Jeremiah 8:20-22
This morning’s sermon will be about two things — first, about what is worse than going to hell; and second, about what is better than going to heaven.
I know what you’re thinking. “Our pastor has lost his mind. Can there be anything worse than going to hell?” But if you will give me just a few minutes before you write me off as a heretic, I am sure that when I have finished you will say, “The pastor was right when he said there is something worse than going to hell and something better than going to heaven.”
Jeremiah 8:20-22 says:
20 “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” 21 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? (Jeremiah 8:20-22)
THE BAD
Falling yields are something that landowners complain about more and more. Because of the changes in nature, the harvests keep shrinking. Imagine working the whole year through, and at the end having nothing to show for it, because your crops could not withstand the test of cold, hail, or drought.
“The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” Taken in its context, this passage refers to God’s judgment upon Israel. It is a kind of proverb, according to which the people have lost every opportunity God gave them, and now they are in a completely hopeless situation. They have missed God’s appointed time.
I think we can also apply these words to those whose souls are lost in hell. Perhaps they will repeat them over and over, because they will grieve for the missed opportunity to be saved and to live in a good relationship with God.
“The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” This is the cry of the souls left unharvested for the kingdom. Human souls that were never gathered in, but left standing in the field. Is this not also the cry of the rich man in Luke chapter 16? Consider this:
Two thousand years ago this rich man cried out to Abraham, asking if only Lazarus might dip the end of his finger and give him a single drop of water. Today, two thousand years later, from the pages of the New Testament, he goes on crying. Let us read again this remarkable parable (Luke 16:19-26):
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ (Luke 16:19-26)
Hearing all this, you may say, “But brother, to be in hell is so terrible. How can you say there is anything worse than going to hell?”
THE WORSE
Well, I think I have kept you in suspense long enough, and it is high time I told you what is worse than going to hell. It is THIS: AS YOU GO TO HELL, TO TAKE SOMEONE ELSE WITH YOU.
If you have not yet received Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, come with me on an imaginary journey through time and space, and about a thousand years from now you will find yourself in hell, and from there you will hear yourself cry out, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and I missed my chance.” And you will be twice as tormented, because you will say to yourself, “That preacher told me what was waiting for me and what I had to do. Why did I not listen to him, when I had the favorable opportunity to change things!”
I pray to God that you will never go there. But if, in spite of my prayers, you do go to hell, I pray that you will go there alone and not take others with you.
Even so, I fear that hell will be full of children who curse their parents for not taking them faithfully to church and not setting a good example before them. Brothers crying out to their brothers, colleagues crying out to their colleagues. And all of them lamenting the weak example and the bad influence of those who bore the greater responsibility. I think that very rarely does anyone go to hell alone. I think the power of personal influence is far greater than we can imagine.
When the rich man realized that he could not receive water to relieve his torment even for a moment, he became concerned that his own loved ones should not end up beside him. He turned to Abraham with these words (Luke 16:27-28):
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ (Luke 16:27-28)
Perhaps the rich man was concerned for his brothers because of the bad example he had left them. As bad as it was in hell, he was still more horrified by the thought that there was a real danger his brothers would end up as he had. So you see, there is one thing that is worse than going to hell, and that is, as you go there, to take someone else with you.
SOMETHING BETTER THAN GOING TO HEAVEN
And if you still have not guessed what that thing is which is better than going to heaven, I will tell you that it is this: as you go to heaven, not to go there alone, but to take others with you.
In John 9:4 Jesus said:
4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. (John 9:4)
Jeremiah 8:21-22 is God’s indictment against the church:
21 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? (Jeremiah 8:21-22)
Despite the rebukes he directs at his people, Jeremiah does not hesitate to identify himself with (or to join himself to) his people. Their crushing and their misery wound him so deeply that he is filled with weeping and horror. Finally, using one last metaphor, in a series of rhetorical questions Jeremiah asks why, since there is balm in Gilead (and indeed it was famous for this remedy), and there are also physicians to apply it, the suffering of the people has not been healed.
The balm of Gilead was prepared from the resin of the storax tree. It was medicinal. Gilead’s balm was even produced for export, as we understand from Genesis 37:25, which speaks of a caravan of Ishmaelites whose camels were loaded with spices, balm, and myrrh, traveling to Egypt (Genesis 37:25; Jeremiah 46:11; 51:8; Ezekiel 27:17).
The prophet is distressed, because although there is a cure for his people, they do not make use of it. Gilead is a hilly region east of the Jordan, north of Moab. So the medicine is not far off. But Judah’s disease is not healed. Ever since, the mournful question “Is there no balm in Gilead?” has become proverbial.
In these verses we see God’s astonishment. Why, when the necessary medicines are available, are they not used?
WHAT ASTONISHES GOD SO?
God knows that prayer is effective, and He wonders why it is not applied. He knows that those who know of the danger also know that prayer works and that God answers in wondrous ways. But instead of praying for those who are in mortal danger, we are preoccupied with trivial matters whose only aim is bound up with our own personal comfort.
If a statistic were made of our prayer life, it might turn out that 90% of the time we pray for personal needs, 9% for the needs of our friends, and 1% for lost souls. If we see ourselves in that statistic, it is no wonder that God is so astonished.
The second reason God is amazed is that, even though we know there is something better than going to heaven — and that is to take someone else with us — we are nonetheless negligent. He is astonished at the lack of concern in us.
Revelation tells us that in heaven there will be no tears, and I think perhaps one of the reasons is that when we get there, even if we should weep for someone else, our tears will then be of no use. If we are going to weep for the souls of the lost, we must do it now, while these tears can still change things. For it will be very sad if a day should come when our loved ones and friends would say, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”
There is something worse than going to hell and something better than going to heaven. Which of the two will we choose?