“O Jerusalem, you are my beautiful and delicate daughter— but I will destroy you! Enemies will surround you, like shepherds camped around the city. Each chooses a place for his troops to devour. They shout, ‘Prepare for battle! Attack at noon!’ ‘No, it’s too late; the day is fading, and the evening shadows are falling.’ ‘Well then, let’s attack at night and destroy her palaces!’” Jeremiah 6:2-5
Judah liked to think of themselves as beautiful and refined. Yet a lovely and delicate woman can’t stand before an invading army. They would be terribly mismatched in the coming invasion. God reminded Judah that time was running out. Even though this judgment would not come for many years, the tipping point that made it certain was much closer than they thought. Soon, the army of Babylon would come to Jerusalem to destroy her palaces.
The wickedness of Israel is constantly renewed—ever fresh and abundant, like water in a well. Such water must flow out of deep fountains. The continuity of a course of sin proves that its origin is deep seated. The sin of hasty temper is less than that of deliberate calculation, the fall before sudden temptation more excusable than the willful choice of evil, the occasional slip less culpable than the continuous habit of wickedness. This habitual sin must be rooted. In a man’s nature. Springing out under all circumstances, it is seen to be, not an outside defect, but a fruit of his own inner life. Constantly flowing in spite of all restraints of law, social influence, and conscience, it shows how thoroughly corrupt the heart must be, “But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.” (Matthew 15:18). The spring cannot restrain its waters; the heart cannot repress its imaginations. These must come forth and express themselves in deeds. Men may aim at living two lives—an inner life of sin and an outer life of propriety; but the attempt must ultimately fail. The greater the evil of the heart, the more completely must this color the life. The only cure for this evil heart is the Cross of Jesus Christ.