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Bad Stuff Coming

Do you remember that promise? The one I made with you a long time ago? Yeah, that one. I told you that if you did what I told you, good things would happen to you. Unfortunately, however, you didn't do what I told you. So, bad stuff is coming. And soon.

It will be so bad that there will be no way out. Crying will not bring sympathy. Do you want to know why? It's because you, Judah, have more little-g gods than you have towns. Incredible.

So, Jeremiah, don't even pray for these people because I will not answer your prayers. "The Lord Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal" (Jer 11:17).

You know, when God's people receive a message like this, they should run to God and fall on their faces in repentance. But, often, that is not the case. It wasn't here, and even if they had, they had lost that option. 

In this case, the people weren't repentant; they were furious. They plotted to kill Jeremiah and put an end to his negative messages. They were trying to silence God. That is not a good strategy. The end of this chapter tells why. "Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: "I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. Not even a remnant will be left to them because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment" (22,23). Bad stuff was on its way.

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