Sharper Iron — A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build: God’s Wisdom in Destruction and Deliverance

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Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, pastor at Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches in Lidgerwood, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 8:4-17.

Jeremiah accuses the people of Judah and Jerusalem for their stubborn stiff-neckedness. Though anyone who falls gets back up again, Judah refuses to return to the LORD. Like a war horse that plunges into battle and death, so Judah plunges into idolatry and death. They have less sense than migratory birds. Their false prophets peddle lies that because they have the book of the Law in Jerusalem, everything will be just fine. Their complete lack of wisdom is seen, however, because they have no clue what God’s Word actually says. Yet God will show His wisdom. He does so in ways that look foolish, through the preaching of Jeremiah that tells of the coming destruction. Yet through that death and destruction, God will bring about repentance and life. He does not stop naming Judah, “His people,” pointing to the fulfillment of His promise to be their God and Savior. He shows His wisdom fully in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.

“A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Jeremiah. The prophet calls the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their faithless idolatry and warns them of the destruction that is coming in the Babylonian exile. Yet Jeremiah does not leave us without hope in the midst of such dark days. Jeremiah and all who believe the Word of God he preached survive because of hope that is found in the righteous Branch from the line of David, Jesus Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Jeremiah 8:4-17

Sin and Treachery

4 “You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
5 Why then has this people turned away
in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
6 I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
7 Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane[a]
keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
the rules[b] of the Lord.

8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
9 The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
11 They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.
13 When I would gather them, declares the Lord,
there are no grapes on the vine,
nor figs on the fig tree;
even the leaves are withered,
and what I gave them has passed away from them.”[c]

14 Why do we sit still?
Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities
and perish there,
for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and has given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came;
for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

16 “The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan;
at the sound of the neighing of their stallions
the whole land quakes.
They come and devour the land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
17 For behold, I am sending among you serpents,
adders that cannot be charmed,
and they shall bite you,”
declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertainFootnotes

Jeremiah 8:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

Jeremiah 8:7 Or just decrees

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.