"But as for you, you must not turn to them" (Je 15:19 NASB)

Poor Jeremiah. The "weeping prophet" had such a depressing message. I don't know why, but it's soundly more depressing than Isaiah's message. Sure, the latter half of Isaiah has as much hope as despair (possibly more hope), but even when Isaiah is pronouncing doom, it's not as sad as what Jeremiah has to say.

Consider what Jeremiah says to Israel on God's behalf:

My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has roared against Me;
Therefore I have come to hate her. (Je 12:8)

Lift up your eyes and see
Those coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
Your beautiful sheep?
What will you say when He appoints over you- ...
Former companions to be head over you? ...
If you say in your heart,
"Why have these things happened to me?"
Because of the magnitude of your iniquity ...
Can the Ethiopian change his skin
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you also can do good
Who are accustomed to doing evil.
Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw
To the desert wind.
This is your lot, the portion measured to you
From Me, declares the LORD,
Because you have forgotten Me ...
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you remain unclean? (Je 13:20-27)

Then the LORD said to me, "Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go!" (Je 15:1)

That's sad.
It's not merely pronouncements of judgment,
but sad descriptions of just how sorry a people they were.
The people were so bad!
That is what Jeremiah had to spend his days doing.

And then we have Jeremiah 15:15-21.
Jeremiah asks God "Remember me, take notice of me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors" (Je 15:15). He tells God "Your words became for me a joy ... For I have been called by Your name" and that he "did not sit in the circle of merrymakers" and that he "sat alone" (Je 15:16-17). He then asks God, "Why has my pain been perpetual ...?" (Je 15:18).

How does God respond?
If you return, then I will restore you- ...
And if you extract the precious from the worthless,
You will become my spokesman ...
Then I will make you to this people
A fortified wall of bronze; ...
They will not prevail over you ...
So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked ... (Je 15:19-21)

Wait a minute!
a) Jeremiah has one of most depressing messages God has ever sent to man
b) The people are rejecting God
c) The people are rejecting Jeremiah and he is suffering
d) The wicked are having "a good ol' time"

And when Jeremiah asks God what's going on, God says "If you return, then I will restore you" (Je 15:19).

What?
After all he has to go through ...
After the people leaving God ...
After the effort Jeremiah makes ...

God wants him to be restored?

Sure puts things into perspective, huh?
The Israelites were so bad ... and Jeremiah was still told to reform himself.
We have to do what God wants and be perfect and complete, no matter how nasty everyone else is.
We have to do what God wants and be perfect and complete according to his standard ... and not rest our laurels on merely being better than the sinners around us. When I read Jeremiah 15 I get the feeling that God's standard is tough to measure up to no matter what's going on!

It makes me think of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-32.