I don't like his style!

He's too direct.

His illustrations are bizarre.

He's boring.

He's too simplistic.

He's too complicated.

He talks too fast.

He stutters.

He repeats himself.

He preaches too long.

That's just scratching the surface of complaints raised against any preacher on any given Sunday.

And it's not anything new.

How many people do you suppose complained about Isaiah walking around naked and barefoot for three years?

How many people complained about M-m-m-m-moses when he stuttered?

Read the book of Jeremiah to see how many people criticized him.

People criticized Paul's timid nature in person.

Follow the life of Jesus and you'll see that people complained about His preaching.

"But," you may argue, "those were ungodly people who complained. I'm just trying to be helpful."

Isaiah's critics probably thought the same thing.

Instead of being your preacher's best critic, maybe you should be his best encourager by applying what he preaches!

The Destruction of Jerusalem

Often we hear or read the phrase "the destruction of Jerusalem" and don't really grasp what that was like. Jeremiah describes it vividly in Lamentations, the book of mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem.

It was an awful sight, reflecting God's anger at sin.

Here are a few examples from the first two chapters:

The city is empty and lonely (1:1).

Her friends have become her enemies (v 2).

No resting place. Overtaken by enemies (v 3).

The roads to Zion mourn. Her priests groan (v 4).

Her children are captives (v 5).

The majesty is gone. The princes wander about (v 6).

The temple and its treasuries have been desecrated (v 10).

The people search for food (v 11).

The mighty men were rejected by the Lord (v 15).

No comfort can be found (v 16-17).

The young men and women are captives (v 18).

Priests and elders perished in the city from hunger (v 19).

The strongholds have been destroyed (2:2).

The temple is in ruins (v 6-8).

The gates are destroyed (v 9).

Elders and young women are in mourning (v 10).

Infants and babies faint in the streets (v 11).

Hunger overtakes the children (v 12).

Enemies pass by and mock (v 15-16).

Young and old, men and women lie dead in the streets (v 21).

All because they refused to turn from their sin. they refused to listen to God's Word, so God punished them. His wrath was poured out in judgment.

Reading this makes me thankful that I am not under God's wrath. I am certainly not any better than the people of Jerusalem.

But the blood of Christ has removed the wrath of God (John 3:16-18).

Why don't they just listen for once?

Ever had one of those days with your kids? Or your students? Or your patients? Or your spouse?

No one seems to listen. And they end up making bad choices that lead to bad consequences.

Same thing happened to Jeremiah.

After decades of warning Judah to repent, then to surrender, Jerusalem was ransacked by the Babylonian army. The royal family was killed or deported. The temple was burned. The treasuries were looted. Only the poorest were left in the land. A servant state was established.

Just like Jeremiah had told them would happen.

So Jeremiah gets his choice and remains in Judah, rather than going to Babylon - or anywhere else he wanted to go.

After an insurrection, the remnant in the land comes to Jeremiah and says, "What should we do? Should we stay here, or go to Egypt? Whatever you tell us to do, we'll do it."

Jeremiah tells them to stay in the land, abide by the Babylonian laws and God would bless them.

"No way! Baruch put you up to that!"

So they took off to Egypt.

Really?

These were not men who had just heard about the destruction of Jerusalem. They had lived through the siege with its hunger and disease.

These were not men who had only heard about Jeremiah at fireside chats from their grandfathers. They had heard him preaching for decades, with his radical message and crazy object lessons.

But what he prophesied had come to pass.

And they still chose to disobey.

And drug Jeremiah with them.

When they get to Egypt, Jeremiah buries two stones and prophesies that Nebuchadnezzar would set up his tents above those stones.

And all those who disobeyed God would die in Egypt. They would be wiped out. No remnant. No escapees.

But wait. I'm just as bad as they are.

How many times has God warned me about the consequences of my sinful choices?

And yet I still choose to give in to temptations?

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal 6:7).

Always God's Mercy

Daniel, the prophet in the captivity, read Jeremiah, the prophet who wrote in the final years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity. Close to 70 years had passed since Jeremiah penned those words. As Daniel read, he discovered why Jerusalem was in shambles and God's people had been scattered.

It was because they had sinned. Repeatedly. For generations. They had ignored God's prophets. They had rebelled. They chose to do evil. They turned aside from God's law. They had sinned against God. They had done wickedly.

Daniel describes God as great, awesome, keeping His covenant, loving steadfastly, righteous, merciful, forgiving, the great deliverer with a great name.

God is the complete opposite of His people.

Israel had sinned and received what they deserved. Now Daniel is praying that God would look upon them in mercy.

"For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy" (Daniel 9:18b).

It wasn't that Daniel thought they had been punished long enough. It wasn't because he thought they had cleaned up their act. It wasn't because they were trying harder to do a better job.

Daniel's plea was based solely on God's mercy.

No matter how much I confess, repent and change my ways, I will always be dependent on God's mercy.

I will never change enough to be deserving of God's forgiveness, grace, mercy and love.

It's always God's mercy.