Jeremiah 10:18

 Jeremiah 10:18 says, For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.  God had called the nation of Israel. or Judah in this case, together, and now He was going to allow them to be dispersed and He had protected them and He no longer would.  God calls us to Him, and if we become a follower of Christ He will protect us spiritually, but we must be obedient to Him in order to receive His protection.  Those who were called God's people at this time were His people in name only and were not really in a true relationship with Him.  Verse nineteen declares, Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.  Jeremiah said that he was full of woe because of what was going to happen, but that he must bear it because it was what God had said was going to happen and therefore would.  Though we as followers of Christ may look forward to the second coming of Christ with joy personally, we should be filled with woe for those who do not know Christ as their Savior and Lord.  They will be going away to everlasting punishment, and this is something that we should never celebrate.  Verse twenty states, My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.  God said there there was no one left to do what was required of them to worship Him.  The people of Jerusalem had totally turned away from God, and this was why they were in the situation that they were in.  Verse twenty-one adds, For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.  The pastors, the ones who were supposed to proclaim the word of God, had become brutish and had not sought the LORD.  Some pastors today proclaim a message that is not consistent with the word of God, and they will never prosper spiritually, no matter how much they may prosper materially.  Verse twenty-two says, Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.  Jeremiah said that the commotion of the people to the north of Judah could be heard.  If we are hearing and seeing the fulfillment of the prophesies about the second coming today, it should call us to work even harder to share the gospel with the world.  Verse twenty-three declares, O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.  Jeremiah said that it was not in man to do what is right by his own ability.  We can never be righteous enough of our own merit to be saved, because we will never surrender everything that we are or have to God until we enter into a personal relationship with Him, and the only way to do that is by acknowledging our own sinfulness and accepting salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse twenty-four adds, O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.  Jeremiah called on God to correct him, but out of mercy and not anger.  We will always stand in need of God's mercy if we are to avoid His anger.  Jeremiah made this request not just for himself but for all of God's people.  Verse twenty-five concludes, Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.  Jeremiah called on God to pour out His fury on the heathen, but unfortunately at that time that included most of those who were supposed to be His people.  If we are followers of Christ in name only, then we will also have God's fury poured out on us in the judgment day.