God is undeniably patient. Psalm 103:14 tells us
He knows our frame that is mindful that we are made of dust. There are many
promises in the Bible where God assures us that He will hear and answer the
prayer of His people. And it is true that He delights in answering our
prayer. That is what makes reading a passage like Jeremiah 7:16-20
so depressing. To hear God Himself discouraging the prophet from interceding
for the people of Judah because He would not answer His prayer on their behalf
was dreadful. If we are not to reach the point of what these verses describe we
must not test God to the limit. This passage shows us precisely what we must
not do.
We must never test God to the limit. How did the people of Judah
test God to the point where He would no longer postpone judgment? They broke
the one thing that would distinguish them from all the people of Canaan. They
were told never to worship any other gods or bow down to them, for God is a
jealous God. Yet they would violate this very important instruction. According
to verse 18, their children were made to gather wood, “…and the fathers kindle
the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven,
and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order
to spite Me.” Everyone in the family from father to mother to sons was
pandering to idolatry. It is difficult to think that these people would want to
provoke God, yet they did. Foolishly they were only hurting themselves by being
so involved in idolatry.
Since they did not see fit to only honor God and stay true to Him,
they must now be prepared to face His wrath. God in verse 20 then guaranteed a
fiery judgment. He said, “Behold, My anger, and My wrath will
be poured out on this place, on man and on the beast and on the trees of the
field and the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be
quenched.”
It is sobering to read a passage like this, isn’t it? To test God would be bad enough but to test Him to this point is insane. Verses like this tell us that we must never be influenced by the pagan world to such a point where it’s impossible for God not to deal with us. Having said that we are thankful for Calvary. Had it not been for Jesus and what He did on our behalf, we forever would be lost! While God is limitless in patience, He cannot condone of perpetual refusal to repent. The lesson: don’t take God for granted and test Him needlessly.
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