“Peace, Peace, They Say, When There Is No Peace”

“‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.

“‘I will take away their harvest, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.’” Why are we sitting here? Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there! For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against him. We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.

Jeremiah 8:8-15

About 600 years before Christ, most prophets were predicting peace. God’s prophet wasn’t one of them. Jeremiah reminded the people that God had said, “Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.” Yet they repeatedly ignored the Lord and His commands. Their false prophets said, “Peace, peace” but Jeremiah predicted disaster. Jerusalem fell in 586 BC.

Peace is rare. But amid Jeremiah’s book of dire prophesies we discover a God who loves relentlessly. “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” the Lord told His rebellious people. “I will build you up again.”

God is a God of love and peace. Conflict comes because of our rebellion against Him. Sin destroys the world’s peace and robs each of us of inner peace. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” wrote the apostle Paul. His words are among the most hope filled ever written.

Whether we live in a combat zone or dwell in a serene neighborhood with no whispers of war, Christ invites us into His peace.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.

Our Daily Bread – October 25, 2018