In Jeremiah 7:16, we learned that God already told the prophet not to pray for Judah saying, “As for you, do not pray for this people. and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.” Here in Jeremiah 11:14, God reiterated his call again and stated vehemently that He will not hear any cry for deliverance from the impending disaster.
God was greatly disappointed. Because Judah His beloved had shown
herself unfit to come to the temple, His house. They had persisted in their waywardness pandering
to the idols and yet refused to repent, they had disappointed Him. For their gross
misbehavior, God told them that they no
longer had any right to be in the house.
The deeds they had done to their
covenant Lord were vile. No amount
of sacrifices they would make could make them rejoice for they were scheduled
to be severely dealt with for their sins.
Judah was once “A green
olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form.” She was God’s delight. But she had become a
worthless tree with barren branches ready to be burnt. They were planted by
God but now together with their northern brethren, they had turned evil. They chose
to pursue vain idols and worthless gods. And had provoked God by offering sacrifices
to Baal.
What a travesty for God’s people to expect Him to come to their rescue when they were in trouble of their own making. It was not as if God had not warned them, He had. But they chose not to show Him any regard. Yet they had the audacity to expect Him to deliver them from their trouble. God expects us to be congruent people. Our actions must be consistent with our commitment. We would be inconsistent when we say we love God and yet show greater affection for other things. Loving God means we put Him first in life and we guard that relationship carefully by not dabbling with things that will put us away from our affection for Him. We love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and have no other competing love.
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