We have the tendency to drown out noise that becomes loud and repetitive. Car alarms fall into this category. We hear a car alarm and after a few seconds we can ignore its sounds. You might have seen parents do this with their screaming or nagging children. The child is just yelling but the parent does not even to seem to notice it anymore. But it is entirely different story when it comes to the alarm in your home in the middle of the night. If your fire alarm or your security alarm goes off in the middle of the night, I don’t think anyone’s first reaction is to roll over and go back to sleep. You are going to get up. You are going to have the adrenaline running and your heart racing. You are going to start looking for your phone, ready to call emergency service. You are going to get ready.
God’s Warning (Jeremiah 6:1-9)
In the book of Jeremiah, the Lord is sounding the warning for his people about their lives. He is telling them that judgment is coming. He is warning them to watch out because punishment needs to come because of their wicked ways. God is telling his people that disaster is on the horizon and they need to quickly respond before it is too late. I would like to remind us that God is giving this warning to the people of God, not the world. When this alarm is going off, it is to Jerusalem, the place where God’s name was established and to be glorified. Jerusalem was the capital city and where God’s presence resided and where God was to be worshiped. However, we have seen in Jeremiah and continue to see that this is a city full of extreme wickedness. In Jeremiah 5:1 God gave the people a challenge. God said he would forgive the city if they could find one person who was acting honestly and righteously. In Jeremiah 5:28 God said that their evil has no limit. In Jeremiah 4:22 God said that his people are only skilled at one thing: doing evil. They do not know how to do good and they do not know God. In Jeremiah 6 God continues to describe the people’s wickedness. In Jeremiah 6:7 God pictures their evil like a fountain pouring out water. Just like water continually pours out water from a fountain, so this city continue to pour out wickedness. Violence and destruction are found among these people. So listen to God’s point in verse 8. Take the warning. Listen to the alarm I am sounding. Be warned or I am going to turn away from you. You need to listen or there is not going to be anything left.
Failed Alarm (Jeremiah 6:10-15)
So this all sounds great. God is sounding the warning alarm for his people. Surely they are going to listen, get up, and respond! But notice what God says now in Jeremiah 6:10. “To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me?” Can you imagine? Here is God saying that I am going to give the warning, but there is no one listen. Friends, if someone ran into this building right now and told us that there are robbers outside who are stealing our cars, I do not believe that we would shrug our shoulders. We would all get up and run outside. We would listen to the warning and respond. But here is God saying that I want to tell you the warning but that no one will listen and respond. God wants to know who he can tell his warning to. So what is the problem? Look at the rest of Jeremiah 6:10.
Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. (Jeremiah 6:10 NIV)
The problem is that the people cannot hear. But this leads to the next question. Why are their ears closed? Why can’t they hear? God provides the answer. The reason the people will not hear is that the word of the Lord is offensive to them. They do not take pleasure in God’s word. We need to pause and think about what God just said. The reason God’s people are doomed is because the word of the Lord is offensive to them. Judgment is coming because they do not take pleasure in what God says. Do we take pleasure is God’s word or is it offensive to us? Do we want to spend our time in God’s word or does the idea invoke scorn and contempt? Be honest with yourself right now. You have had a long day of work. You have just finished eating dinner and cleaning up. You finally have your moment to sit on the couch. Do you take pleasure at the idea of opening your Bible right then or would that be an object of scorn and contempt? Please consider that God says that the people of God are in this condition of doom because they do not find their pleasure in the word of God. They do not want to listen to what God has to say. They are not interested in learning more about the alarm that is sounding.
So verses 11-15 describe their problem further. They are all greedy and are dishonest (Jeremiah 6:13). Even the leaders, the prophets and priests, are greedy and deceitful. The same problem exists today where those who should be the religious leaders for the people are more concerned about their money and are dishonest to the people. They treat the people’s wound like it is not serious. Can you imagine if someone had a deep cut in their finger, down to the bone, and your solution is for that person to put a band-aid on it? When we were at one of my brother’s wedding rehearsal, my wife dropped a glass jar on her foot. It started bleeding pretty badly. We tried to get it to stop and for a moment it would. But as soon as she attempted to walk, the wound broke open and started bleeding everywhere. After a few minutes we drew the conclusion that stitches were needed and we had to go to the emergency room. It would have been foolish to put a band-aid on it and watch the wound remain open and bleeding. But this is what the religious leaders are doing to the people. They are full of sins but the leaders act like the problem is small and superficial. They say that there is going to be peace but there is no reason to say so (Jeremiah 6:14). They have no shame and they do not even blush at their sinful ways (Jeremiah 6:15). They are not listening to God’s alarm. God is saying to his people that you have a deep wound that needs my treatment. But the people think their sinful ways are not worthy of concern.
Moment of Decision (Jeremiah 6:16-20)
So this is an important moment of decision. The warning is sounding. The alarm is going off. The wound is deep. God says that you are standing at the crossroad. You are standing where two paths meet. When you are at the moment of decision, you need to ask for the ancient paths. You need to ask, “Which way is the good way?” Ask where the good way is and then walk that road (Jeremiah 6:16). Do not look to blaze a new path. Look to follow God’s path. Look for the well-worn path that God has led the way for you. Whether you are making what seems to be a small decision or whether you are at the crossroads of an important decision, ask where the good way is. Ask where is the ancient path is and walk in it.
