When Truth Has Perished - by Ed Cardwell

Jer 7:28 ^NAS

More than 25 centuries ago the Lord God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to a nation that was collapsing under the weight of its moral and spiritual depravity.

Anyone should be able to read Jeremiah and make the comparison with the cultural climate of our own time.  Even now one can witness firsthand from the comforts of his own living room what happens to a nation after only 2 or 3 generations of denigrating God and even evicting Him from every aspect of society.

*          *         *          *          *          *          *

Here are a few of his characterizations of a people who had lost their source of strength and their crown of glory:

To begin, the Divine indictment:

“For My people have committed two evils:

They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns,
That can hold no water.” ^{Jer 2:13 NAS}

1.  They left their God, the One who set them high above all the nations of the earth and who showered them with untold riches and blessed their land beyond compare.  His commandments became tedious and boring, and in time they removed His law from their public institutions, from their seats of learning, from their courts, from their daily activities and amusements – and ultimately from their hearts!

2.  They substituted a moral code more suited to their passions.  They devised fanciful doctrines that appealed to their fallen nature, and they taught them throughout their culture.  They turned to sensuality and sought to become like the heathen nations around them.   

“And they bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me.” ^{Jer 9:3}

In order to sustain this philosophical perversion that has crept into their once great nation, they must create a culture of corruption of the truth.  In time lies become the mainstay of government, education, and the media.  To prevent their demagoguery from assault, they attack all opposition viciously, and at the same time show themselves benefactors of the populace with mountains of largesse from the national treasury.  To sustain their power they promise lifelong prosperity to all citizenry and by deception mortgage their futures with staggering debt.  Lies are the keystone to their hold on power, and they even brag about their cunning.

“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely.” ^{Jer 6:13}

Materialism is rampant and has become the true motive behind every thought, act, and judgment at all levels of  society.  Theft, fraud, and embezzlement are rationalized, even celebrated.

“The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, And what kind of wisdom do they have?” ^{Jer 8:9}

The ignorance and incompetence of national leaders has become truly daunting.  They speak as if they have the answers for everything, but they have the solutions to nothing.  They are the blind guides leading their constituencies to national ruin.  They offer words of hope, but their words are seductive and devoid of truth.

“And they heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.” ^{Jer 8:11}

Mental disorders, frustration, and despair continue to rise as the ‘good’ life of godlessness remains deceptive and the answers to the problems of the soul illusory.  Enemies sense the resulting weakness and grow ever bolder in their threats to conquer and destroy.

“This is the city to be punished, In whose midst there is only oppression. As a well keeps its waters fresh, So she keeps fresh her wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard in her; Sickness and wounds are ever before Me.”  ^{Jer 6:6,7}

 Ignoring the severe consequences of their secular society and refusing to believe that the God of their fathers is even relevant, the spiritual vacuum that has been created invites the Adversary to run amok throughout the land in helping to destroy the very citadels of culture and civilization.  Violence and bloodshed, terror and despair, and confusion and ruination now rule on the streets and in the hearts of men.

“An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: 
The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule on their own authority;
And My people love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?  ^{Jer 5:30-31}

As long as the illusion of benefits continues flowing and there are ample amusements for distraction, the lies are tolerated and the consequences of the extermination of Truth are ignored. Annihilation and oblivion will soon follow as night follows day, and there shall be no remedy.

*          *         *          *          *          *          *

I have forsaken My house, I have abandoned My inheritance; I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies. ^{Jer 12:7}

After their callous refusals of the Lord’s steady appeals to return to Him, the Source of their national strength and majesty, He finally leaves this perpetually stubborn and stiff-necked people to their own evil devices. And as the curtain falls on their collective ruin, this sad commentary concludes their precipitous descent from supreme greatness and national independence.

There has always been an antidote, a cure from this paralyzing decay of the national soul.

God pleaded with this people time and again to turn back from their reckless obstinacy.  Through the prophet Ezekiel, Jeremiah’s contemporary, He pleads:

“As I live!' declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?” ^{Ezekiel 33:11}

It is not imperative that we persist in this same path to destruction.  It is not a universal law that the citizens can have no say in their ultimate destiny.  But the volumes of history are strewn with empires ravaged by the natural consequences of their own destructive godlessness.  As the Psalmist wrote millennia ago: 

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. ^{Psalm 9:17 KJV}

But there remains hope still, and God’s faithful among us hold the key.

“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” ^{Pro 16:6 KJV}