HOW’S THE WEATHER WHERE YOU LIVE TODAY? ~ A Study in Jeremiah

How often have you heard answered this question, “What is the weather supposed to be like today?” with, “The weatherman says…” as if there is only one weatherman who predicts the weather for the whole universe. The question and answer that follows are sometimes used as an icebreaker or a topic of casual conversation even more than once in any single day. When I was a cashier in the local grocery store, I usually knew what was on the weatherman’s mind on any given day.

 

My cousin lives in Florida. A few days ago, she posted to Facebook several pictures of her family boarding up their home in anticipation of a hurricane that had been predicted for her area. She wrote this caption: “There is no better way to spend your 40^th anniversary than to spend the whole morning and afternoon getting ready for a hurricane and then spending the whole rest of the day wondering if it’s going to hit you!” (Thanks, Betsy!) This is the reaction of what one should do when the weatherman says there is a chance that a storm is coming directly for her. Those who are wise heed this advice based upon the predictions of the poor weatherman (not unlike tax collectors in NT times) whose reputation as one who is good at his job has been called into question more times than not.  

 

“If you want to know what the weather will be like within the next week, a weather forecast can give you a really good idea of what to expect. A seven-day forecast can accurately predict the weather about 80 percent of the time and a five-day forecast can accurately predict the weather approximately 90 percent of the time. However, a 10-day—or longer—forecast is only right about half the time. Meteorologists use computer programs called weather models to make forecasts. Since we cannot collect data from the future, models must use estimates and assumptions to predict future weather. The atmosphere is changing all the time, so those estimates are less reliable the further you get into the future.” https://scijinks.gov/forecast-reliability/#:~:text=All%20About%20Weather-,How%20Reliable%20Are%20Weather%20Forecasts%3F,right%20about%20half%20the%20time. We have no tolerance for excuses! We want our weatherman to be accurate 100% of the time…Oh, wait, only God knows the future!

 

Okay, so I’m going to ask a stupid question: Why do people in Florida board up their homes when there is a hurricane predicted if the weatherman is not always accurate and there is a chance that there might not be a hurricane that hits in the vicinity of their home? Because there is a chance that it will, and from past experience they know that one can never be certain. Better safe than sorry, right? That is just wisdom. How foolish it would be for them to challenge the weatherman demanding a sign be given them ahead of the impending tempest. We can all relate to the idea that 2020 has been a year of waking up and asking, “What’s it going to be like today?”

 

The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is read and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:1-3) “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! (His impending death.) (False teachers today are still proclaiming, ‘Peace, peace,’ the message most want to hear.) Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” (Luke 12:49-56)

 

God through Jeremiah warned His people that a very bad storm of judgment was coming. Urgently, He warned them to get ready. If they continued to refuse to repent and return to Him, there would be no sign. They needed to trust the words of God’s prophet. There could be no doubt and no delay. This is no earthly weatherman. This is God who not only sees the future but controls it too! If God says a storm is coming, you better take cover quickly because when it comes, there will be nowhere to hide and no one in which to take refuge.

 

“Behold, he goes up like clouds, and his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!” (Jeremiah 4:13) Clouds, chariots, whirlwind, and horses. What an incredible study could be done on this one verse alone to see all the instances in Scripture where these specific words are used in relation to the judgment of our all-powerful God. Look at this one, for instance, in Habakkuk 1:8—“Their horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping; their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.” Nahum 1:1-3—The oracle of Ninevah. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; the LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. I love John MacArthur’s footnote on these verses. He says, “Nahum, defining God’s power in general, establishes the fact that He is omnipotent, a holy and jealous God who will punish the wicked and avenge His own.” Of the use of the word jealous to describe God, he says, “This attribute, often used of God’s burning zeal for His wife, Israel, emphasizes His passionate reaction against anyone guilty of spiritual adultery.” And of verse 3: “Whirlwind, storm, clouds…these figures frequently describe the Lord’s appearances (theophanies), often in judgment. Nature is the theater in which His power and majesty is showcased.

Or, Isaiah 5:28—Its arrows are sharp, and all its bows are bent; the hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind. Judgment will come swiftly, causing confusion and amazement. It will take by surprise those who were warned. Isaiah 29:5-6—But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; and it will happen instantly, suddenly. From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire. Or this one in Isaiah 66:15-16—For behold, the LORD will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For the LORD will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the LORD will be many. This, obviously, is future judgment to come, just as sure as judgment came for Israel, then Judah. (See Revelation 9:20-21, 16:9, 11 and 19:21.) Christ is coming with flaming fury. The justice of this Judge will be applied with holiness and righteousness. James 5:8-9 says that the coming of the Lord is near; the Judge is standing at the door. We need to be always ready. Revelation 6:15-17 says the following of that great day of wrath: “Then the kinds of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Sometimes I get accused of being melodramatic. I say I am passionate about what I believe. That is some serious melodrama right there with not one bit of exaggeration. Matthew 24:30—And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. Jesus IS THE SIGN! Here is the culmination of world history which will usher in the millennial reign of Christ. We are much closer to this time of Christ’s second coming than Judah was in Jeremiah’s day.

Jeremiah 4:13 is using these words used of God’s judgment to describe the coming enemy in judgment. Judah was in big trouble. Jeremiah, feeling the pressure of the judgment to come already says the people will exclaim, “Woe to us, for we are ruined!” What were they to do?

Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you? (Jeremiah 4:14) Back in Jeremiah 3:10, we saw that Judah had made only a pretense of showing repentance. Judgment would happen so suddenly that there would be no time to repent. Jeremiah knew that it is never too late to call for repentance before judgment falls. Warren Wiersbe has said, “Jeremiah is preeminently the prophet of the heart, for he used the word over sixty times.”¹ We also see how the heart (mind) are tied to salvation. Their actions were proof of what they believed. Their thoughts were wicked, i.e., empty, vain, specially used of the vanity of idols and of all things pertaining to idols. They imagine a vain thing as they devise plots for their deliverance somehow thinking that the Egyptians would help them. Wicked or vain thoughts here means plan, plot, a cunning or curious work, imagination, invented. In short, it is an artificial, worthless work. These weren’t just evil thoughts that were quickly put out of their minds…they lodged there. As they turned these over and over relishing in them as they appealed to their flesh, they became plots and plans that were formed into rebellion against God. Their vain thoughts were deceitful promises that would ultimately bring condemnation and judgment down on their heads. While warning of judgment, there was only one open door of escape. They needed to heed or receive God’s Word before it was too late. The needed to wash their hearts from evil meaning they needed to deal with their sin…now! The message is the same for us today. We must repent with sincerity of heart, not in pretense only but sincere repentance resulting in righteousness. James 1:21-22—Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

 

¹ Wiersbe, Warren W. "Jeremiah." In The Bible Exposition Commentary/Prophets, pp. 73-150. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Cook Communications Ministries; and Eastbourne, England: Kingsway Communications Ltd., 2002.