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Warning shots. Officially, this is a term used by military or police forces describing an intentionally harmless artillery or gunshot with intent to enact direct compliance and order to a hostile perpetrator or enemy forces. It can be an effective means of deescalating a dangerous encounter. It is often the final protocol prior to the use of lethal force. Throughout the Scriptures, God would warn His people of impending judgment should they rebelliously refuse to turn to Him. He would send prophets with words of impending threat. He would use natural disasters, economic collapse, and rampant disease to capture the attention of His people. But as is portrayed time and again, specifically in the exile and dispersion of the Jewish people in 587 B.C. and again in 70 A.D., the time for warnings would eventually end with the display of God’s wrath against their sin. Of course, even in these instances, God would hold out mercy to a remnant who would turn to Him in faith.
Just a few short days ago, who would have believed that the significant news for the past week would give little attention to a medical pandemic. The media coverage regarding the sharp division, hatred, and mass destruction throughout major cities in our country has dwarfed even the coronavirus. And while we would be irresponsible to declare any one of these events as the judgment of God upon our nation, we would be mistaken to not seriously consider how God is seeking to grab our attention. While his judgment on any nation or person may not be realized in the present, it is quickly approaching (Isaiah 13:9). Could it be that our current crises are as “warning shots” from the Lord, meant to awaken us at last to His judgment and our need for mercy? How must we respond as a nation, a church, and even as individuals to these events?
I have been studying Lamentations over the past few days. It is a rather short book written by the prophet Jeremiah. As its name implies, it is a book of great sadness. Jeremiah is an eyewitness and participant in the very things that he and so many other Old Testament prophets foretold. The city of Jerusalem fell in 587 B.C. at the hands of the Babylonians. The covenant of God had warned that if His people rebelled against Him in sin, they would eventually be overrun by other nations and sent to exile. Though the nation of Israel enjoyed many years of blessed prosperity, they had turned to idolatry. They refused to repent and they became more steeped in sin as a culture. In 587 B.C., the temple and city of Jerusalem were completely destroyed. The atrocities done to God’s people were horrific and are detailed in this book. As a result of their great fall from such a glorious past, and the departure of God’s presence from their midst, Jeremiah grieved deeply. Lamentations is an acrostic poem, with a good portion of the book using the order of the Hebrew alphabet to begin each new stanza. It is as though Jeremiah describes the wrath of God against His people from A to Z. And…he is deeply grieved.
With the rise of the pandemic, the assault on religious freedom, the divisiveness in our nation, the frailty of our economy, and the injustice and lawlessness that we have witnessed over the last week, we are experiencing a taste of the awful judgment of God. Israel was rightly judged for her sins. In the same manner the writer of Proverbs states, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). As Jeremiah would lament God’s judgment against His people, so we too should lament the awful things we are witnessing around us. And we should learn key lessons from this book which will give specific direction as we respond to the events happening all around us.
1. Evil cannot be ignored.—Lamentations 1:1-5
Jeremiah did not ignore the evil all around him. God’s judgment was the result of the people’s rebellion against Him. If we are to be reconciled to God and know the wonder of His grace in our current day, we must acknowledge the evil around us. The things we have witnessed this week are horrific in nature. The ruthless killing of any person, regardless of the color of their skin, is evil. Rioting, looting, murder, prejudice, hatred, revenge, and violence are acts of evil. These are not acts which can be justified or explained. It must be acknowledged that these acts find their origin in rebellion against God. While evil acts are committed by people, ultimately it is an expression of spiritual warfare. Satan will do all that he can to defame the glory of God, especially in attacking the image of God which resides upon people. As Jeremiah, we should be deeply grieved by every act of atrocity we have witnessed this week. But not just this week. We should be moved to grieving, praying, holiness, justice, and mercy in response to the evil around us at all times.
2. Salvation is available only to sinners.—Lamentations 1:8;
Jeremiah’s lament was written to turn sinners to God. Recognizing the woe of their sin, it was his earnest plea that they return to God. As always, and perhaps now more than ever, we need to be reminded of this doctrinal truth. Christ did not come to save the righteous (1 Timothy 1:15). He did not come to save the one whose actions are justified.
Our sinful flesh relishes the status of victimization with statements such as, “I have been wronged, therefore, my actions are justified.” “I deserve pity.” “I deserve certain rights.” Yet, when we come to Christ, we bring nothing but our sin. The sins of our nation and within our own lives proves God’s righteousness and our need for His mercy. As in Jeremiah’s day, so in our own, there are no victims. God’s judgment to the sinner is deserved. And if we know Christ, how can we possibly say we are a victim?! We have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ! We are sinners saved by grace!
3. The Lord’s mercy will come to those who seek Him.—Lamentations 3:25
Though Jeremiah walked through this dark time of despair, the Lord would uphold him.
If anything, our current events should urge us to seek God in His Word, in prayer, and in our obedience. If we will seek Christ in every moment of life, then we will respond rightly to the ungodliness around us. We will find His mercy in each moment. And we will be able to hold out that mercy to a world in desperate need of Christ.
Please know that I am praying for you as never before. I am praying that God will protect you and provide for your every need. I am praying that at this critical moment in which God uses every means of His wrath and love to seize our attention upon His glory, that we will turn to His great mercy. May we not miss this important opportunity to show our community that God loves them and that He will redeem them if they would but turn to Him.
Jason