Draw Near to God

“If you will return, O Israel, says the Lord, return to Me; and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved.” Jeremiah 4:1

What is an abomination? It is תּוֹעֵבָה (toebah) a detestable act, thing or things, loathsome to the Lord. God told His people through Moses long ago that idols are detestable to Him. “Cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination.” [1]

In the early days of Jeremiah’s ministry, King Josiah removed the abominations that King Solomon set up on behalf of pagan wives. Josiah removed Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and Milcom the abomination of Ammon. [2]

After Josiah’s death, the people returned to idols. Jeremiah had a Word from the Lord for them, “They have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. They set their abominations in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” [3]

After Jerusalem was destroyed and after some had fled to Egypt, Jeremiah confronted them about worshiping the Queen of Heaven. They defended their idolatry.

“All the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: ‘As for the word that you have spoken to us in the Name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble.” [4]

We have people like this today. They are in the news cycles. Their cities are burning down around them and they fight anyone who dares to say a word against their wrong doing.

The Jerusalemites refused to remove their idols so God removed them from Jerusalem.

“And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’ in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.” Jeremiah 4:2

The Lord had a plan. It was “In your seed [Israel’s seed referring to Christ] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed...” [5]

The nations are blessed in the Seed of Abraham. That seed is Christ. “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’” “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your See,’ who is Christ.” [6]

“For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.” Jeremiah 4:3

Jesus told a parable in which thorns represent cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches. These cares and deceits choke out God’s Word so that it does not produce results in them. The king, princes, priests and false prophets were full of greed. Those hurt people, like Jeremiah, who dared to sow God’s Word among them. Their hearts were fallow – hard – ground. [7]

God was going to bring His Word to earth embodied in human flesh. The Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham. Judah’s leaders needed to break up their fallow ground. Instead of serving idols, they needed to prepare to host their Messiah. He was coming to them.

Hosea said to them, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness upon you.” [8]

“Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” Jeremiah 4:4

The Lord speaks of circumcision as a heart operation. “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” [9]

Christ performs the circumcision that replaces sin with new life in Him. “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” [10]

“Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: ‘Blow the trumpet in the land; cry, gather together, and say, assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities. Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the north, Babylon and great destruction.’” Jeremiah 4:5-6

The Lord wants the warning trumpet to be sounded. The invading army is about to attack. They need to take shelter. The Lord compares the enemy to an eagle. Once, the eagle begins its descent it is too late to seek refuge. His eyes are sharp. His speed is like lightning.

Judah needed to act on God’s Word instantaneously. “Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My Law.” “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand.” [11]

“The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place to make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, without inhabitant.” Jeremiah 4:7

The Lord compares Babylon to a roaring lion. Babylon is coming their way. How can anyone stay silent about it? “A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” [12]

“The first [empire/Babylon] was like a LION and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.” [13]

This prophecy was fulfilled in the days of King Jehoiakim. “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.” [14]

“For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament, and wail. For the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us.” Jeremiah 4:8

They should sound the alarm. They should weep before the Lord.

“ And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.” Jeremiah 4:9

The “elite” of the city will not escape the judgment.

“Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart.’” Jeremiah 4:10

The false prophets were saying, “Peace, peace, when there was no peace.” [15]

God says that evil men deceive others and themselves are being deceived. [16]

“They [the deceived ones] perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” [17]

“God our Savior desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” [18]

The leaders were not totally to blame either. “The people said to their seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things. Speak to us smooth things. Prophesy deceits.’” [19]

Ahab was a wicked king. He participated in the murder of God’s servants. The Lord sent a lying spirit to guide him to his destruction. ““A spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’” [20]

“At that time, it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people—not to fan or to cleanse—a wind too strong for these will come for Me; now I will also speak judgment against them. Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!” Jeremiah 4:11-13

Babylon’s attacking army is compared to a dry wind that does not fan out or cleanse chaff. It destroys. Their army has horses that are swifter than eagles. They come to plunder not to bless.

John the Baptist compared Messiah to a winnower. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Jesus rescues the wheat from the destiny of the chaff. This is why it is good to draw near to Him and abide in Him. [21]

“O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?” Jeremiah 4:14

Jesus put it this way, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.” [22]

“For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim: ‘make mention to the nations, yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country and raise their voice against the cities of Judah’.” Jeremiah 4:15-16

The Assyrians had defeated and displaced the northern tribes of Dan and Ephraim. Their downfall was a warning to Judah.

