Devotions

The people of Judah, in their foolishness, paid no heed to Jeremiah the true prophet of God. The terrible affliction they now suffered was as a direct result of that rejection and of their choosing to follow a corrupt religious establishment. It was “for the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests” (13a) that Jerusalem now felt such grief.
These religious leaders, in their wickedness, had failed to preach the truth. They did not warn the people, as Jeremiah had done, to turn from their sins. Instead, they were the instigators of sin in shedding the blood of the righteous (13b). They now bore the humiliation of God’s wrath upon them, because of their unfaithfulness. Through wicked spiritual leadership, the people were like lepers (14-15) and the Lord “will no more regard them” (16) all the while they remain so abhorrent in their sins.
They had looked in the wrong place for help. They “watched for a nation that could not save” (17). They had watched in vain. How sad that they would rather look to Egypt than repent and turn to the Lord. Therefore, their persecutors went after them (19). God’s anger continues all the while His people stubbornly refuse to repent and turn to Him with all their hearts.
O that the Lord in mercy might graciously grant us wisdom and discernment in our own hearts, that we might heed God’s warning in our own day. May we earnestly seek after faithful ministry: that which preaches Christ in all His beauty and declares His wonderful merits. May we delight in the gospel, and let us shun that which is harmful to our souls. O that we might be delivered from sinful religious leadership in our land today!