“I will surely consume them. There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes. Their fruit trees will all die. Whatever I gave them will soon be gone. I, the Lord, have spoken!” Jeremiah 8:13
Because the moral and cultural rot was so deep among the people of Judah, God promised to bring a thorough judgment. Like a grape vine or a fig tree picked clean. God promised, I will surely consume them.“The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.” (Isaiah 5:7)Israel was God chosen people and we see what God did to them when He could stand their sins just so long. I wonder how long it will be before God is at His limits with our nation. Every time that I hear our leaders talk about abortion and that it is some kind of right, I cringe. This is only a small portion of the sins of our nation. It like we don’t have any fear of God and His judgment. “Now then, you kings, act wisely! Be warned, you rulers of the earth! Serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling.” (Psalms 2:10-11) Yes, we should fear God.
For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God. For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer’s fear is reverence of God. “Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29) This reverence and awe is exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” (John 15:1-2)