When we turn from our evil way, then He will relent.

When we turn from our evil way,

then He will relent.

 

 

 

 

 

“Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way.  Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.  …  Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God.  Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you.” (Jeremiah 26:3, 13)

 

 

 

 

               The heart of a parent is to wait for their child who has left home to return.  So, parents pray to God every day, eagerly awaiting their child’s return.  A perfect biblical example of this is the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 (vv. 11-32).  In this parable, the father waited for his second son, the prodigal son, to return after he had taken his inheritance and went to a distant country (vv. 12-13).  The father waited for the son’s return (v. 20).  When the son, in poverty (vv. 13-17), came to his senses and decided to return home, the father saw him from a distance, ran to him, embraced him, and kissed him (v. 20).  The father then ordered his servants to bring the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and even bring the fattened calf to celebrate and feast (vv. 22-23).  The reason was that the father had lost his son and found him again, had thought him dead but now had him alive again (v. 24).  When I think of the parable of the prodigal son, I used to think that the son who needed to return was only the second son who had left the house.  However, as I reflected on God's word in today's passage from Jeremiah 26:3, 13, I began to think that perhaps the one who truly needed to return in the parable of the Prodigal Son was the older son.  The reason I thought this way is because, while the younger son recognized his sin, repented, and returned to his home and father, the older son sinned by becoming angry at his father's joy upon the return of his younger brother, instead of joining in the celebration (Luke 15:28-30).  In particular, the younger son returned with a humble attitude, acknowledging, "I have only sinned" (vv. 18-21), and with a heart of repentance.  On the other hand, the older son, full of "self-righteousness," stood by with pride, saying, "I have done only what is right" (v. 29), and remained distant from his father.  Therefore, I believe that the one who truly needed to return to the father was the older son.

                In today's passage, Jeremiah 26:3, God tells the prophet Jeremiah, "Stand in the court of the Lord's house and speak to all the cities of Judah, who come to worship in the house of the Lord, all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not omit a word" (v.2).  Then God explains His purpose: "Perhaps they will listen and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of the evil of their deeds" (v. 3).  I have thought of two purposes in this.  The first purpose is that through the prophet Jeremiah, God desires to speak to those who come to worship in His temple, so that they may hear His word and turn from their wicked ways.  The second purpose is that God wishes to relent from the disaster He had planned to bring upon them (v. 3).  In summary, God's purpose is for the people of Judah to turn from their evil ways so that He might change His mind about the disaster He intended to bring upon them.

 

                As I reflected on this passage, I began to think that perhaps God is calling those of us inside the church to turn back, rather than focusing on those outside the church. In other words, God may be telling us, the ones who come to worship in His temple on the Lord’s Day, to turn back (Jeremiah 7:2; 26:2).  What is God calling us to turn from?  From "the evil way" (v. 2).  When I apply this "evil way" to us Christians who are inside the church, I believe it refers to at least two things: idolatry and our double lives.  First, when thinking about our idolatry, three things come to mind that we might love more than God: money, men/women, and honor.  Like the Pharisees, we love money (Luke 16:14).  We also love others of the opposite sex more than we love the Lord, and even those of us who are married may love someone else more than our spouse.  Additionally, we value our reputation more than the holy name of God.   Even though God’s holy name is being defiled (Ezekiel 20:39; 34:16; 36:21-23; 43:7-8), we are more concerned with preserving our own name.   Furthermore, our double life, which is another evil way, is serving two masters.  Right now, we are serving both God and wealth (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13).  If we truly loved God, we would hate money.  However, with our lips, we say "I honor God" (Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8; Mark 7:6) and "I love the Lord," but in our hearts, we love money (1 Timothy 6:10).  Additionally, we go up to the Lord’s house on Sundays to worship, and with our lips, we sing, "I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause I'd rather be faithful to His - dear cause; I'd rather have Jesus than Worldwide fame.  I'd rather be true to His holy name" (Hymn, "I’d Rather Have Jesus," verse 2).  Yet, in our hearts, we cherish our own name more than Jesus' name.  We sing praises and pray, declaring our love for the Lord on Sundays, but in our hearts, we have already departed from the Lord, loving the adulteress (Psalms 73:27; Proverbs 5:20; 7:8).  Every Sunday, we go to the house of God, worship with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him.  We go out of the temple and love idols more than God, longing for them and spending time with them.  To us, God is speaking through the Scriptures.  His message is: "Therefore, amend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God.  Then the Lord will relent concerning the disaster He has pronounced against you" (Jeremiah 26:13).  God is telling us to change our ways and actions.  In other words, God is calling us to reform our wicked ways and actions (Jeremiah 26:13).  God has already told us to make our ways and actions right, to reform them, in Jeremiah 7:3.  And here, in today’s passage from Jeremiah 26:13, He is calling us once again to reform our ways and actions.  What is "reform"?  Reform must always be preceded by "repentance."  In other words, reform without repentance is impossible.  In order to truly reform our wicked ways of idolatry and our double-minded lives according to God’s word, we must repent. We need to realize, confess, and repent of our sins of idolatry and our double lives.  We must turn back. We must abandon idolatry and our double lives and return to God.  Like the prodigal son, we must return to our Heavenly Father.  When true repentance is among us, there will be genuine "restoration."  We will experience true "reconciliation" in our relationship with God and with our neighbors.  When there is repentance, restoration, and reconciliation, true "reformation" will take place, and when true reformation is among us, the church will experience the "revival" that God truly brings.

