Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem

 

    A near unthinkable situation existed in Jerusalem. The city had turned its back on Truth. God raised up Jeremiah to warn the people to "repent or perish."  The people paid no attention to the preaching. God tells Jeremiah He will destroy the city. Jeremiah pleads with God, and God tells Jeremiah, "Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem…If you can find a man who executes judgment, and who seeks the truth, I will pardon the city" (Jeremiah 5:1). 

            Now we don't want to get the wrong picture here of Jerusalem. The men were very *religious* and even said, "As the Lord lives."  Yet, God said they "swear falsely."  (Jeremiah 5:2).  There was an abundance of men in the city, but none possessed the qualities of godliness that is according to God's truth.  Real men, according to God's definition, were, and are, in short supply.

            To keep our homes from crumbling, we need godly men; to confront the dangers facing the church, we need godly men; and, to confront all the corruption and moral degradation that's destroying our nation, we need godly men.

            Only one righteous man could have saved Jerusalem, but no such man could be found. Ten righteous men would have saved Sodom and three other cities, but they could not be found.

            Our own society has been infected by men with moral rottenness. We accept lying, cheating, and stealing as acceptable tactics, not to mention abortion, living together outside of marriage, same sex marriages, etc.  And, like an acid, this moral contagion is eating away at the church. More and more we are allowing the world to set the standards of right and wrong. Can there be anything more hideous to our Heavenly Father than ungodly men who consider themselves to be in His church?!

            God wants men with faith like Moses, "who chose to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11:24-25).  God wants men who obey like Abraham, "who when God told him to go he went not even knowing where he was going. He left everything behind, and went" (Hebrews 11:8).  God needs men who pray like Daniel, who prayed three times a day even though it was a threat to his life (Daniel 6:10).

            God explained to the prophet Ezekiel, "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it;  but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads." (Ezekiel 22:29-31).

            God is still looking for men today whose hearts are turned completely toward Him (2Chronicles 16:9).  Are you that kind of man? If not, you should be.  That's the kind of man your wife needs; it's the kind of father your children needs; and it's the kind of man the church needs!

                                                                                                                                                            Toby Miller