The Terrible Trio

October 10 Jeremiah 14:11-16:15

Object Lessons That Demand Obedience

The Terrible Trio

War, Famine, Disease… These are the Terrible Trio!

Why in the world would a loving God permit such devastation to HIS own creation? That is the big question, isn’t it?

We dealt with Job’s suffering at the hand of Satan, and now we are looking at the devastation of the nation of Judah through the eyes of Jeremiah. All of his object lessons demand obedience, but there is no obedience happening.

Isn’t there another way for a HOLY GOD to deal with HIS UNHOLY PEOPLE?

“Calamity, war, famine, plague, death, adversity, disease, injury do not necessarily produce repentance. We may become better in a calamity but it does not necessarily make us repent. The essence of repentance is that we cannot be repentant until we confront our own self-righteousness with God’s righteousness.” (Fulton J. Sheen American Theologian & Bishop)

Perhaps you may remember my illustration from the devotional a couple of days back talking about the people seeking false cisterns vs, the living water. I talked about struggling with dehydration because I don’t drink nearly enough water and I live in the desert where right now we have 112 degrees and the August humidity. It is excruciating!

This past weekend my issues reached a very bad peak. My heart was racing and I was really sick. I ended up in the ER and they took me right in… not because I am special but because my BP hit 215. (What can I say? I have always been an overachiever.) They started checking out my heart and giving me bags of IV fluids, blood work-ups… etc., etc.

It was a real “HIPAA DIPPA DOO-DAH DAY!”

Now, if you don’t know what I mean by that, let me give you the low-down. When you get there you must pretty much sign your life away. Then you get to the “HIPAA Rights” paper. You have the privacy of your name, address, medical condition, and picture…. Yada, yada, yada!

Oh yes, you have privacy! Except for the wee fact that with overcrowding from the “Covid” there is not enough room for you to get a little cubicle. So, everyone is sitting in the hall with all of their tubes and bags hooked to them.

The woman next to me was puking under her blanket, and the man next to her was protesting the doctor's help. He had come in for one thing but they told him he had a kidney stone on top of heart failure and COPD. He was yelling at the doctor because he only came in for ONE THING… not a batch of problems. He didn’t sign up for that! The man next to us in cardiac failure was offered a transfer to a really good hospital for heart care out of our area, but he didn’t want to go. He just came in to talk about kidney stones.

As for me, my first EKG had them raising their eyebrows, but I thank God that changed and things started normalizing when I got lots of liquids. Yes, drinking water, exercising, and blood pressure medicine are all in my near future… TMI? I agree!

Receiving the truth that can save us can be difficult...

Our passage today tells us this, “Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease…”(14:12) Ouch! Rough bedside manner!

God said those words about HIS own beloved people, and he told Jeremiah to quit praying for them. (14:1) Why?

“When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.” (14:11-13)

God, himself, is bringing pain to his people. Let’s look at the reason behind this severe mercy.

“It is because your ancestors were unfaithful to me. They worshiped other gods and served them. They abandoned me and did not obey my word. And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me… There you can worship idols day and night- and I will grant you no favors!” (16:13)

The people’s condition was EVEN WORSE than that of their ancestors! What were the prophets saying to them about their condition? Let’s go back in the passage and see…

Here is what Jeremiah tells God about the other prophets’ message, “Their prophets are telling them, All is well- no war or famine will come. The Lord will surely send you peace.” (14:13)

“These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts…” (14:13-14)

BUSTED! The prophets merely told the people what they wanted to hear and they continued their sinful diseased spiritual lives to the point of spiritual death!

So, you know what I learned while I was in the ER?

First, always take a set of earbuds in your purse so that you can plug them into your phone and block out all of the “HIPAA DIPPA DOO”.

Secondly, even very sick dying people don’t easily receive truth or help. They want to hear what they want to hear.

Thirdly, always take paper and a pen because you will get some GREAT stories there!!

You see, pain and suffering are a canvas for great humility, but the question is… Will it be a place of repentance and change?

The Terrible Trio of war, famine, and disease can “bring us to our knees”... but will we be praying and repenting while we are down there?