The title of our lesson is, “Why We Don’t Repent.” Why don’t we repent? Why don’t we have radical repentance? But this is not a question that merely I am asking each of us. It is a question that God is asking. Listen to how God presents his case to his people in Jeremiah 8.
You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return? Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. (Jeremiah 8:4-5 ESV)
The Lord is asking a great rhetorical question. When people fall down, don’t they get back up again? Don’t people turn around when they go the wrong way? The obvious answer is yes. You get up when you fall down. You turn around when you are going the wrong way. So now God asks, not the world, but his people. Why won’t these people turn around? Why won’t these people get up? Why do they continue to go the wrong way? Why are they perpetually backsliding? Why do they refuse to return? What God is going to do is explain the problem to help them see why they are not getting up and why they are not turning around. As God tells his people about why they are not repenting, we will learn about ourselves and what holds us back from coming to God the way God desires.
Holding On To Lies (Jeremiah 8:5-6)
Jeremiah begins by saying that the reason people do not get up and return to God is because they are holding on to lies. It makes us wonder what deception they are holding on to. We know that they are practicing idolatry (see Jeremiah 7). But God is going to go deeper and drive to the heart of the problem. What lies are the people clinging to? In verse 6 we read that the people are not speaking rightly about God or about themselves. They persist in pursuing their own course, like a horse charging headlong into battle. God says that our problem is that we are so persistent to keep following our own way of life. We think we are right and we think we are going the right way, even though God says we are going the wrong way. Have you ever done that in life? Have you ever done that with your GPS while driving? You are so certain that you are going the right way. What I have done is that I know the general direction I need to go but I missed my turn. So I keep going hoping that there will be some other road or some other way to get there so that I don’t have to waste time by turning around. So I go and I keep going and the GPS is yelling at me to turn around. But it turns out that this subdivision is not going to let me out and I finally yield and turn around. We do this with our lives. We are so certain that we are doing the right thing that we can be bothered to reconsider our ways. We will not listen to anything because we know that this must be right. But God says you are not right and you are holding on to lies when you do this. Do not pursue your own way, rushing headlong like a horse running into battle.
Don’t Know God (Jeremiah 8:7-9)
In verse 7 God through Jeremiah gives another picture to show our foolishness in failing to get up and turn back to God. God says that a stork knows their seasons and birds know their migration times. But look at the end of verse 7. “But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.” The reason we hold on to our lies and keep charging forward is because we do not know what God wants. We do not know his righteous judgments and rules. But I think the comparison is interesting. God does not say that lawyers know the law but you do not know my laws. God says that the birds have the sense to know the times and seasons to come and go. But God’s people do not have that sense because they do not know him. Notice verse 8 where the people claim to wise and have God’s law within them. The problem is that they have the wrong information. The teachers of the law (the scribes) are turning God’s words into lies. This has been a long problem when it comes to God’s word. People use the scriptures to prove what they want to prove and use it to justify what they want to justify. The apostle Peter noted this during his time on the earth.
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:15-16 ESV)
Peter says that the unknowledgeable twist and distort the scriptures to their own destruction. The same problem was in Jeremiah’s day, Peter’s day, and still in our day. People do not turn back to God because the teaching is twisted so that they do not know God and his requirements. God says in verse 9 that you cannot have any wisdom for life if you do not know God’s word and reject his requirements.
No Shame (Jeremiah 8:10-12)
The third reason God gives for why his people are not getting up after falling and turning back to him is because they have no shame. In verse 10 we read that everyone is greedy. Even the prophets and priests are greedy and lie to the people. Since their lives are ruled by money, they do not want to tell people the truth of God’s word. They are frauds, working for the pay, rather than teaching the truth. So everyone is greedy, even those who were to be spiritual leaders of the people. I suppose it should not shock us when we see this happen today because it was happening over 2500 years ago. People use God to get rich. Religious leaders are happy to take your money to increase their own riches. Joel Osteen’s net worth is estimated to be 110 million dollars. Joel Osteen’s primary house cost 10.5 million dollars as it has 17,000 square feet. His second house cost 2.9 million dollars. Why should that money go to the preacher? Why would he be paid so much more than the average person who attends there? As God proclaimed, they are all greedy for gain and practice lies to perpetuate the wealth. So they will not talk about sin. No, they will not condemn anyone’s behavior or lifestyle. They say, “Peace, peace” when there is no peace (Jeremiah 8:11). They do these things and they are not ashamed. They do not even know how to blush. It is all about presentation. It is all about having a show for others. They will not get up and turn because they have no shame about what they are doing or how they are living.