“Like keepers of a field they are against her all around because she has been rebellious against Me, says the Lord. Your ways and your doings have procured these things for you. This is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart.” Jeremiah 4:17-18

Jeremiah’s prophecy came to pass in the ninth year of King Zedekiah’s reign. The Babylonian army camped around Jerusalem and built a siege wall all around it. [23]

After the exile, Nehemiah summarized the “why” of the tribulation, saying, “They killed Your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to You; they committed awful blasphemies. So, you delivered them into the hands of their enemies…” [24]

“O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” Jeremiah 4:19

God’s heart for Israel was expressed via Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans. “I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” [25]

Their story is so tragic! God was so good to them, but they were so bad toward God. They did not realize what they had in God. They exchanged the real God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, for fake gods made out of wood and stone. They reaped a bad harvest, when could have enjoyed a great one.

Paul wrote to the Galatians, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” [26]

“Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, and my curtains in a moment.” Jeremiah 4:20

Wave after wave of assault by enemies left Jerusalem’s refugees in tents. Then, the enemies plundered their tents.

“How long will I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?” Jeremiah 4:21

The trumpet or shophar was ancient world’s early warning system. Like our air raid sirens.

“For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” Jeremiah 4:22

True religion is about a personal relationship with God. The Lord lamented, “An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” [27]

Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus warned His disciples, “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.” [28]

Paul wrote of those who profess to be wise, they are fools. “As they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.” They perceived themselves as superheroes but were villains. [29]

“I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; and the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord, by His fierce anger.” Jeremiah 4:23-26

Jeremiah sees the earth and heavens as they were in the beginning. “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep...” He sees an apocalyptic scene where people are gone, birds have disappeared, there is no fruit, and cities are gone. A worse scene this awaits those who reject Christ when they meet Him as their judge at the great white throne judgment. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” [30]

“For thus says the Lord: the whole land shall be desolate; yet I will not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken. I have purposed, and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man shall dwell in it.” Jeremiah 4:27-29

Jesus warned of a like judgement when He walked the earth. He said, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” [31]

Jesus warned of a like judgment in the last days before He returns, “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood.” “Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.” [32]

“And when you are plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain you will make yourself fair; your lovers will despise you; they will seek your life.” Jeremiah 4:30

Outward beauty cannot thwart divine judgment. “When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window.” [33]

As the Lord brought down Jezebel in the days of Elisha, He will bring down the spirit of harlotry during the last days. “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” [34]

“For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself; she spreads her hands, saying, ‘Woe is me now, for my soul is weary because of murderers!’ Jeremiah 4:31

Jesus and Paul both compared the tribulation of the last days to birth pangs. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pangs.” “While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” [35]

There are numerous parallels between Jeremiah’s Jerusalem in the Old Testament and Revelation’s Jerusalem at the conclusion of the New Testament. Both exhort people to repent. Both speak of tribulations. Both speak of better kingdoms after the old ones pass away.

Jeremiah provides us insight into what is like to speak to people who do not want to hear God’s Word but need to hear it. Revelation provides us with valuable insights into what God and His angels do in the heavenlies to rescue people out of such a spiritually dark place.

God is sounding the alarm. He says, “Draw near to Me, and I will draw near to you.” [36]

[1] Deuteronomy 27:15
[2] 2 Kings 23:13
[3] Jeremiah 32:33-35
[4] Jeremiah 44:15-17
[5] Genesis 22:18
[6] Galatians 3:8, 16
[7] Matthew 13:22
[8] Hosea 10:12
[9] Deuteronomy 30:6
[10] Colossians 2:11-12
[11] Hosea 8:1; Deuteronomy 28:49
[12] Amos 3:8
[13] Daniel 7:4
[14] 2 Kings 24:1
[15] Jeremiah 6:10
[16] 2 Timothy 3:13
[17] 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12
[18] 1 Timothy 2:3-4
[19] Isaiah 30:10
[20] 1 Kings 22:19-23
[21] Matthew 3:12
[22] Matthew 23:25
[23] 2 Kings 25:1
[24] Nehemiah 9:26-27
[25] Romans 9:2-5
[26] Galatians 4:19
[27] Isaiah 1:3
[28] John 16:2-3
[29] Romans 1:22, 28
[30] Genesis 1:2; Revelation 20:11
[31] Luke 21:20-22
[32] Revelation 6:12, 15
[33] 2 Kings 9:30
[34] Revelation 17:1-2
[35] Matthew 24:7-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:3
[36] James 4:8