Live Like You Know The End

God's call on a prophet is to see sin the way God sees it. It destroys and ultimately makes creation utterly useless, chaotic and empty. This is why the Lord speaks to Jeremiah in such seemingly cold-hearted tones in Jeremiah 16. 

Jeremiah 16:1–2 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.

Jeremiah is not to have a family. There's a very rational argument for this. The land is utterly corrupt and destined for destruction. The nation was sacrificing their children to Molech. The king was leading the way. It was not a good time for the prophet of God to produce offspring in such a heinous context. Judgment was coming. 

Jeremiah 16:4 (ESV) They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

Then even more bad news for Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 16:5 (ESV) “For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah is not to go to funerals and then God says he must not go to feasts. 
Jeremiah 16:8–9 (ESV) You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

Now the question is of course why all of these prohibitions and what does it have to do with us? 

Basically, Jeremiah was to live in a way that BELIEVED to the end God had already pronounced was certain! He was not to comfort those grieving. Why? Because those deaths paled in comparison to the destruction coming on the nation. He is not to rejoice at a wedding. Why? Because that happy family would possibly be torn apart by the Babylonian invaders soon to arrive. And Jeremiah is not to produce offspring. Why? Because he needed to be unencumbered by the care of children so that he could preach God's Word. 

This chapter is not a universal command for God's people in dark times. While there may be times in history and in the future to forego the normal activities of life for the sake of God's call, the bigger idea is what I stipulated above. The man and woman of God must live in such a way that truly testifies this world is not the be-all-end-all. We must live for another world. 

What does that mean, practically? 
It means we sometimes give exceedingly generous amounts of money to God's work. Because His work is to save lives from the judgment to come. 
It means we commit to a church and show up and serve when others prepare for football or family time. Because God's church is the rescue mission for the world. 
It means we think of our lives as not our own, we surrender all to the call of God. Because this world's possessions are always only temporary and only heaven has storehouses that protect what's truly valuable. 

Basically, the Word of God to Jeremiah is God's Word to us. We know the end is coming. Judgment is certain, the Lord will return. The ways in which we live must reflect that to those around us. 

Otherwise, it just looks like we're blowing smoke. 

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