Trying to "Pull One Over" on God

Jeremiah 14:11; 15:6: "Then the LORD said to me, 'Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague . . . . You have rejected me . . . You keep on backsliding. So I will lay hands on you and destroy you; I can no longer show compassion.'"

When God turned up the heat of His judgment upon the people of Judah for their chronic rebellion against Him as Lord, the people hastened to the formality of worship and ritual in the hopes of "impressing" God to bring them relief. These Israelites for so long had been the perpetrators of all types of evil, flagrantly displaying their wickedness openly (see Jeremiah 3:6); and instead of fearing the holiness of the Lord, these people had no regard for His Sovereignty. They only saw the Lord as one of many deities that could be summoned for their needs, only to be shuffled back to the periphery of their lives once He had blessed them. Any Word of truth given by the Lord that was indicting of their sin was received with offense . . . they found no pleasure in it whatsoever (see Jeremiah 6:10). They thought themselves so wise that they were not in need of any council that would address their wrongdoings, for they did not see the pursuit of their selfish desires as inherently bad (Jer. 8:8).

Now that these people were suffering for their sin, they soon made their way to the temple to make their burnt offerings and grain offerings to the Lord and to follow up their religious display by committing themselves to fasting. These people thought that if they could impress God enough, He would relent from His judgment and bring relief from their misery. The telling evidence of their spiritual condition, however, was in their willingness to backslide. As evidenced by these people's behavior, they did not want to change their evil ways (which is the Biblical definition of repentance); rather, they wanted to get out of their predicament. Had God relented from His wrath, these people would have reverted back to their detestable ways and mocked the Lord as One who could be fooled by superficial spiritual display. Had the Lord brought a reprieve to the Judeans, they in turn would have smugly concluded that only a few "hoop jumping" acts of spirituality were necessary to appease God. Then they could return to the true wicked desires of their hearts.

Of course, God would not be fooled by such deceptive practices. He knew what was in their hearts; and for this reason, the Lord would not relent from His judgment.

This is a good word for us today. If we expect the blessing of the Lord, we must move beyond pretentious spiritual rituals with the hope of impressing God; for these acts, without a heart inclined toward the Lord in a spirit of repentance and surrender will accomplish nothing. Instead, we must submit ourselves to the authority of the One True God and approach Him in a spirit of humility and contrition. It will only be then that His Divine favor will be poured out upon us . . . and we will experience relief from His judgments.