Jeremiah 8:4-17
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
keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
the rules 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.”
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.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Je 8:4–17). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
My favorite line here is probably, "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?" St Paul tells people, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." Many people in our world today think they are wise and knowledgeable. But is that something?
Scientists can be very brilliant people. Politicians in some cases may be very smart people. But there are many people that are wise in the world, but are condemned by God. God will put these people to shame. God will leave these people dismayed. If you want scientific examples, I am not a scientist. But there are repeatedly new discoveries that either change our way of thinking or prove previous thoughts to be foolish. God knows these things, I do not know these things.
But what I do know is there are people who are rejecting the word of the LORD. The wisdom of this world can not trump the wisdom, which God has revealed to us in his word. Scientists do not have to reject the Word of the LORD. Religious people should not reject the Word of the LORD or compromise it for anything else. Jesus Christ our LORD was crucified for the forgiveness of all people. Christ Crucified for the forgiveness of sins shames the wise, but gives new life to all who believe.
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