Jeremiah 4
.\S there yet hope of repentance? "If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, return unto Me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of My sight, then shalt thou not be a wanderer . . . .”
The most thorough repentance was called for, because of the evil of their doings (verses 3 and 4), yet God foreknew it would not take place; therefore He said, "Declare ye in Judah, and cause it to be heard in Jerusalem and say.... and blow the trumpet in the land; cry aloud and say, 'Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced cities. Set up, a banner toward Zion; take to flight; stay not!'
Evil was to come from the north,—the destroyer of the nations was on his way; 4 years after Josiah's death, Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, and after 18 years more, he destroyed the city completely. From this prospect the heart of Jeremiah shrank; he had hoped that there would be repentance, and that Jerusalem and Judah would thus be spared (verse 10) .
Would there be a taking to heart of the admonition in verse 14? We know there was not; the people were set in their evil ways., and, like those of our own times, they would have many excuses for paying no attention to the warnings of coming judgments.
Long had God guarded Judah, and earlier, Israel, from the nations that would have seized the land for themselves, but now the time for forbearance was over, and the king of Babylon was soon to arrive on an errand of conquest. "Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, yea, it is bitter, yea it reacheth unto thine heart" (verse 18).
Verses 19-21 and 23-31 portray the scenes of war and desolation soon to be in Judah's land. Is not the latter part of verse 22 truly applicable to the present day, as it is also the contradiction of what should mark those who bear the name of Christ?
Fearful would be the state of the triflers with God's messages of coming trouble, when the long deferred judgment should fall on Judah.
Far worse indeed will be the position of those who in this day are scoffing at the gospel, when once the patience of God has been exhausted.
Messages of God’s Love 7/22/1934