THE LEGIT FEAR FACTOR ~ A Study in Jeremiah

Police cars turning into your driveway at 10:00 p.m. at night is a foreboding, terrifying sight…when there is a pounding on your front door that awakens you out of a sound sleep only to have police surrounding your home and dragging your husband out of the house in handcuffs…when your husband answers the door while you and your children are sitting at the breakfast table and the next thing you know there are police in your kitchen standing behind body shields carrying heavy duty guns, grabbing your oldest son and pinning him up against the wall with a gun to his back…when you receive that phone call in the middle of the night startling you from out of a deep slumber…when you get the diagnosis you didn’t expect…when you experience your first earthquake...These are those moments when your heart begins to race, you experience shortness of breath, and for some (like me) it becomes impossible to talk because you cannot get your teeth to stop chattering. This is what it is like to experience sudden shock. Some people faint due to an insufficient blood flow to the brain. Physiological shock causes a severe drop in blood pressure and rapid shallow heartbeat. Shock is the body’s first response to traumatic injury and the response is triggered by the autonomic nervous system. If you have experienced it, no doubt your mind can go back to the exact moment. This is what causes us to say of 9/11, ‘we will never forget’.

According to a 2004 article put out by WebMD entitled “9/11 Sent Real Shocks to Hearts Near and Far”, researchers said that while New York City struggled with the heartache caused by the events of the World Trade Center attack, many heart patients across the nation may have dealt with a real blow to their hearts. Studies showed that 11% of the patients experienced an abnormal heart rhythm in the four weeks following 9/11 compared with only 3.5% in the month before the event. The article went on to say that data suggests that a lot of arrhythmias are anxiety-driven because when people become anxious, the levels of certain hormones in the body increase triggering rhythm problems and heart problems. Researchers say that these findings provide additional evidence that stress can affect both the mind and the heart.

Judah was worshiping Yahweh out of hardhearted pretense. He wanted worship from hearts of love for Him. Through His weeping prophet, He repeatedly pleaded with them to repent and turn back to Him with tears. He had been faithful to love them with an everlasting love. Yet, they continually refused to return to Him. He had promised them that if they would return to Him, He would receive them back and the blessings of the covenant would be theirs, but to no avail. If they would not return and worship Him from the heart, their hearts would fail in judgment.

When we go through severe trials, whether they are judgment for sin or consequences of living in a sin-cursed world, the first response of our unredeemed flesh is usually, “Why me? I don’t deserve…”. Even in a situation like 9/11, our first thoughts might have been, “This is America! These things don’t happen here!” Even though severe trials should never be a shock to our system, they are always just that. For the believer, it may take a moment to filter what is happening through her grid of truth. Once she does, she is able to adjust her perspective to God’s perspective. There are so many questions that we must address when trials come if we are to walk in those trials in a way that honors and glorifies Christ. For instance, if (since) God is in control or God is sovereign over all things, then why did He allow or even ordain that this should happen? Until we go through enough trials in our lives as Christians, we have this faulty reasoning in the back of our minds that because we are God’s children, we won’t experience whatever it is we are most fearful of happening to us. For those who only profess to follow Christ, trials can literally lead to a hardened, bitter heart.

“It shall come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “that the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be astounded.”

Just like Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2 when the antichrist will come onto the world’s stage.

What had the false prophets told them? They had told them that peace would continue indefinitely. What this tells me is that while those who professed to belong to Yahweh were living in sin, they believed their lives were good! They could not hear the words of judgment because they could not see past ‘the good life’. They were living ‘their best lives now’, and they wanted things to remain that way. They could not be bothered with ‘sin talk’. The people wanted to be known as ‘religious,’ and that meant surrounding themselves with false prophets who would tickle their ears feeding their greedy lusts and desires.

Jeremiah 6:13-14—

Jeremiah 14:13-16

Jeremiah 23:16-18

What was the Lord’s message from His true prophet, Jeremiah?

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the throat.”

Could this just be Jeremiah’s first response in the flesh upon understanding the severity of the judgment that was coming? Was he accusing God of deceiving His people when He promised, “You shall have peace”? Will Israel have peace one day? How do believers today take God’s promises when they are sitting in severe situations whether as consequences for their sin or due to consequences of the Fall? God promised there would be peace, and there

Who was promising temporal peace even while the people were living in sin? The false prophets who claimed to speak in His name promised peace to those who claimed to follow the Lord but who really despised Him. Who was really deceiving God’s people? Some would say, “Well, if the Lord is Sovereign, why would He allow these false prophets to keep spewing their messages? Why would He allow them to falsely predict peace when judgment was coming?” This goes back to the foundational question of why does God allow evil? God gave His people what they wanted. They did not want the truth; they wanted a positive message to allow them to continue in their sin because they loved their sin more than they loved Him. God sees how people hold to their delusions, and so He lets them have them.

I think it is important to say that we need to notice Jeremiah’s reactions to coming judgment of his own people. So often today we see Christians who seem to gloat over the fact that God is going to bring judgment to our nation. Some seem to even gloat over coming judgment on family and friends who have persecuted and rejected them for their beliefs. This should never be! We should always have the broken heart of Jeremiah where judgment is concerned. We are not talking about someone going to prison for a time or for being disciplined as a father disciplines a child—we are talking about people’s eternal life in hell! Love would never strut itself in proud arrogance when talking about judgment!

A sword was at their throats as much as it is at the throats of all in our day. Hebrews 4:12:

Luke 21:25-26—"