The passage

1“ ‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. 2They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. 13“ ‘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.’ ”

Also referenced today

The shape of the message

1. Judah’s hardened, wilful drift toward destruction
2. Ironic judgement on idol worship and refusal to return
3. Self-deception, suppressed truth, and ignoring God’s law
4. Contrition and humility as the inner life of real repentance
5. The coming invasion and the danger of missing the moment
6. Tears, the refused balm, and the call to return and obey

Questions to hold while you listen

• Where are you most tempted to minimise sin or assume there will be no consequences, and what would “turning around” look like?
• How can someone read and study Scripture and still deceive themselves, and what does James 1:22 call you to change this week?
• What marks of genuine repentance (lamenting, mourning, weeping, heaviness, humility) do you tend to resist, and why?
• What does it mean that God will not strive indefinitely with someone who keeps saying “No,” and how does that shape urgency?
• Do you feel Jeremiah’s kind of anguish for people who are rejecting God, and what would it look like to ask God to break your heart for the lost?

Notes

This week

Reach out to one friend or neighbour who is drifting or lost, and pray specifically that God would break your heart for what breaks his and move you from words to action.