When my children were small, we would play a game called I spy. The object of the game was to see something, tell the color of your object, and others would guess what you saw. I usually played the game with my children when we would travel back to where my husband and I grew up. It was a twelve-and-a-half-hour road trip at best. It helped the boys with their colors and challenged them to be aware of their surroundings. While that was many years ago, I believe we can draw spiritual application from not just looking, but really seeing what God is doing around us.
In Jeremiah chapter 1, God is calling Jeremiah to be His prophet to His people. Jeremiah’s first response was a feeling of inadequacy. In Jeremiah 1:6 his objection is that he is too young to be a prophet. Of course, God reminds him in the following verses that He will be with him and equip him for the task. A lesson for us also, He never calls unless he equips.
God begins to teach and challenge Jeremiah in verse 11. He asks the question, what do you see? Jeremiah responds, “I see a rod of an almond tree.” The almond tree was the first tree to blossom for the year. It would bloom in January long before other blooming trees buds appeared. The word “almond” comes from a root meaning “to be awake.” The time is approaching when God will allow Israel to suffer for their sins. The destruction of Judah and Jerusalem would come by way to the Chaldeans because of their sin, especially their sin of idolatry.
Jeremiah 1:11 “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.”
God comes to Jeremiah a second time in 1:13, he asks him again what he sees. This time Jeremiah sees “a seething pot.” We would call this pot a caldron. A very large metal pot, big enough to prepare a meal for a large number of people. It was very large around the rim and was also used for washing purposes. It reminds me of a cast iron wash pot that my grandmother used. It was huge and very heavy. In Jeremiah’s vision, the pot was boiling furiously. As it boils it is setting uneven, causing the rim to be tilted toward the north. God is about to allow Judah and Jerusalem to be destroyed by their enemies. The enemy will come in like a flood and no one shall be untouched by the evil that will be unleashed upon them. God’s chosen people had become friends with those who opposed God and His truths. Because of their sin, God’s judgment would fall. After such a dismal picture that Jeremiah was to proclaim to God’s people, God assures him that he will survive. They will be beaten down, but ultimately, they will survive because God is with them.
Jeremiah 1:13 “And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot, and the face thereof is toward the north.”
Jeremiah 1:16-19 “And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. Thou, therefore, gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.”
When I read these passages, I can’t help but think about America. A country that was founded on Christian principles, yet it is now a nation given over to pride, idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness that wants to change the “truth into a lie.’’ In Romans chapter 1, Paul states best where we are today and how we got here.
Romans 1:21-25 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
We learn about how God will act now by reading how he has acted before. These words in Jeremiah should be a lesson to us all. After 9-11 all over America people were crying out to God to heal us and sustain us, to protect and comfort us, but it didn’t last long. God has blessed us just like He did the Israelites, but just like them we have taken it for granted and have gone our own way. God has been merciful and long-suffering, but His patience will not last forever. We need to be actively seeking to win others to Him. Praying for those in authority and voting to change the laws that are against God. If we are to hold back the wrath of God, we must be obedient to all He has commanded. It starts with us, His people. God never intended for those who don’t know Him to turn a nation to Him.
When God speaks to you what do you see? Is your heart full of concern for a nation that has left God, a nation where your children and grandchildren will grow up? Will you obey like Jeremiah, or act as if it is someone else’s problem?
II Chronicles 7:14 “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
