Spiritual Drought … by Mason Atwood

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 14 – 17 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Acts 10 – 12Psalms 86 – 90Proverbs 18)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Isaiah 40:31

Read the “0818 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.” (Jeremiah 14:22)

In this passage, God is speaking to Jeremiah concerning the impending drought about to come upon the land of Judah and Jerusalem. God promises to Jeremiah that because the people of Jerusalem have wandered about and become overtaken in sin, He is going to visit them. This visiting will not be one of peace and providence but one of death and destruction. 

As God reveals to Jeremiah what is about to come upon these wicked people, He makes a very odd statement. In verse 11 and 12, God said:

“Pray not for this people for their good.When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.” (Jeremiah 14:11 – 12)

Living in the Dispensation of Grace, we do not know this side of God. Not long, and this same fate will rest upon those who have not accepted His Son. 

Next, Jeremiah tells God of the prophets in that day and how they are prophesying messages of peace. They were telling the people that they needed not to fear the sword, famine, or pestilence. How much does this sound exactly like the so-called preachers of our world today. They speak of how God is a God of love and that He would never send someone to Hell. In this specific passage in the Word of God, God is telling Jeremiah not to pray for them because God would not regard it. God does not tolerate sin. His grace is only dispensed for a short time. 

I’ve chosen verse 22 because of the light in which it shines upon who God is. God is the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, Creator of the universe. He controls the sword of our enemies, He controls the clouds which pour the rain, and He controls the largest of pestilences. Jeremiah points out in this verse that the gods of the Gentiles could in no way cause rain to fall. For that matter it was only God who could cause the rain to cease in the first place.

In conclusion, in chapter 15 God tells Jeremiah that even if Moses or Samuel had entreated on behalf of these people that God would not honor it. We are in a drought. Our country is ridden with sin and the only hope we have is if God sends us revival. Remember during this season of pestilence that the rain falls (or ceases) upon the just and the unjust, so let us not forget the One who controls it… even if this disease lasts until His Bride is raptured out.

The Atwood Family

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Phil Erickson
Phil Erickson
3 years ago

I noticed in verse 15 that there were also many false prophets among them preaching peace and prosperity. This passage reminds me of today – many conflicting voices, but the voice of God’s Word is always consistent and always applicable to our situation.

C. Stahl
C. Stahl
3 years ago

Amen

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