Jeremiah 5:14
“Because they have talked this way, they are going to eat those words. Watch now! I’m putting my words as fire in your mouth. And the people are a pile of kindling ready to go up in flames.”
“Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says: ‘Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood.’”
This was not ordinary speech. These words carried authority making people take notice. It must have been traumatic for Jeremiah, having his vocal tissues burn with such intensity. The image of a people aflame like kindling is disturbing. Judah’s spiritually shriveled people would now have to experience their God as a consuming fire (Exodus 24:17). It was not God’s choice, but theirs, whose behavior his character could no longer ignore.
Lord, the world around me is falling apart. People are miserable, believing this life is the end. Current events produce fear and uncertainty. Because of you, I know where hope lies. Grace me to share it with those who want to hear. Guide my days to those encounters. May I never fail to engage them.