Stand By His Way and Walk With Him
Scripture Passage: Jeremiah 6:16-30 (NASB)
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
Then you will find a resting place for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 And I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, you congregation, what is among them.
19 Hear, earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,
The fruit of their plans,
Because they have not listened to My words,
And as for My Law, they have rejected it also.
20 For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba,
And the sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable
And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”
21 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am placing stumbling blocks before this people.
And they will stumble against them,
Fathers and sons together;
Neighbor and friend will perish.”
22 This is what the Lord says:
“Behold, there is a people coming from the north land,
And a great nation will be stirred up from the remote parts of the earth.
23 They seize bow and spear;
They are cruel and have no mercy;
Their voice roars like the sea,
And they ride on horses,
Lined up as a man for the battle
Against you, daughter of Zion!”
24 We have heard the report of it;
Our hands are limp.
Anguish has seized us,
Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.
25 Do not go out into the field,
And do not walk on the road;
For the enemy has a sword,
Terror is on every side.
26 Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth
And roll in ashes;
Mourn as for an only son,
A most bitter mourning.
For suddenly the destroyer
Will come against us.
27 “I have made you an assayer and an examiner among My people,
So that you may know and put their way to the test.”
28 All of them are stubbornly rebellious,
Going about as a slanderer;
They are bronze and iron.
They are, all of them, corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
In vain the refining goes on,
But the wicked are not separated.
30 They call them rejected silver,
Because the Lord has rejected them.
SUMMARY
God told the Israelites to “see and ask for the ancient paths,” but the Israelites rejected His words and His law. As a result Israelites’ sacrifices and offerings do not please God. Through Jeremiah, God tells the Israelites that He will bring disaster on His people, a disaster that is the “fruit of their plans.” God says that a cruel people without mercy will come from the north to attack Israel, causing terror, pain and anguish. God says that His people are corrupt and have refused to be refined and purified. His people are “rejected silver, Because the Lord has rejected them.”
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
God rejects the Israelites’ superficial sacrifices and offerings as fake. God looks past those burnt offerings to the Israelites’ true heart and finds that “They are, all of them, corrupt.” (V. 28) God emphasizes the importance of obedience to His law over offerings. Because the Israelites continue in their sinful, corrupt and greedy ways, they are like unrefined silver, useless for their intended purpose and therefore rejected and thrown away.
God makes clear that it did not have to be this way. In verse 16 He reminds the Israelites that he asked them to “stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.” But the Israelites said “We will not walk in it.” As a result, the coming invasion is not just God’s work. It is the “fruit of their plans.” (V. 19) It is the natural result of sinfulness
APPLICATION
God knows my heart, so it’s useless to try to pretend. I can perhaps fool others – my brothers and sisters at church, even my own family – into thinking that I am somehow “spiritual.” I can provide the equivalent of burnt offerings, whether it’s participating in church meetings or singing in choir. And if given with the right heart, such things can be wonderful and bear fruit. But when my own heart is far from God, they are meaningless. I’ve measured my spiritual progress in large part based on increased activity at church. But God reminds me yet again – that alone is meaningless. Do I seek God more? Do I really try, in my private life when no one is watching, to think of what God wants and do it?
In my heart I know – and God knows – the answer is no. Still today my own heart is filled with the same superficial desires that the Israelites had – greed and comfort especially. But the good news is that God doesn’t stop reaching out to me. Over and over again He’s come to me, sometimes through the Word, sometimes through His people. Those very few times when I’ve sought the Lord out over the past year, He has powerfully impacted me. He’s rebuked me and encouraged me and guided me in dealing with my own sins, my role as parent and husband, my role in the church. It’s time for me to go back to God without pretense, admit again my cold heart, and ask God for His wisdom.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for Your mercy. Thank you for protecting me and my family and those I love, even though I don’t deserve it and even though I don’t show true gratitude and understanding of Your mercy. Lord, I want to come to You first, before You reach out to me. You’ve shown me over and over again that if I go my own way, I will be destroyed by my own sins, my own shortcomings. Help me to learn this lesson deep in my heart. Help me to go to You and Your Word first, each day, before I seek my own wisdom. Help me to seek and ask for the ancient paths, the resting place that You’ve created for me. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
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