I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
--Jeremiah 12:7-8
It is a frightening thing to contemplate that we might become God's enemies. We can reject His grace, reject the reconciliation of the Cross, and, in doing so, we make ourselves hateful to God. This is not something we usually think about or even like to consider. What would it take for the Lord to forsake and abandon us? What does it mean to lift up our voices against God?
The people of Jeremiah's time turned away from the LORD and denied Him. They were openly hostile to His commandments, rejecting His law and all the benefits of the Covenant. Like a son turning from his father, the hostility of the inhabitants of Jerusalem toward God brought hostility upon them. In rejecting, they were rejected. In fleeing, they were exiled.
Peter and Judas both betrayed Christ. Peter lied, cursed, and swore in his denial of his Lord. Judas went out, stricken with regret, and hanged himself.
The road home from alienation is repentance, not regret.
