God has sent Jeremiah to warn the people, and God continues to let them know that if they repent of their sins and admit their guilt, God will forgive them.
But everyone stopped up their ears and blamed the messenger like he was the one deciding; instead of listening to the truth, they rejected it. And they then punished the messenger.
Jeremiah 18:18
They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”
Jeremiah 20:7
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
We find Jeremiah struggles to know what to do.
Jeremiah 20:8-9
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
We see that Jeremiah can’t just pretend that the truth does not exist. It builds up inside, and he has to let it out.
Thankfully, God is with him even if people don’t want the truth.
Jeremiah 20:11
But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
their dishonour will never be forgotten.
We live in a day when the truth is rejected, and our feelings are more important than reality. People want to hear a lie to affirm their lies and think the person telling them the truth is purposely against them. When, in fact, they are for them.
Most people would rather cancel the prophet than live in and accept reality or what is true.
What about us? Can we handle the truth? Are we willing to live in reality? Or do we want people to lie to us so we can feel better? Are we cancelling those who love us enough to tell us the truth? Do we blame them for pointing out reality? Or do we accept the truth, and are we willing to live in reality?
I know that the people beat, mistreated, threatened, and tried to manipulate Jeremiah. But God was with him.
What would have happened if they would have admitted their sin and repented?
It would have changed history.
