Jeremiah 21:2,5,12

The Babylonians are upon the Israelites. They are attacking near the walls, and some Israelites are going outside the walls to attack them even. So King Zedekiah sends two priests (one of them being the priest who ordered Jeremiah to be put in stocks!) to Jeremiah to ask him to inquire of the LORD about the attackers.

‘Please inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us.’ (Jeremiah 21:2)

So now this king, after reigning over and supporting a rebellious, idolatrous people, comes to ‘acknowledge’ God’s greatness and His wonderful works – just as they are about to be decimated! Now, will God relent finally and fight for the Israelites against the incoming foes?

‘I myself will fight against you with a strong arm, even in anger and fire and great wrath.’ (Jeremiah 21:5)

It seems not. What is the problem? Can’t we call on God at anytime and be forgiven? Indeed, doesn’t it say ‘He who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’? You see, the problem here is that there is no true repentance. Zedekiah hesitantly refers to the past great acts of God and merely wonders if God may do so again. He has no solid foundation for this belief because he has not repented – he is not walking with the Lord. Thus he says ‘Perhaps…’. As people of the LORD, the Israelites were walking in the completely wrong direction, offering themselves up to idols and all other kinds of rebellious behaviour. Now, to recognize in word that the God could do awesome things was never going to save them from the chastisement of that awesome God! They needed to repent, to turn away, in deed, not only in word. Thus we find:

‘O house of David! Thus says the LORD:
Execute judgment in the morning;
And deliver him who is plundered
Out of the hand of the oppressor,
Lest My fury go forth like fire
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.’ (Jeremiah 21:12)

For us as Christians, we can often live a double-life, as it were. We go to church on Sundays and proclaim the goodness and majesty of God. When trouble arises we also think of all the good God can do. But our lives don’t reflect that awesome majesty of God. If we want to turn around, if we want to be heading the same direction as God, it is not enough to recognize in word the goodness of God. We must make changes in our lives, in our actions, by His mercy and grace. That is the only path forward. We cannot neglect and ignore those parts of our lives we know we constantly fail in. We can’t sort of restrict those sites and then praise God outside of those areas. Eventually, they will take over, unless we honestly ask God to help clean those things up for us – and take positive action against it! He will be faithful to help you, if you have an honest heart.