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"Wash your heart from wickedness"

Text: Jeremiah 4:14

THE IMMINENT THREAT OF INVASION

Not everyone understood the seriousness of the threat of a Babylonian invasion. There were some who were worried (like Jeremiah). But there were also those who did not believe that Judah could fall!

“‘Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
And his chariots like a whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!’
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?”
Jeremiah 4:13-14

1. “Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles.”

a) This was the word that Jeremiah was given to proclaim.

b) The enemies would come, faster than they anticipated possible.

c) Three imageries were employed to describe the swiftness of the enemies:

i) Like storm clouds that darken the sky suddenly.

ii) The chariots of the Babylonians were likened to whirlwind.

iii) The horses of the enemies were likened to eagles.

2. Jeremiah’s personal response

a) “Woe”

This was a sense of foreboding felt.

b) “Plundered”

i) The Babylonians had seen the wealth that King Hezekiah had shown to their envoys (Isaiah 39).

ii) They had come to plunder the nation!

iii) Nothing would stand in their way.

3. “O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.”

a) What was Jerusalem’s only hope?

i) To turn away from sin.

ii) To have their hearts washed from wickedness.

b) The salvation spoken of here.

i) This was “divine deliverance”.

ii) The Lord may yet save them.

iii) But not if wickedness is not confessed, forgiven and cleansed.

4. “How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?”

a) But Jerusalem had rejected this word of warning.

b) Evil thoughts continued to lodge within their hearts.

c) The people refused to deal with their sin problems!