Hardening Life (Jeremiah 8:13-22)
So you will notice in verse 13 that God says he will make their lives difficult because they have rejected him. Since they have no shame and do not know him, but hold on to lies, God declares disaster on them. Listen to the end of verse 13. “What I have given them will be taken from them.” The people are going to lose everything. In verse 10 he tells them that they are going to lose their property and their families. Their wives will be taken and their land will be conquered. God does this over and over again in the scriptures. When we refuse to acknowledge what God has given to us, then he will take away what he has given us. When we take God’s good blessings and use them for sin, God says he will take those blessings away. When we take all that God has given to us and say that it is by our strength and wisdom that we have these things, God says he will take it away. We see God say that to Israel in Deuteronomy 8. We see God do this to Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king in Daniel 4. He proclaimed that his power and wealth were by his own actions. So God took it away from him. God expects his people to be fruitful with all that God has given them and acknowledge that everything we have is from him. We see this truth taught in the New Testament with the parables of the talents and the minas (cf. Matthew 25 and Luke 19). God has prospered you to do his work. But he will judge us for what he did with what he gave us.
But here is the real kick to this problem. When God does this, the people will understand but it will be too late. They know they are doomed for God has doomed them to persist and given them poisoned water to drink because of their sins (8:14). They had a false hope for peace, but judgment came instead. When you think about where this prophetic message started, it is so sad and so unfortunate to see this outcome. This did not have to be the outcome. But the people refused to get up and return to the Lord. They hoped for peace while in their sins. They hoped to keep doing what they wanted and that God would still bless them. Now they see their doom because of their sins and it is far too late.
Think about how often we do this in our lives. How often do reject what God has told us to do only to destroy our lives and cause ourselves all kinds of life problems! Then he hit the painful bottom and see what God was telling us. But now it is too late. Now you are consumed by the consequences of your sinning. You did not listen to God’s way but plowed headlong down your own path, not listening to God or any righteous counsel. You refused to turn when God was telling you to turn and now you have hit the dead end. Now you have lost everything and there is no consolation when you hit the bottom (8:18-22).
Do you know what we do when we have lost it all because of our own sinful and foolish choices? We blame God. Look at verse 19. The people cry out, “Where is God?” “Is the Lord not in Zion?” We thought we had God. Where is God? But God’s answer is that you are to blame, not him. You were told the way to go and you didn’t listen. You were told to turn around, but you didn’t do it. Now you want to blame God for the disaster that has come on you. But you were the one who provoke the Lord. You angered God and then wonder why God is angry! Don’t question God. Question yourself. Why did you provoke the Lord? There is no one who can say that God didn’t warn them. No one can say that. Further, no one can blame God. No one can blame anyone else. Your choices are your choices. Your sins are your sins. You did what you wanted to do and now here you are. It is time to reap what you have sown (8:20). You planted and now the harvest time as come and gone. It is time to get back what you planted in your life.
Conclusion
So let’s return to the beginning of God’s message by considering his question. Why won’t you get up and turn back to him? Why won’t you listen to him now? God has told us exactly what is going to happen if we refuse to know him and listen to his ways. God has told us will happen if we follow our own course. Our way is not the way of wisdom. Only God’s way is the way that leads to life and peace. Do not hope for peace and healing when you pursue your own path in life. Don’t expect a blessing when you seek your life course. Even the birds have enough understanding to know when it is time to go. Do we have enough understanding to know that now is the time to turn back and follow God’s direction for life?