Jeremiah 6:13 ““Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely.”
Jeremiah 9:6 “Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD.”
One of the main reasons that God judged the nation of Israel and sent them into captivity in Babylon was because they had followed the direction of their deceitful leaders. Even worse, this deceit was being perpetrated by those that were supposed to represent God to the people. I am afraid that is true in so much of what is called Christendom throughout the world today. And it is surely true of the leaders of governments throughout the world—leaders who are themselves deceived by the great deceiver, the father of lies, Satan himself.
John 8:42–45 “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.”
The Apostle Paul warned Timothy that evil men with the intent to seduce people with their lies and deceit would become more and more prevalent in the last days before the return of Jesus—and that is certainly evident in our world today.
2 Timothy 3:1 & 13 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come….But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
Jeremiah points out that the LORD had faithfully tried to get His people’s attention with judgments that should have caused them to grieve and change their ways. It didn’t work because the people had hard hearts and refused to respond in repentance and faith. I believe that the same can be said today—especially in America.
Jeremiah 5:3 “O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.”
Jeremiah also revealed God’s desire to relent from judgment against a nation if they would just turn from their evil ways.
Jeremiah 18:7–10 “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”
Jeremiah also warns, however, that there comes a point in time at which judgment becomes certain, and God will not even acknowledge prayers made on behalf of a nation.
Jeremiah 7:16 “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.”
Jeremiah 11:14 “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.”
Jeremiah 14:11–12 “Then the LORD said to me, ‘Do not pray for this people, for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.’”
That is a very scary thought. We are to keep on praying for God to soften hearts and bring people to repentance because we do not have specific instructions from God not to pray. These verses point out, however, that there comes a time when God will no longer honor such prayers. The people’s hearts are so hard that God will no longer delay judgment.
I look on with both grief and joy as I witness all that is occurring in our world today, especially in my nation. I grieve over the growing influence and control of the forces of evil, yet rejoice that the signs according to scripture declare that Jesus is coming soon to take His family home to heaven. There are still many of my friends and loved ones that need to come to saving faith in the Savior, and I don’t want one of them to miss out on the blessings of salvation. Yes, I am eager for the LORD’s return; but I know that His timing will be perfect and that every day He delays is because He doesn’t want anyone to perish and miss out on those blessings either.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
If you do not truly know my Savior, I pray that you will ask Him to forgive you of your sins and accept His gift of salvation today. Secure life in the presence of the LORD forever!
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Luke 24:46–47 “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Isaiah 55:6–7 “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
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