Jeremiah 8

Jeremiah 8:4 “You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return?”

Here the Lord has asked 2 very simple questions. When someone falls down don’t they just get back up? When someone goes off the path, don’t they go back to find it? These are no brainer questions. When a young child is learning how to walk and he falls for the first time, does he give up? No, he tries again until he eventually gets it. When you learned how to ride a bike, did you give up the first time you fell? You got back on the bike and learned how to ride.

Jeremiah was amazed at the people of Judah. They had fallen in their sins and they were not getting back up. The problem was not that they could not get back up, it was that they wouldn’t get back up. This was unnatural and Jeremiah could not explain it.

The second question asked makes a similar point. Have you ever been in the car with someone who did not know where they were going and all they have for directions is a napkin with some lines and street names on it? When(usually not if) the driver gets lost what is the best way to find your way? Ask for directions, call someone who knows the area, or turn back go to where you initially got lost and get back on the path. It’s pretty simple.

But again, Jeremiah was confused as to why the people were not doing what was natural; getting back up and finding their way back. Whats even worse is that they were completely ignorant to what they were doing. In verse 6 they even ask the question “what have we done?” And in verse 7 God compares them to birds. Even birds know when it is time to migrate or to come back but the people of God don’t know how to keep the rules of God. That’s a pretty sad verse.

Where are you at today? Is your life right with God? Maybe God is trying to tell you to get up today, to return home. The people of Judah ignored the word of God but you don’t have to. We live in a day and age where the Bible is available to anyone who wants it. We have commentaries and handbooks that help us understand it. We have no excuse to be like the people of Judah. But sadly in America today the majority of the people don’t know what the Bible says. Don’t be like that! Study the word of God.

In verse 9 the Lord says that the “wise men” have rejected the Word of God. To that God says “so what wisdom is in them?” The “wise men” had rejected the only source of wisdom. Have you rejected the Word? Study the Word of God!