This could be one of the saddest verses in the Bible. This is a period in the life of the Israelites that we need to examine, lest we repeat it in our lives. We must remember that the things written in the old testament are for our learning and admonition. I do not know of a more frustrating thing for a pastor than seeing people stay lost for long periods of time. Seeing one revival meeting, or may I say harvest time, after another going by without souls being saved can begin to discourage the very heart of the church. This is why I felt a need to address this verse and the reasons that brought it about.

First let me begin by talking about what was not wrong with Israel. There was not a lack of healing power for Israel, as seen in Jeremiah's questions in verse 22 of this same chapter. 'Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? ' Jeremiah is implying that since there is a balm, and since there is a physician, why then are the people not recovering. This implication would lead us to believe that the problem was neither a lack of power to heal nor a God that wanted to heal. So the problem must have lain elsewhere.

It is my belief that the problem lied within the people needing to be saved themselves. I will attempt to show this by looking at the first part of the chapter and pointing out the people's sins, sins which were keeping them from being saved. One must remember that God saves us from sin, but some sins can keep us from being saved (i.e., unbelief). Maybe we should look at Isaiah 59:1-2 first in order to understand this point better. "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." Isaiah had a similar problem in his day. A day in which people did not really want to hear the truth or, may I say, the report of the preacher. Therefore the preaching did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

Now, let us get back to the sins of the people in the days of Jeremiah the prophet.
 

1. A refusal to repent! 'Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.' - Jeremiah 8:5-6 Knowing that a man needs to repent and repenting are two different things. Just because a man knows that he is sick does not mean that he will go to the doctor for help. The same was the case of Israel, the people refused to return to God and would not repent of their wickedness. However the interesting part of this is how they were refusing to repent. They were refusing to take the blame for their sins and the punishment of them. This can be seen when they said, "What have I done?" The saddest part is what they did after that, 'everyone returned to his own course.' In other words, they returned home having never been saved or changed. Can I ever identify with this?! During the time that I was seeking to be saved, I remember leaving several revival meetings and going home unsaved. Those times were of great discouragement, and often I blamed God for not wanting to save me. Was I ever wrong?! It was my sin that prevented me from being saved, my unbelief, my unrepentant attitude, not God.

2. Prideful ignorance! 'Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?' - Jeremiah 8:7-9 Some people would have a hard time calling ignorance sin, but when it is due to a prideful, 'know it all' attitude, it is sin. The people of Israel had gotten too wise for their own good. These were people who had the scriptures, people who had some knowledge of them, but could not see their own sin. They had enough pride to call themselves wise, but when it came to their own time of salvation they missed it. How could this be? The reason is because they thought they knew God when they did not. Is not this what the pharisees did when the Lord Jesus came to them and they did not know that He was God? In order for one to be saved he must become ignorant, not wiser in his own eyes. Now do not misunderstand me, I do believe that a person must know some things to be saved. However, it is possible for a person to know too much to be saved. Knowledge has its positives and its negatives. Too much knowledge without experience can lead one to think too highly of himself. "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.' - I Corinthians 8:1-2 The people of Isreal because of their ignorance, missed their appointed time of visitation. Pride can be very damning. It is easy to see how one could miss his time to be saved if he, in his prideful ignorance, assumes it is not his time to be saved.

The children of Israel had many other problems, but because of space I am not able to go into them. I do believe that if some who are lost would remorse over these two sins, they might just get saved at the next harvest time.

- Pastor Terry Owen