A MOST HORRIBLE THING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’”

Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel. Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing? Yet my people have forgotten Me; they burn incense to worthless idols,
which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up. Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their disaster.”

Jeremiah 18:12-17

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s devotion, we saw that God is merciful and willing to give us a chance to change our ways when we sin, to repent and turn from our wicked ways toward His righteousness once again. If we do this, then we can find ourselves avoiding His judgment. To not desire to change and to continue in wickedness is a big mistake and, as our scripture passage states today, a most horrible thing in the eyes of the Lord.

If you have followed the story of the Old Testament Israelites, you sort of know the situation. Despite God’s command to not worship any gods except Him, His people still decided to do it anyways. They knew He hated sin and also knew that disobedience was sinful behavior, behavior worthy of bringing forth His judgment.

Ask Sodom and Gomorrah how that worked for them. Better yet, we can’t ask them because both cities were wiped off the face of creation because of their transgressions in plain sight of God.

Yet, despite this, an event that occurred before Jeremiah’s time, the people of God opted to violate Him in the worse way possible for perhaps there could be no greater sin than turning away from a Lord and being unfaithful to Him when He had been nothing but faithful to His people.

Did I mention what the Israelites did was a most horrible thing?

Yes, I said it and as we see in our passage today, I am only echoing the very words of God Himself. Look again at His words:

“But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’”

Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel. Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing? Yet my people have forgotten Me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up. Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their disaster.”  Jeremiah 18:12-17

God told His people to stop worshipping in a way that disrespected and disregarded Him but they weren’t listening. They were bent on pursuing their own desires and following the stubbornness of their evil hearts. And so unbelievably, they continue to sin against God, despite His warnings.

Their actions left God flummoxed so much so that He wanted to survey the nations to see if anyone was privy to such a foolish act, a most horrible thing done by His nation of Israel. God had given them everything they had and in return, they didn’t give Him their honor, glory, and praise. Rather, they gave Him nothing but insult through their actions and attitudes.

And so God was about to show them that there will always be consequences when He is slighted. The once sacred land of Canaan was about to be laid to waste, the kingdom of Judah and holy city of Jerusalem, leveled and left in ruins. The people were to be scattered and taken away into a seventy year captivity in Babylon and when they chose to seek God in the midst of their oppression and hardship, they wouldn’t see His face but rather His back.

The Israelites had turned their backs on God. They were going to see just how that feels.

They had chosen to do a most horrible thing to God. They would experience a most horrible thing in return.

As we look at these scriptures today, the word of God is challenging us to look within and examine our own lives to see how we are behaving in the plain sight of God.

When He looks at you and your actions, does He see a life that honors Him or does He see a life that is a most horrible thing?

If you are in the latter category, I pray that today’s devotion will be the catalyst for change, that these words that the Lord has placed on my heart will lead you to turn from your sins and evil actions so you can return to the kind of person God desires for you to be. He is standing by waiting for you to come to Him.

To not take Him up on His offer, continuing to be disobedient to His calling to turn from sin, would be just as much a most horrible thing as it was back in the days of Israel in Jeremiah’s time and know His judgment will come on us just as easily today as it did then.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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