Notice what God says the result will be, according to verse 16. If you will look for the good way, then you will find rest for your souls. Jesus is that good path for us today. Jesus called for people who were weary and burdened to come to him and they would find rest for their souls (Matthew 11:29). But what was the problem? Look at the end of verse 16. The people said that they would not walk in the good way. God asked the people to listen to the warning trumpet. But the people said in verse 17, “We will not listen.”
Please listen to what God was telling the people in the days of Jeremiah. Please listen to what Jesus was telling the people in his day. Please listen to what Jesus is saying to you now. Everything God has said and done is to show us the good way. Everything Jesus did while on the earth was to tell us and show us the good way. Everything that the Spirit revealed through the apostles and prophets was to tell us and show us the ancient paths that lead to life. They are words that sound the warning and show the way of escape.
Notice in verse 20 that God says that he does not care about their sacrifices or their worship because they have not listened to him (Jeremiah 6:19-20). In fact, God is telling the whole world to watch this because God’s people in Jeremiah’s day was to be a life lesson. God will bring disaster on his people for not listening to his words. If he will do this to his own people, then he will do this with the whole world. Your worship has no value if you will not listen and delight in the words of God. God does not care if you think you are worshiping God if you are not loving him and listening to him. God does not come to us on our terms. We must come to him on his terms.
Your Crossroads (6:21-30)
Listen to what God says in verse 21. God says he will put stumbling blocks before this people and they are going to stumble over them. God says that they are all going fall, fathers and sons as well as neighbors and friends. What does God doing? What does God mean when he says that he will put stumbling blocks before this people? Does he want these people to fail? Does he want them to fall so that he can bring his judgment? The scriptures are very plain that God does not want any to perish but for all to come to repentance (cf. 2 Peter 3:9). So is how God putting stumbling blocks before his people?
What we need to see is that these crossroads are stumbling blocks. When we come to moments of decision, this is God putting a choice before us. If we are not going to listen and delight in God’s word, then we are going to stumble when these crossroads of life come. If we are not going to ask for the good way but look for our way, then we are going to stumble at the crossroads. God is constantly giving us moments of decision. God is constantly putting us at the crossroads. A good example of this is during the exodus. Throughout the giving of the plagues we are told that Pharaoh was hardening his heart (Exodus 7:13-14; 8:15; 8:32; 9:7; 9:34). But we are also told that God was hardening Pharaoh’s heart (cf. Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 10:20; 10:27; 11:10; 14:4; 14:8). What was happening? God did not jump to the final plague, the death of the firstborn, to let his people free. Rather, God starting with Moses’ signs. Then God continued with plague after plague after plague, giving Pharaoh a chance to repent. With each sign and with each plague, Pharaoh stood at the crossroads. But he did not seek the good path. He rejected what God said. So God was hardening his heart because he kept putting Pharaoh at the crossroads. With each rejection of God, the heart became more stubborn against God, ultimately leading to his own and his nation’s destruction. This is why God’s wrath is full (cf. Jeremiah 6:11). The people have repeatedly and consistently rejected God’s word and God’s warning.
God is putting stumbling blocks before you. They are not stumbling blocks trying to make you trip. Rather, they are crossroads trying to make you stop and reconsider. They are choices trying to make you listen to the alarm, rather than continuing to blaze your own trail. Every time we refuse to listen to God when at the crossroads, we are falling over the stumbling block. This is how we lose our way and become far from God. Look at how God pictures this in Jeremiah 6:27-30.
In verse 27 God says that Jeremiah was become the tester of metals among the people. Jeremiah would test the people by speaking God’s words to them. How they responded to God’s word determined if they passed the test. Unfortunately, the people are stubbornly rebellious (6:28). God is putting his people in the refining fire, but the metal is consumed (6:29). This means that there was nothing pure to salvage. The word of God blew as a fire on the people (cf. Jeremiah 5:14). But the result is that the people are rejected silver. All that is left is dross. No purity remains. They have rejected God’s path so God has rejected them (6:30).
Friends, please hear God’s message. These crossroads moments are intended to test your faith. These times in your life when you see that you have a choice for your life. Your conscience is pricked and you have a decision to make. Seek the good way and you will have rest for your souls (6:16). Seek the ancient paths and find life. Seek Jesus when at the crossroads and you will find refreshing. But please also know what these crossroads moments mean. The crossroads has the potential to be a stumbling block. Your moment of decision could leave more filth on you, rather than burning off the impurities as God intends. The crossroads is not just one simple inconsequential decision. The crossroads set you on the right way or the wrong way. Each decision either takes you further off the path of rest or moves you back on the path to life. Jeremiah 6:10 tells us that we should be afraid if we do not take pleasure in God’s word. If his word and worship are things we scorn, then we should hear the warning sound. Friends, God is sounding the warning of coming judgment. Who will listen to what he is trying to tell us? Who will listen to the way of escape? Who will seek the ancient paths and the good way? Who will refuse to listen to the alarm? Who will refuse to slow down and consider when they come to life’s crossroads?