A Virgin acting like a Whore

 Jeremiah 18:13-17

 What would other countries say about our nation, have you ever wondered in that we have been so blessed and the protector and champion of liberty, yet have also been the source of telling the other nations God has no place in government?  God calls Israel a virgin, yet she has acted more like a whore, and so He tells Jeremiah to ask the nations to verify Judah’s action of leaving Him, or turning to little gods, like material goods and government and putting their trust in the military.

In verse 14 God is saying that even in nature we find consistency and yet not in His people.  Verse 15-16, “But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway, making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at forever.  Everyone who passes by it is horrified and shakes his head.”   Now it is getting very personal, what are some of the false gods that are making you stumble, what has got you off the highway of life?  In my life it is a fear of not showing up for the game of life, being A.W.O.L. when needed most, letting the fear of man or the fear of failure rob us of the joy and peace we have in Christ Jesus.  I read this morning that in the time of Jeremiah people would make a hissing sound at a guilty person and shake their heads in scorn and disbelief.  Must be a trait I picked up when someone cuts me off in traffic, I find myself doing the same thing.

Verse 17, “Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy.  I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity.”  The east wind is a hot wind coming from the desert, and that also is a sign that the Babylonians would be coming.  It is one thing to have a mighty army coming to do battle with you, but it is entirely different when the God who has been your protector and provider sends a message to you that you are not going to see His face, only His back.

It seems to this writer that we who are called Christian in the USA have not wanted to seek God’s face, but only His hand.  We who are older see the harm that has been done to the Millennial by not having winners and losers.  Everyone has to be a winner, and everyone has to get a trophy, and mom and dad would take a school or a teacher to court if they dare told little Johnny or little Susie that they did not have the skillset to play or meet the task.  Have we not wanted the same from our Father, we want the blessing but have no time to seek Him, to spend time searching His word and examining our hearts to see if we are on the highway of life or the road to destruction?

 From the Back Porch,

 Bob Rice