Nena Arias | July 24, 2023
“A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping”
(Jeremiah 31:15)
The biblical prophet Jeremiah was given a very difficult assignment at a time when the Hebrew nation came under severe judgment from God because of their great amount of sin. However, that same judgment was designed to save the nation who would otherwise have destroyed itself and God was not through with it yet.
Jeremiah’s task was so demanding, and he had to go through so many hardships due to his gloomy message that God gave him to deliver, that he is known as the “weeping prophet”. I highly encourage you to read the entire book of Jeremiah because not only will you get the big picture of how God deals with the sin of a nation, but it also reveals the beautiful character of God in that though he must judge sin, he always also offers redemption and restoration.
Every time I review the book of Jeremiah I am so astonished that even though so many years have transpired, human nature remains the same and time after time falls back into the same inordinate and sinful behavior and God has to intervene.
As we take a panoramic look at our nation right now to assess where we are; we will see much of the same sinful behavior that is described in the book of Jeremiah. I do that almost every day and it causes me to weep before God for our nation. My heart becomes very burdened for us, and I repent for our national sins and ask God’s forgiveness but also I plead for a reformation.
In a nation like America, we don’t have to “re-invent the cultural wheel” we just have to go back to the principled foundation that gave us our identity and purpose in the first place. God-ordained principles never change, hence the word “principle”. They are unchanging truths, values, and virtues that God has already established for us to build upon.
Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not advocating for a national religion. I am speaking for and defending eternal truths that must come back to our way of life if we hope to survive as a nation and not just become a byword of a collapsed civilization.
It really pains me to say that America is an embarrassment in the world today, and rightfully so because we left God out of the picture and told him by our actions that we can do this on our own. Now we are paying the consequences. We have been so wrong and offensive to him. He still has to be God.
The beauty of God is that he always offers a way to redemption, out of sin and difficulties if we repent. Just as he did for the Hebrew nation, he will do for us just like it states in these verses:
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,’ declares the LORD. ‘They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future,’ declares the LORD. ‘Your children will return to their own land.’”
(Jeremiah 31:16-17)