God's Voice in Judgements.

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"Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions." Jeremiah 18:11

As the "therefore" denotes, practical application is here made of what has been before us in the context. The Prophet had been called upon to witness an object-lesson set before him in the potter's house. Then the Lord had made known to him the relations which He sustains unto nations, namely, Sovereign, Ruler and Judge over them; and the principles which regulate His dealings with them: authority and power, righteousness and mercy. A specific yet illustrative example of such, is here shown us.

Israel had long provoked God to His face, and though He had been slow to anger, the time had now arrived when He would take them to task and deal with them for their wickedness. The dark clouds of His wrath were suspended over them—yet even at this late hour if they genuinely departed from their evil ways and walked the paths of virtue, mercy should "rejoice over judgment."

God speaks to us not only through His Word—but also through His works and ways. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." (Psalm 19:1-4). Creation testifies to the excellencies of the Creator.

The Divine providences, too, are vocal: "I spoke unto you in your prosperity" (Jer. 22:21)—My bounties declared My goodness and should have melted your hearts. God's judgments also carry with them a definite message: that is why we are exhorted to "Hear the rod—and the One who appointed it" (Micah 6:9)—observe how the verse opens with "Listen! The Lord is calling to the city." His "rod" bids us consider the Hand that wields it—and calls upon us to forsake our sins.

When God speaks in judgment—it is the final warning that He is not to be trifled with. When the Almighty is roused to fury—who can stand before Him? Nations are no more able to successfully resist Him—than can the clay hinder the fingers of the potter who shapes it; yes they are counted as "the small dust on the balance" (Isaiah 40:15), which signifies utter insignificance. May we exclaim, "who would not fear You, O King of nations!" (Jer. 10:7). No spiritual warrant whatever has any people to put their trust in human greatness, the potency of their armies, the excellency of their equipment, the strength of their defenses. God has but to blow upon them—and they are immediately overthrown, entirely demolished. Mark how this is emphasized in Jeremiah 18, "I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed" (v. 7): it is done in a moment—suddenly, swiftly, invincibly!

"I am preparing a disaster for you!" It is the disaster of punishment about to be inflicted on the evil of sin. It is no momentary outburst of uncontrollable anger—but dispassionate and deliberated retribution, and when the Almighty devises that disaster against a kingdom—no power can deliver it! Though Lucifer himself says, "I will ascend above the heights of the cloud—I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14)—yet is his proud boast seen to be an empty one, for the Lord says, "yet you shall be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the Pit" (v. 15). "Damascus has become feeble, and all her people turn to flee. Fear, anguish, and pain have gripped her as they do a woman giving birth" (Jer. 49:24)—suddenly, sorely, irresistibly, from which there is no escape. How this should make the wicked to tremble and depart from their evil ways! God turns "a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell therein" (Psalm 107:34).

"I am preparing a disaster for you!" Calamities and judgments do not come by chance, nor are they originated by inferior agents or secondary causes. Though He may be pleased to make use of human instruments—yet the Lord is the Author of, and principal Agent in them. Before the Assyrians fell upon apostate Israel Jehovah declared, "Assyria will enslave my people, who are a godless nation. It will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet" (Isaiah 10:6). The Lord moved the king of Assyria, though he was in no way conscious of any Divine impulse or commission. And when God had finished making use of the Babylonians and raised up the Medes and Persians to humiliate them into the dust, He declared of Cyrus "You are my battle-ax and sword," says the Lord. "With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms" (Jer. 51:20). Cyrus was as truly God's "servant" as Moses or any of the Prophets: see Isaiah 45:1; Ezra 1:1. Curses as much as blessings, calamities as much as mercies, judgments as truly as favors—proceed from the Almighty, and it is but a species of atheism to deny the fact.

"I am preparing a disaster for you!" How this word needs to be pressed upon this evil and adulterous generation, which is occupied with anyone and anything—rather than the living God. In a land where Bibles are so plentiful—we are without excuse when we look no higher than the agencies now threatening us. Yes, it is a grievous sin for us to throw the blame of our present trials and troubles upon human instruments, instead of upon our national iniquities, and refuse to see God employing those instruments against us. Hitler is but a scourge in the hand of the Almighty. Nor is it any help, to fix our gaze on the supreme Framer of Evil, or direct our attention to the machinations of the pope and his longing to see the British empire destroyed. Doubtless the papacy was behind the entrance of Italy into active conflict and the betrayal of France, as she is of many other hostile factors and forces; but who is permitting the "Mother of Harlots" to employ her powerful influence thus? None other than the Lord Almighty! He is righteously using Rome as a rod on the back of an apostate Protestantism.

We cannot expect the unbelieving nations to look beyond Hitler and his fellows—but it is the privilege of Christians to "look unto the Lord" (Micah 7:7). It is the very nature of faith to be occupied with its Author. It is the duty of faith to "set the Lord always before" it (Psalm 16:8). When the Ammonites and Moabites came up against Judah, Jehoshaphat turned unto God and said, "O our God, won't You stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to You for help" (2 Chron. 20:12). This is the first message to His own people which the voice of the Lord has in His judgments: look above the human scourges and behold My hand in righteous retribution. And it is the business of God's servants at such a time—to urge upon the saints to "Acknowledge and take to heart this day, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other" (Deut. 4:39). O that it may be the experience of both writer and reader, "Unto You lift I up my eyes, O You who dwells in the heavens" (Psalm 123:1) and then shall we prove for ourselves "they looked unto Him—and were lightened" (Psalm 34:5).

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