No Going Back

“The LORD hath cast off His altar, He hath abhorred His sanctuary, He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.  The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: He hath stretched out a line, He hath not withdrawn His hand from destroying: therefore He made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.  Her gates are sunk into the ground; He hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.”  Lamentations 2:7-9

God’s people were now in the captivity of the Babylonians, Jerusalem, including the temple, was destroyed, and Jeremiah was heartbroken.  He had been obedient to God in warning the people that their sin was going to catch up with them, and they would feel the heat of God’s wrath.  God was not playing.  It is difficult to understand how God could destroy, by way of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army, His own altar of sacrifice, and His own sanctuary wherein the people had worshiped Him and gave their offerings for hundreds of years.  His determination to destroy these sacred things displayed the fierceness of His anger against His people who had so insolently and aggressively insulted Him by their idolatry and flagrant disobedience.  His temple had been defiled by the sin of His own people.  It is one thing when one’s possessions are destroyed by vandals and thieves because of greed, but when one’s possessions are destroyed by one’s own flesh and blood, it sends a message of hate, disrespect, and hostility toward those who should be loved and respected.  In other words, it is personal.

When one suffers a traumatic event, anything associated with that event is a reminder and is seen in a different light.  A woman who has been sexually assaulted desires to discard the clothes she was wearing even if they are her favorite outfit and to shower to try and wash away the violation committed against her.  She feels dirty and used like someone who has no value and can’t understand why someone would treat her in such a disgusting way.  In a similar way, God must have felt violated by the sins committed against Him by His own people.  All sin is against God.  Just think of all God had done for His people, and then they treated Him like He was nothing.

The violations against the holy and righteous God caused Him to open up the holy city of Jerusalem to the enemy by destroying the city’s walls which allowed the enemy to do its dirty work.  The enemy received access to every home, building, and possessions of the people.  They were allowed to trample within the temple, stomping their feet, making loud, disrespectful noises, not like the shouts and cheers made in past times when God’s people gathered to celebrate feast days.  The temple was destroyed preventing any more celebrations to be held.  I can remember probably 60 years or so ago when someone broke into our small church one Saturday night and vomited in the sanctuary.  I was young, but that was a shock to me that someone would break into a church of all places.  However, many people today have no respect at all for God’s house.  We’ve seen on television churches that have been vandalized with graffiti written on the walls and equipment stolen, and some have been burned to the ground.  Our world is definitely filled with hate.

When God made up His mind to destroy Jerusalem, there was no going back.  He planned to do it following a specific itinerary, not in any haphazard way for God doesn’t operate in an unorganized and disordered plan, but rather in a meticulous and organized fashion so that everything He designs falls according to His plan, an unalterable line which would destroy the entire city of Jerusalem.  No one could stop His plan.  Had His people repented and returned to Him completely, for He had given them plenty of time to do so, then destruction would have been averted and life would have continued in the holy city.  However, the people would not repent and turn from their sin, thus God proceeded with His plan.  The ramparts and walls around Jerusalem which had protected it fell down together as if to console each other for their fall.  The gates of the city were gone, disappeared as if they had sunk into the ground.  The bars which were used to lock the gates were broken.  None of the man-made protections could do the job for which they were constructed if God withheld His hand of protection.  The king and the princes of Jerusalem were captured and taken into a Gentile land where God’s law was not honored.  The prophets no longer heard from the LORD.

What about us?  What about our nation?  We are not God’s chosen people as Israel is, but our nation was founded upon Christian principles by men and women who came seeking freedom to worship and to build lives honoring the Lord.  They weren’t all believers, but I suspect the great majority of them were.  It was a dangerous voyage to cross the ocean in search of a land of freedom, and God’s hand had to be upon them for them to survive.  And now look at us.  People are moving further and further away from the Lord and further and further into sin and all sorts of perversions.  God will bring His judgment maybe sooner than we think, and when He does, there is no going back.  Those who are saved will be blessed while those who have rejected Christ will suffer the recompense of sinners.