Jeremiah
13:12-27
“12
Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall
say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be
filled with wine?
13
Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will
fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon
David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14
And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the
sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have
mercy, but destroy them.
15
Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.
16
Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before
your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for
light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross
darkness.
17
But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for
your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears,
because the Lord's flock is carried away captive.
18
Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for
your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
19
The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them:
Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly
carried away captive.
20
Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is
the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21
What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught
them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take
thee, as a woman in travail?
22
And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me?
For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and
thy heels made bare.
23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may
ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24
Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the
wind of the wilderness.
25
This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord;
because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26
Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame
may appear.
27
I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy
whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto
thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once
be?”
The
sins of our nation are great. Maybe, even greater than those of
Israel and Judah in the Old Testament. Yet, we are so puffed up with
pride we proudly proclaim “One Nation Under God” while refusing
to follow the very God we claim to be under. What makes us think God
will not deal with us as He did with His people in the Book of
Jeremiah? Granted, we do not hold the same status with God as did
Israel. But God's people in this land are no better than they were
back then.
Repentance
does not start with the nation. Repentance starts at the House of
God.
Praise
ye the Lord!!!