 

                I would like to conclude today's reflection on the word.  As I meditated on the passages from Jeremiah 26:3 and 13, I was reminded of the book of Jonah.  In Jonah 3:10, we see that when God saw that the king of Nineveh and the people had turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not bring upon them the disaster He had declared.  In other words, when the people of Nineveh heard through the prophet Jonah that "within forty days Nineveh will be overthrown" (Jonah 4:4), they believed in God, proclaimed a fast, and wore sackcloth, both great and small (3:5).  The king of Nineveh also did this and issued a decree that all the people should call urgently on God, give up their evil ways, and stop their violent actions (v. 8).  The reason the king did this was that he hoped God might relent and turn from His anger so that the people of Nineveh would not be destroyed (v. 9).  As a result, God saw that they had turned from their evil ways and relented from the disaster He had declared against them (v. 10).  In short, because the people of Nineveh turned from their evil ways, God changed His mind about the disaster He had planned to bring upon them.  However, Jonah, God's servant and prophet, was very displeased and angry (4:1).  So, he prayed to the Lord, saying, "O Lord, take my life; for it is better for me to die than to live" (v. 3, Korean Modern Bible).  And the prophet Jonah went out of the city of Nineveh and sat down on the east side of the city, where he built a shelter for himself to see what would become of the city (v. 5).  In other words, Jonah waited to see if God would bring disaster upon Nineveh.  Certainly, Jonah knew that God, as he understood, is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, and relents from sending disaster (v. 2).  God saw that the people of Nineveh turned from their evil ways and, in His mercy, He changed His mind and did not bring disaster upon the city (3:10).  However, Jonah, following his own will and stubbornness, wanted to see Nineveh destroyed.  Just like the elder son in the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, Jonah greatly disliked that the people of Nineveh repented and returned to God.  That’s why he was so angry that he asked God to take his life (Jonah 4:3-4).  The people of Nineveh, the capital of the foreign Assyrian empire, heard God's word through the prophet Jonah and, in obedience to God's word, turned from their evil ways and returned to God.  Meanwhile, God's servant, the Jewish prophet Jonah, had once disobeyed God's command (1:2-3) and again refused to submit his own will to God's will.  Just like Jonah, God is speaking to our pastors, calling us to repent and return to Him.  Moreover, God is speaking to us Christians, like the elder son in the parable of the prodigal son, telling us to repent and return to Him.  When we turn away from our evil ways and deeds and return to God the Father, He will relent from the disaster He intended to bring upon us.  When all of our churches reform their evil ways and deeds and return to God, He will turn away the disaster He had planned for us.  The reason is that God has already poured out all the wrath and disaster that we rightly deserved upon His only Son, Jesus Christ, who was nailed to the cross.

 

(v. 1) Come home! come home!  You are weary at heart,

                        For the way has been dark, And so lonely and wild;

(v. 2) Come home! come home!  For we watch and we wait,

                        And we stand at the gate, While the shadows are piled;

(v. 3) Come home! come home!  From the sorrow and blame,

          From the sin and the shame, And the tempter that smiled.

(v. 4) Come home! come home!  There is bread and to spare,

          And a warm welcome there, Then, to friend reconciled.

[Chorus] O prodigal child!  Come home! oh come home!

               Come home! Come, oh come home!

                       

[Hymn “Come Home!  Come Home”]

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Father, I stretch my hands to Thee, No other help I know; If Thou withdraw Thyself from me, Ah! whither shall I go?  I do believe, I now believe, That Jesus died for me, And that He shed His precious blood From sin to set me free" (Hymn "Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee," Verse 1),

 

 

 

James Kim

(August 15, 2018, Reflecting on God, who turns away the disaster intended for us when we return to God the Father, trusting in the merit of Jesus Christ's cross)