Jeremiah 25-27 is where I was reading this morning. In chapter 25 the LORD is speaking to Jeremiah telling him the words to speak to the people. God is not happy with the people at this point in 25:3 it says "From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened".
There were other servants and prophets sent repeatedly but again they did not listen nor incline their ear to hear the words of the LORD, in which the LORD wanted the people to turn from their evil ways and evil deeds and to dwell on the land in which He had given them. Because the people would not listen they provoked God to anger; He had enough and was going to be against the people and send other nations against them to "utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation" (verse 9). In verse 10 the LORD says He is also going to remove from them the voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. Now throughout the New Testament the bridegroom is referred to as Jesus Christ, the bride is His church, and the Word of the Lord is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. So in 25:10 God is going to take those things away from the people because they would not heed His words. The same thing applies today if we do not obey the commandments of God there will come a time God will remove those from the people because of the hardness of their heart.
If you read Isaiah 55:6-7 "Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God for He will abundantly pardon." This is exactly what God was wanting from His people and there will come a time when it wont be possible to call upon the LORD anymore. Look back in Jeremiah he was there for twenty-three years waiting for them to turn from their wickedness back to Him. The same goes for today; how long has the Word of God been around and people do not heed what the scriptures say. As Steve brought up before in 2 Timothy 2:3:16-17 "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of god may be adequate, equipped for every good work." The scripture is God breathed, hot off of God's lips. He gave us all the answers we need in order to gain eternal life through Him. In 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." God doesn't want to pour His wrath out on nations and people He would much rather them return to Him but unfortunately we as men can be stubborn I would go as far as to say men pour out the wrath upon themselves because they do not want to turn from their ways unto God's ways.
Now Chapter 26 of Jeremiah is what caught my eye. The LORD tells Jeremiah to share all that He has commanded him to speak to the people. Jeremiah now has to tell the people that if they do not repent that they will be destroyed. Imagine the boldness it would take to stand in front of a city and have to tell them that God is not pleased with them and unless they forsake their ways and their thoughts they will be utterly destroyed and made a desolation. If you continue on reading through 26 you can see that the people didn't take well to it and sought to kill Jeremiah for sharing the words that came directly off of Gods lips.
26:12-15 "Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will change his mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing."
Twenty-three years of stubbornness and God still gives the people another chance. And Jeremiah knows they want to kill him and he is without fear (of man). There are two other examples that are brought out in Chapter 26, one was Micah who prophesied against the people like Jeremiah did and the same result the people in the end spared his life and repented of their evil ways. However there was one prophet that feared the people. Uriah spoke out and the people sought for his life and he fled back to Egypt and he was caught and brought back to the king and they slew him.
Being bold and not fearing man is what really stood out to me. Mat 10:28 "Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell."
Am I sharing God's word without a fear of man but rather with a fear of the LORD? The result of Jeremiah and Micah who did not fear what man did to them was the repentance of the people, but in the case of Uriah who feared the people, his death and no repentance of the people.