Jeremiah 4:5-8 – What to do in the light of the looming judgment

The crux of the message of God’s prophets contains two elements most of the time. It is both a message of judgment and a message of hope. Under godly Josiah, spiritual reform was taking place, even then Jeremiah was already prophesying the coming judgment. His message of hope came earlier in the call for the people to repent. Judah was told that if they would not repent and return and walk faithfully with God a terrible judgment would fall on them.

After showing what genuine repentance would entail in Jeremiah 4:1-4, the prophet went on to paint a scene of a terrible judgment for their unrepentance. In Jeremiah 4:5-8, the prophet warned of a coming judgment. Like a trumpeter sounding out a warning, Jeremiah was heralding an alarm of the impending attack from the north. aLarm of impending attack would often be sound so that the people could hurry into their walled cities for shelter and safety. Notice that this coming judgment was God’s doing. In verse 6, the word explicitly said, “For I am bringing evil from the north, and great destruction.”

Judah’s enemy would be a sweeping army from the north. From the history of Israel, we know that the Babylonians from the north under King Nebuchadnezzar did besiege Judah, carry away her people into exile and destroy Jerusalem. Here Jeremiah painted the enemy as an enraged and ferocious lion that would be let loose to ravage the cities and leave them in ruin and total devastation. With the judgment looming, the prophet then called for an appropriate response in verse 8. He told them saying:

“For this, put on sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.”

God was extending His hand of grace to His people in these verses. He warned them because His preference was for them to repent and return to Him. What was installed could be averted had they genuinely repented and returned to God. But alas they did not heed the warning, hence the fierce anger was poured out on them eventually. 

We too live in challenging times. The evil in the world seems to be building up for a climatic destructive end. There are tell plenty of tail signs. As concerned believers, we must heed the call of  1 Peter:4-7-8. “ The end of all things is near; therefore be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”