Jeremiah Then And Now

Jeremiah Then And Now

In the younger years of king Josiah,
The Lord first spoke to Jeremiah.
Before he saw the light of day,
The Lord had formed him out of clay,
And called to him, set him apart
Commanding him, “Speak from the heart.”
The youthful bride has turned away,
When other gods lured her astray.
“The nation turned away from me
To follow other gods, you see.
Unfaithfulness do I abhor,
You’ve turned away again, and more.
To follow after false god Baal.
For this offense I now will rail.”
“You steal and kill and also lie.
There is no sin you will not try.
Forsaken are the Ten Commands
On which your moral precept stands.
E’en though you sin you have no shame,
On someone else you place the blame.
The prophets, leaders, priests, and kings
Have placed their trust in worthless things.
They all are seeking unjust gain,
And on their victims cause much pain.”
“Beware of friend, don’t trust your brother,
For each will now deceive the other.
Prophet and priest practice deceit,
In every house, on every street.
Widows and orphans they have robbed,
‘Gainst righteous men they too have mobbed.
False gods are worshipped in temple spaces.
For the Lord of Hosts there are no places.”
“Peace… Peace...” they always say,
E’en though true peace is far away.
“Peace… Peace…” a hollow echo,
When king Josiah was killed by Necho.
Some vied for Asshur, some for the Nile,
To follow God, futile denial.
Still others looked to Babylon’s aid,
Their independence thus did trade.
Independence at any cost
Resulted in their freedom lost.
As each party would vie for power,
The rest would stand aside and glower.
Bringing their wrath ‘gainst Jeremiah,
Imprisoned under Zedekiah.
Placed in pillory and stock,
While people came to jeer and mock.
He spoke against their evil ways,
He prophesied for all his days.
Jehoiakim his words did spurn,
He cast them in the fire to burn.
And so he grabbed his mighty pen,
And wrote them all back down again.
He called to them, “You must repent,
That God fierce anger might relent.”
And spoke of grand and glorious day,
When new cov’nant would come our way.
Yet they refused to change their way,
Causing the Lord in grief to say,
“An army comes from distant land,
As vast it is as grains of sand.
To capture ev’ry city and town –
Jerusalem to be knocked down.”
At sound of them the Jews take flight,
In fear and awe they fled at night.
The watchfire signals all die down,
They’ve captured ev’ry other town.
Jerusalem is all that’s left,
The city that the Lord has left.
Their army scattered on the plain,
Some were captured, some were slain.
The people then were led away,
Jer’miah’s words came true that day.
Though that was then, and this is now,
Before the Lord we still must bow.
The Ten Commands removed from walls,
God’s Word is gone from barren halls.
We go on sinning without shame,
And seek on others to place the blame.
Abortion protesters thrown in jail,
On whom pro-choicers spit and rail.
Pro life, pro choice and in between,
Oft to each other are very mean.
“Peace…” we cry across the land,
While gruesome terror is at hand.
Our culture turns away from God,
To follow where the cults have trod.
Moral precepts have flown away,
As on the poor we often prey.
Presidential lies and exec’s sly trick,
They feel that they are being slick.
Reps and Dems still vie for power,
Against each other they fume and glower.
In Senate halls and House divided,
Interest groups have often chided.
Hemlock, PETA, and groups absurd,
All seek to have their agendas heard.
Pro choice, gay rights, and eco-green,
Such motley crews we’ve never seen.
New Agers with their eastern rite,
Still seek converts both day and night.
The clergy waters down the Word,
It has become a blunted sword.
We’ve not come far from Jer’miah’s day,
We need again to hear him say:
“The Lord is judging all your ways,
For he is meas’ring all your days.
But if from sin you will repent,
Then from his wrath he will relent.
With Cov’nant written on the heart,
Then from the Lord no more to part.”

David A. Hasey
© 2005