Dereliction of Duty
I’m back in Fort Collins. I arrived home at 8:30 p.m. last night to rainy weather. Today was a nice fall day with temps under 50. Too bad we are approaching the Memorial Day weekend. But I’m sure before too long we will be complaining about heat. Such is life.
I did get out to mow the lawn which continues to grow without an abundance of sunshine. My plans for a summer garden keep getting put on hold, but the strawberries are doing well.
I attended a “Professionals Working with Seniors” meeting in Loveland this morning. It was interesting to see a group of about 100 individuals representing a cross section of services for seniors together for networking and communication.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “Your prophets had nothing to tell you but lies; Their preaching deceived you by never exposing your sin. They made you think you did not need to repent.” Lamentations 2:14
God’s people have gone into exile. The land is devastated and lays in ruin. In the natural it is a conquest by a world power, the Babylonians. But spiritually, it is God’s judgment after hundreds of years of idolatry and disobedience. The short book of Lamentations is the “post mortem” on all the years and events that have led up to this sad day.
During the years Judah had Kings that were good, some good and bad and some very bad, as far as leading the people according to God’s ways. But the group that is singled out as the most culpable, are the prophets. We are familiar with the names of a select group of the most well known Godly and true prophets, but there were many prophets during these years. But the majority of them failed in their duties to be “God’s mouthpiece.” We don’t know much about these men. We do see a few of them that interacted with Elijah or Jeremiah or Isaiah or some of the others.
While the test of a true prophet is to speak God’s truth, these prophets are condemned as only telling lies. And in doing so they deceived the people by never exposing their sin. As a result, the people did not see their need to repent and became confused about whether events good or bad were coming from idols they worshiped or from the true God. There was no clear voice, there was no consistent voice to the people.
We see the, “what now, what’s next” response in chapter three. It is one thing to understand part of the answer to the question “why?” but what is important is to know, “what know?” Here are the words and call of Jeremiah:
“Let us examine our ways and turn back to the Lord. Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray, “We have sinned and rebelled…” Lamentations 3:40-42
When false voices fade into the backdrop, the true voice of God’s Word still stands. True prophets don’t say, “I told you so…” they show the road to recovery.
The confidence of restoration is seen in these familiar verses, “…hope returns when I remember this one thing: The Lord‘s unfailing love and mercy still continue, Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope. The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in him, So it is best for us to wait in patience…” Lamentations 3:21-26
What we find is a similar situation predicted in the days before Christ returns, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.“ (2 Timothy 4:3)
Just like prophets of old who declared, “peace and safety” and “…peace, peace, when there was not peace” there will be those who want to hear that, “all is good, when it is not good.”
It is important to remember that the gospel is “good news” because it is that antidote to the “bad news” that our sins separate us from the Lord. We need to face the reality and consequences of life lived according to our own way, in order to embrace the new way of life, freely offered and made possible through Jesus Christ.
Don’t be afraid of hearing “difficult or challenging words.” Some one once pointed out, “before the truth sets you free, it makes you uncomfortable.”