Much of Jeremiah 4 sounds like we are reading about someone’s nightmare. Images seem jumbled at times and you’re not always sure what’s happening, but it is absolutely frightening. God’s people have rejected His invitation to come home, so now they are facing a living nightmare of divine judgment. First, a battle cry is sounded, for an enemy army is invading from the north. Terrible destruction is imminent and the situation is desperate. The leadership of Judah is completely demoralized because the judgment of God is coming like a cyclone. First the enemy is seen by a watchman in Dan in the northern part of Israel. Soon they are on the hills of Ephraim, just ten miles north of Jerusalem. Then the disaster comes right to the walls of the city (v 5-18). Jeremiah peeps out of his tent at the surrounding army and wishes the attack would end. However faithfully he had warned of this day and knew that God was just in His punishment, the prophet is in anguish, sick to his stomach about the consequences of sin. In this he is like Jesus, who condemned the sins of His own day, yet wept over the city of Jerusalem as He contemplated the judgment that was certainly coming upon them (v 19-21). The people of Judah had earned their PhD’s in sinning, but when it came to pleasing God, they were like preschoolers. It had gotten so bad that their judgment would be like the un-creation of creation, bringing chaos out of order, darkness out of light, and emptiness out of fullness (v 22-28). So how does Judah respond to the invasion? Instead of repenting before God, or at least skipping town as might be expected, they were dabbing on eyeliner and eye shadow so they could go out and seduce some soldiers! But this was a fatal attraction. Her nightmare will end as she dies in childbirth (v 29-31). This is what happens to anyone who tries to ignore God’s wrath against sin. You can dress up for a night on the town, hoping for the best, but there is nowhere to hide. Our only hope is found at the start of the chapter, where God tells His people how to avoid this nightmare altogether. It’s still not too late. In fact, if Israel returns to Him, not only will the nation be spared, but she will resume her role as a channel of blessing to all the nations. But such a return must be genuine and not a mere show. True repentance requires the removal of idols, not simply words of confession. And our observance of religious rituals is not enough. God wants us to hitch up the plow and break up the hard soil of our calloused hearts, getting to the root of sin and digging it out (v 1-4). For further meditation: