The @rzc24-nftbbg/prone-to-wander-when-waywardness-becomes-second-nature" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previous article serves as an introduction in the series about the "wayward heart." A wayward heart is one that has lost its direction through indecision or infidelity. In the context of the prophet Jeremiah's generation, waywardness is portrayed not as a fleeting mistake but as having acquired a permanent character. Such an erosion of values has a generational impact. The waywardness shown by the adults has been continued by the youth. This shows the waywardness of the heart hardened through the passing of time. What is tragic is that persistency in waywardness kindles a fire that burns forever.

*A wayward heart kindles the fire that burns forever (Jeremiah 17:4).*

The Text

3 My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures, I will give them away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. 4 Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever. (Jeremiah 17:3-4).

The fire in our text refers to divine anger. By taking the waywardness of our hearts for granted, this shows that we also don't seriously take God's anger.

What would happen if we take the waywardness of hearts for granted? What would happen if we took lightly the anger of God?

The destructive power of fire is frightening. This is captured by a popular saying among Filipinos:

I would rather be robbed multiple times than have my house burn down.

If literal fire that lasts only for a time is frightening enough, how much more so the fire that burns forever?

This fire does not refer to eternal fire that could torment the human soul. It refers to God's anger that punishes the waywardness of the human heart.

How does the fire of God's anger burn the waywardness of the heart of His people?

Removal of Place of Worship

If the people of Judah would persist in their waywardness, God threatened to remove their centers of public worship:

My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures, I will give them away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country (verse 3).

The phrase "my mountain" refers to Mount Zion, where the temple is located. The "high places" pertain to the "altars and Asherah poles beside the spreading trees and on the high hills" (verse 2), sites used for pagan rituals or idolatrous worship. There is no use in maintaining the temple in Jerusalem, offering sacrifices to Yahweh, for the people have already departed from the true worship of God. What is the use of keeping a place of worship when the people of the land have already defected from their true God and turned to false gods? In a marital relationship, the meaning in keeping a relationship no longer exists when your partner has already found a lover to replace you.

However, the fire of God's anger does not stop by removing the center for true worship. Even the places for counterfeit worship will be removed. If the wayward heart cannot keep his commitment made before God, how can you expect him to keep an illicit relationship? That too rarely lasts; it usually ends in pain and regret.

Withdrawal of Economic Privilege

The removal of both the centers of true worship and idolatrous worship is just the beginning of God's anger. It does not end there. If, despite the removal of such centers, the people still remain unaffected by the consequences, what follows would surely get their attention. This time, the waywardness of the human heart would have economic consequences.

My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures. I will give them away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you (verses 3-4a).

Wealth and treasures will be taken away and will be given by God as plunder. The "inheritance" here refers to Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey. This tells us that wealth is a gift from God.

In Christian economics, there is this concept that wealth is covenantal. Of course, not all wealth is covenantal. There are those who get wealthy by breaking the law of God. However, the Bible distinguishes between the wealth of the righteous and the wealth of the wicked. Nevertheless, ultimately, all wealth and property belong to God, and we are accountable to Him for the way we manage and utilize it.

Since God is the ultimate Owner of all things, He has the right to withdraw it from His people whose hearts have turned away from Him.

Reversal of Social Status

Reversal of social status is the last manifestation of the fire of God's anger, from a free people to slaves:

I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever (verse 4b).

For hundreds of years, the people of God live as free men and women. However, they take the gift of freedom for granted by rejecting the God who gave them such freedom. This shows that God is both the deliverer from tyranny and the cause of His people's slavery. The sovereignty of God in slavery is difficult to accept. However, this is the clear teaching of the Bible. God punishes His people with slavery for the waywardness of their hearts.

A great loss is the inevitable outcome of persisting in waywardness. A wayward heart will certainly suffer severe consequences of the fire of God's anger—loss of worship, loss of wealth, and loss of freedom. This tells us that the cost of a wayward heart is extremely expensive. This should serve as a warning to recognize early the "slow drift" before it becomes a pattern. The call is to choose the firm decision of a devoted heart over the fleeting, destructive allure of deceptive lovers.

Grace and peace!