Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter"
Text: Jeremiah 12:3
BARING THE HEART
Jeremiah bared his heart to the Lord. He tells the Lord what he wishes to see done. He would wait on the Lord to teach him and correct him where he is wrong.
“But You, O LORD, know me;
You have seen me,
And You have tested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
And prepare them for the day of slaughter.
How long will the land mourn,
And the herbs of every field wither?
The beasts and birds are consumed,
For the wickedness of those who dwell there,
Because they said, ‘He will not see our final end.'”
Jeremiah 12:3-4
1. “But You, O LORD, know me; You have seen me,
and You have tested my heart toward You”
a) God knows Jeremiah.
b) He has seen the prophet.
c) He has tested his heart.
d) Jeremiah has sought to live blamelessly before God.
2. “Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter”
a) His foes had sought to slaughter him.
b) He now prays that the table be turned.
c) He wanted his enemies to be judged and perish.
d) But the Lord had already said He would deal with them (Jeremiah 11:22-23).
i) Jeremiah wanted God’s judgment to be executed swiftly.
ii) He wanted his enemies slain and not spared.
3. “How long will the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither?
The beasts and birds are consumed, for the wickedness of those who dwell there,
because they said, ‘He will not see our final end.'”
a) Jeremiah blamed the wicked people for causing the land:
i) To mourn.
ii) The herbs to wither.
iii) The beasts and birds to perish (consumed).
b) Quoting the enemies’ words “He will not see our final end”
i) They thought that God would relent in the last hour.
ii) God would somehow forgive them.
c) This was what Jeremiah was also afraid of.
i) Perhaps God would not punish them as He had said.
ii) Thus, Jeremiah prayed for swift judgment to come to pass.
But was Jeremiah right to make this prayer?