Hearken and Do

The covenant set before Israel is not mist or riddle. Life and death are laid out plainly: hear the voice of the Lord, keep His commandments, and live; harden the neck, and the curse ripens in the land, the house, and the body. Therefore the warning is not only for those who first heard Moses, but for any people who grow stubborn while still speaking holy words. As Irenaeus says, “The secret things belong to God, but those which are clearly understood belong to us and to our children.” We often long to know hidden things while neglecting the things already spoken: truth in speech, mercy to the poor, chastity, justice, prayer, repentance, and steadfast obedience.

Jeremiah stood in such a time. The city was collapsing, yet the princes hated the man who spoke the Lord’s rebuke. They preferred counsel that soothed them while judgment drew near. So it is when a people despise correction: they do not escape pain by refusing the truth; they only add rebellion to ruin. The covenant curse is not an empty threat. “Cursed be he that does not continue in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.” Yet even here there is a narrow door of mercy: humble submission to God’s word, honest confession, and the turning away from proud resistance.

Let no one say, We did not know. The matter is near. What God has made plain must be done. If we would not sink into the pit with the rebellious, we must receive reproof, amend our works, and endure shame now rather than judgment later.