July 27, 2020

If I had to give Jeremiah 44 a title it would be “Avoidable Disaster”. It is in this chapter that we read the reason behind the disaster that God has brought upon Judah (v.2-3).

2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.

We see that their evil living, their idolatry of other gods, is the reason for this disaster coming upon them. But how did the people of the Living God get here? We see in verses 4-10.

1) THEY DID NOT LISTEN (v. 4-5)

God, in His love, was very patient. He sent them prophet after prophet, servant after servant, to warn them and encourage them in obedience. But they did not listen. God has done the same for us. He has given us His Word, servant of His, and the Church. We should learn from them and listen.

2) THEY WORSHIPPED IDOLS (v. 8)

Even though God had shown up and acted in their lives in powerful ways in history… even though He had a track record of obedience… they still chose to worship idols in place of Him. God was not going to allow them to worship these false gods. We do very similar things. It may not be actual gods, but we make time, control, what I want, desires, etc. an idol. We should learn from them and worship the One True God.

3) THEY FORGOT THEIR PAST (v. 9)

God reminds them of evil in their past and how He acted then… He asked them “Have you forgotten?” They should have learned from their parent’s mistakes. We should learn from them and learn from others’ mistakes.

4) THEY LIVED IN PRIDE (v. 10)

God spoke into the root of their sin for a second. Pride. Humility is seeing God, seeing me, and aligning my life to that truth. Pride will always lead us to disobedience to God’s commands. We should learn from them and pursue humility.

5) THEY DID NOT LISTEN… AGAIN (v. 15-16)

Even in all that Jeremiah proclaims to them from God… They did not listen, again. They did not learn from their own failures. We should learn from them and be willing to learn. 

And because of this… God brought disaster. He brought calamity. We see Him promise this in verses 29-30. But this could have been avoided. This was an “avoidable disaster”. We know God’s character. He would have taken them back. He would have renewed them in His grace. They chose their sin.

Sin brings disaster. It promises life and brings death. We should learn from them and pursue holiness.

By: Nick Parsons — Pastoral Ministry Associate – College