance of immorality is so pervasive that we scarce think it worth it to raise issues with the people we have to work with or live next to. We consider it challenge enough to at least maintain civility and propriety in our own families, and we may have a few bones in our own closets.
This was likely how Jerusalem got to how it was described by God in this text from Jeremiah. Today people make their offerings to the “gods” of sexual immorality, prosperity, greed, selfishness, luxury, pleasures, entertainment, titillation, technology, education, human reason, smug pride, and arrogant self-confidence. That “the place” is filled with the blood of innocents doesn’t concern most people. Like the ancient Israelites, most of us are still very proud of America and consider our nation, our state, and our city of residence to be reputable and secure, and we do not fear catastrophe or “slaughter.” We are oblivious to the judgment of God, what He thinks about what people have made of the place, and we would probably find it objectionable that He might be poised to strike. No doubt the Israelites of Jeremiah’s day felt the same way; nonetheless, God’s judgment did fall upon them, and the Babylonians inflicted upon them exactly what God’s Word decreed.
We may think that we are not as vulnerable as they were, nor as morally wretched as a people and culture, and we may find it impossible to contemplate that any of our cities could be accurately described as “a horror, a thing to be hissed at,” a place that “everyone who passes by will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds.” Sadly, some of our cities already have large areas just like this, and it has happened rather quickly, and unthinkably. Other urban areas around the world have similar conditions – whether caused by economic change, man-made disasters, or natural catastrophes. We have seen what just violent weather can do to our urban areas – hurricane Katrina, Sandy, etc. New Orleans still hasn’t fully recovered. Such storms can be increased quite easily by God, and intensified, and could potentially do such damage that even our wealthy nation couldn’t recover from them. We have also seen what nuclear plant disasters yield, and economic change, and the loss of manufacturing plants.
Seeing these things and knowing the criteria God uses in determining when such judgments are to be leveled should move us to deep concern. At the least we should be praying fervently for our nation – its citizens to be sure, but perhaps more importantly for our leaders. We should also be moved to speak, at the very least, against the wretchedness that compels such disasters. And we should also be convinced to make changes in our own thinking and living, so that we do not have a comfortable acquaintance with and participation in the ungodly aspects of our culture, but rather by our very lifestyle point the way to something better for human life and being. And most importantly we should take hope and comfort in God’s gracious love, mercy, and forgiveness in Christ Jesus, and make sure that others are aware that the way to repentance and salvation are open to them, and we should be inviting and encouraging them to join us. Perhaps it is not too late for others to become acquainted with the ways of real and genuine love and decency.
God is real, and His judgments are real, and He has not grown weak, inept, or uncaring in these latter days. His Word indicates what is coming in the battle against evil, and the establishment of His glorious kingdom. May He grant us wisdom to continue in repentance and faith, and may His love move us to similar love and concern for our fellowman. May we pray continually: “Lord, have mercy!”
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, You are fully aware of the innocent blood that has been shed on our soil, that of innocent victims of crime, that of institutions like slavery, that of indigenous peoples in the way of greed, that of the poor who were sacrificed to the wealth and prosperity of the privileged, and that of infants sacrificed in abortion to the bloody and murderous god of sexual immorality. Have mercy upon us, and bring us back to repentance and faith, that by the power of Your love our love might increase and grow. In this way we pray that Your hand of judgment and destruction might be stayed from our nation. Nonetheless, we continue to pray that Your kingdom come and that Your will be done. Include us in Your gracious love, mercy, forgiveness, deliverance, and salvation. Amen.