Stand at the Crossroads

16          Thus says the Lord:
                        “Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
                        where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
                        But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
            17          I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’
                        But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’
            18          Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
            19          Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
the fruit of their devices,
                        because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
            20          What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
                        Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
            21          Therefore thus says the Lord:
                        ‘Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
                        fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.’”
Jeremiah 6:16-21
+
Stand at the Crossroads
Jeremiah calls God’s people to pause and ask for the ancient paths, the good way shaped by the Lord’s own Word. Yet Judah refuses rest, trusting noise over truth and ritual over repentance. God’s judgment is not rash anger but the just fruit of despising His instruction and rejecting His prophets. So the Lord removes what they trusted, exposing hearts that would not listen. We know this stubbornness. Left to ourselves, we resist the way of peace. But where Israel would not walk, Christ did. He bore the judgment we deserved, carrying our rebellion to the cross. There the ancient path is opened again, not by our wisdom, but by His mercy. Therefore, hear the watchman’s voice in the preaching of Law and Gospel. Turn from self-made ways. In Christ crucified, God Himself gives the rest He commands. Walk there, and live.