July 17, 2025 - Jeremiah 13:20-25 - "God's Judgments"

Jeremiah 13:20-25

^"Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail? And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Therefore, will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood."

"Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?" No one likes to think of God judging sinners, but the reality is that history records many ways that God has brought judgment on one nation by another. Here is predicted God’s impending judgment of the nation of Israel by a nation from the north (Babylon), which was fulfilled in Jeremiah’s lifetime, and his burden is recorded in the inspired book of Lamentations.

"What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee?" God is just in His punishment of sin, and none can say that He has unjustly punished them for their sin. We ought rather to marvel that He would be gracious to any. "…for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?"  The Lord often uses a people’s sin and compromise as a means of judgment against them. This was the case with the nation of Israel, which, early on, turned to the Babylonians for help against their enemies, forming idolatrous and ungodly alliances. In time, like a woman in labor, they gave birth to judgment, brought upon them by the very ones in whom they had sought refuge. There can be no compromise between works and grace, or between man’s will and God’s will, without resulting in condemnation.

"And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare." The sad state of those who are dead in their sin is that they question God and justify themselves, rather than justify God in His just dealings with sin, and question themselves. Our Lord Jesus pronounced the same judgment on the religious generation of His day- “You are they who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God,” Luke 16:15. Regardless of what men may think or say, the Lord declares the sinfulness of our sin. When the Spirit of God begins His gracious work in the heart of one of His redeemed and justified children, it is the depth and greatness of their iniquity that they are brought to acknowledge before the LORD. They come to agree with God, taking His side against themselves, and confess—not merely individual sins—but the utter abomination of their entire wretched state before Him. They trust wholly in the righteousness of God, which the LORD Jesus came to fulfill, earn, and establish as the obedient Son of the Father. Upon the completion of His once-for-all sacrificial death, the Father declared every one of His elect to be justified, righteous in His sight. If anyone believes they can change their ways by their efforts, let them hear the Word of the LORD: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." To those who think so, there awaits only God’s eternal condemnation. 

"Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.” This addresses any confidence in the flesh, rather than in the LORD Jesus Christ and His finished work alone (Philippians 3:3). Historically, it declares the righteous judgment of God on rebellious Israel, declaring their just portion for forsaking Him and trusting in lies. More specifically, this underscores the truth that apart from God's electing mercy and effectual grace, sinners will always turn to falsehoods and idols rather than to the living God. Man, left to himself, forgets God and perishes in unbelief. But for those redeemed and justified at the cross, it is God's sovereign intervention—His irresistible grace—that turns the heart from vanity to truth, from their sinful rebellion to Christ.