Read Jeremiah 13:12-14
The Lord brings another message to the people. He begins by saying Every bottle or jar will be filled with wine. Most likely this message was given when the people were going to party and indulge in revelry and drunkenness which was a huge part of pagan worship. Many today see nothing wrong with indulging in alcohol. But what they fail to understand is it opens the door to demonic influence. Often under the influence of alcohol, people will do things they don’t usually do. The decision-making part of their brain and mind is hindered and paralyzed by the alcohol and as the enemy presents destructive and wicked things to them, they open their lives to things that normally they would not do. But God’s message was not about being drunk on wine.
The people respond with “Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine” because they are used to getting drunk. The spiritual condition of the nation has diminished. But what would have caught their attention was the next words from Jeremiah. The Lord says “ I will fill the inhabitants of the land with drunkenness”. But God is not speaking about drunkenness because of drinking too much wine.
The Lord makes it clear that all people will be impacted by His judgement. The kings, the priest, the prophets, and the inhabitants of the land. From the great to the small, all had turned their back on God. We must understand that God takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. God’s desire is to always bring mercy instead of judgement. When we examine how many prophets the Lord sent forth and for how long, we have a picture of just how merciful God is. But because He is holy, righteous, and just, He will rightly deal with wickedness and sin in the right time and right measure. Any person who feared the Living God would respond in humility at the words of Jeremiah, but instead his words were ignored.
The Lord says I will dash them against one another. He says “I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them”. This would take place when the Babylonians would invade the land. The only reason the Babylonians were able to invade the land is because God allowed them to. God used them as His instrument of correction. A godless nation being used as an instrument of God’s discipline shows the depravity of the sin of Israel. The Lord would send them into exile into a godless nation because they would fully reap what they had sown. But God would not fully abandon them. He would one day restore them to the land.
If we find ourselves in a difficult season because of the sin that we have allowed to creep into our lives, it is time to repent and turn to the Lord. It is time to stop making excuses and instead simply humble ourselves before the Living God and confess our sin. We must turn from that which is destroying us and that which has given the devil and open door into our lives. Just as the father embraced the prodigal when he returned home, the Lord desires to embrace us as His sons and daughters. Though we may wander, He calls us to return home. There is nothing the world provides that is greater than knowing Jesus. May our hearts fully be turned to the Lord.
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