I was struck recently as I was reading Jeremiah 25:30-38. It speaks of a coming day when God will shout against the nations, and there will be a “clamor” that spreads from nation to nation to the ends of the earth. It will come from a distant place, one of the “remotest parts of the earth.” Of course, this reminded me of the coronavirus that came out of a region very unfamiliar to most of the world. But in all this warning of a judgment coming to nations, there was something in this passage that hit me like a thunderbolt.
When this calamity would come to the nations, there would come a sharp rebuke to God’s fold. The word “fold” refers to the community of God’s people. The judgment would be a sword against the nations, but God would “roar mightily” against His fold. That should cause our ears to perk up. We must remember that judgment always begins in the house of the Lord. When the nations are struck, God’s “fold” or church must be open to the correction of the Lord.
As I was reading the passage, I began to wonder with what God was displeased in His fold. The message was clear. God was upset with His shepherds, his pastors who were leading the sheepfold. He is calling from them a deep and heartfelt repentance. “Wail! Cry! Wallow in ashes!” Strong language, but God is wanting to help them avoid having their pastures destroyed (verse 36). If they miss their opportunity to respond, God warns them that their opportunity to escape will pass them by.
Then I saw what displeased the Lord. It’s found in verse 37, “The peaceful folds are made silent.” What first struck me was that our pastures/churches were made silent in the last several months. Our songs of worship weren’t heard in the sanctuary, our children’s classrooms were hauntingly quiet, our gatherings to receive the Word were sidelined.” Our peaceful folds were made silent. But what jumped out at me was the label of “peaceful fold.” It almost sounded sarcastic. If they were peaceful, then why would God silence them?
I believe the crux of this entire passage is that God sends a warning against “peaceful folds.” I believe that God wants our churches to become less about keeping the peace and more about being people who resemble the early church that was “turning the world upside down.” Jesus said, “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34 NLT). We have kept the peace to the point of lukewarmness. We haven’t challenged the things that destroy the lives of people. We live now in a world that calls evil good and that calls good evil. Believers have been chosen before the foundations of the world to destroy the works of the devil–to not make peace with him but to take him down with the sword. We have kept the peace to the point of compromise. We are inexcusably soft-spoken about issues such as the injustice of abortion. This travesty ends the life of a human being created by God and brings spiritual hardness to the hearts of the parents. Yet we keep the peace. We maintain the status quo. We are called to be the salt of the earth. Salt brings healing, but it is painful when it’s applied. If we are set to reveal the healing of the nations, our message will at first offend and irritate before it will heal. We must not give in to the fear of man for the sake of peace.
I’m praying that a different kind of church will emerge from this season of lockdown. I pray that what will come forth will be houses of peaceful gatherings but house that will be mobilized to speak truth and life to the world, no matter what the cost.