The limits to God's patience.

“This is the word of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning the drought: ‘Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and the cry goes out from Jerusalem. The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.

The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads. Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass. Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture.’” (Jeremiah 14:1-6)

Jeremiah presents a terrible picture of a prolonged drought covering the whole land of Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim the ungodly king (son of godly king Josiah), in the final decade of the 7th Century BC. The drought was not confined to Judah; it covered the whole region of what we now know as the Middle East.

Climatologists say that this was a period of ‘global warming’ and historians note that it was probably one of the reasons why Nebuchadnezzar conquered neighbouring countries: to recruit an army of labourers to dig canals around the rivers Tigris and Euphrates to irrigate the land.

Jeremiah knew nothing of global warming, but he certainly saw the hand of God, the Creator of the Universe, in what was happening to the people among whom God had called him to minister. The Hebrew word for ‘drought’ used in this passage is plural, indicating a series of droughts that had now become so severe that all life was being threatened.

Rich and poor, young and old, city-dwellers and farmers were all suffering; even the wild animals were dying of thirst: “wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals”. In the cities the wells had run dry and in the countryside the streams and river beds were cracked and empty. It was a scene of desolation and death.

Jeremiah knew nothing of global warming, but he certainly saw the hand of God, the Creator of the Universe, in the drought around him.

God’s Rebuke

Jeremiah had been told to remind the people of the terms of the covenant (Jer 11:1), but they had not listened or heeded his words. The consequences of breaking the terms of the covenant were perfectly clear: “The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron” (Deut 28:23).

No doubt Jeremiah also was suffering and his vivid description of the effects of the drought led him to pray for the nation – one of the rare occasions when Jeremiah interceded on behalf of the whole nation and the land of Israel: “Although our sins testify against us, O Lord, do something for the sake of your name” (Jer 14:7).

His pleading with the Lord was met by a fierce rebuke: “This is what the Lord says about this people: they greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins” (14:10).

In order to stop him asking the Lord to break the drought and send rain upon the land, Jeremiah was told to stop praying for the wellbeing of the people because God would no longer listen to their pleas. In fact, he was told, “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!” (Jer 15:1). This is an exact reversal of the message given to Moses when he was told to go to Pharaoh with a call to bring the people out of Egypt into the presence of the Lord.

Limits to God’s Patience

The reason for this harsh rebuttal of Jeremiah’s request on behalf of the nation was that God had forgiven the people time after time, but they had never kept their promises of faithfulness. The discovery of the ‘Book of the Law’ during the repairs to the Temple ordered by Josiah had led the king to rededicate the nation to God, re-affirming the terms of the covenant. But his son, Jehoiakim, had reversed all that and the people had rapidly returned to worshipping the Baals.

God’s patience had reached its limits after all the warnings had been ignored. The God of Israel was now exercising his power over Creation. The drought was the consequence of breaking the covenant in turning away from the Lord. The teaching that had been given to Moses was, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands…blessings will come upon you” (Deut 28:1). But, conversely, disobedience would bring terrible curses on the land and on all its inhabitants.

Jeremiah’s pleading with the Lord was met by a fierce rebuke.

It is a serious thing to enter into a covenant with God. It carries awesome responsibilities. Once we acknowledge him as our God, we belong to him: we are his servants, as well as his beloved children.

There are wonderful blessings and benefits from the love and protection the Father gives to his children, but there are also responsibilities. Jeremiah was well aware of this and although prophecies of peace and prosperity were being given to the people by some of the official prophets linked with the Temple priests, Jeremiah knew that the nation thoroughly deserved judgment.

Declaration of Faith

Jeremiah ended this time of intercession with a declaration of faith in God: “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore, our hope is in you. For you are the one who does all this” (Jer 14:22).

Surely this is a timely reminder to all the Western nations who have had the Gospel for centuries that there are inevitable consequences of turning away from the truth.

This article is part of a teaching series on the life and ministry of Jeremiah. Click here for previous instalments.

Simon Pease reviews ‘MidEast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Anti-Christ’ by Joel Richardson (2012).

Joel Richardson's thought-provoking MidEast Beast challenges the widely-held belief that the final empire of biblical prophecy is a European-revived Roman Empire. Instead, he makes the case for a resurrected Islamic Ottoman empire, a view which is increasingly being taken seriously by students of prophecy.

MidEast Beast is one book in a series by the author looking at biblical prophecy from a Middle East perspective and follows on directly from Islamic Anti-Christ, which studies the close parallels between Islam's eagerly-awaited messianic leader and the biblical Anti-Christ. His later work dealing with Jesus and Israel, When a Jew Rules the World, has already been reviewed by Prophecy Today.

Taking Prophecy Literally

The book opens with recommendations on interpreting biblical prophecy, such as starting with easier, literal prophecies, rather than diving straight into Revelation and highly symbolic material. Richardson takes biblical prophetic references to places such as Egypt and Persia (Iran) literally, rather than spiritualising them to refer in general to the enemies of God.

Applying this principle, the author demonstrates from several of the prophets how God will bring vengeance on Israel's enemies in the Middle East on the ‘Day of the Lord’, highlighting specific nations, all of which are Islamic. He challenges the view that the Anti-Christ will rule over the entire world, exploring the biblical use of hyperbole and drawing attention to passages which describe the Anti-Christ kingdom at war with opposing nations.

Referring to Daniel's vision of a fourth kingdom crushing the others which preceded it, Richardson presents an argument for this kingdom being the Islamic Ottoman Empire, rather than the Roman Empire (as is often assumed). He uses maps to illustrate strikingly how the Islamic caliphate, unlike Rome, conquered all the areas previously occupied by the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Greek empires.

Joel Richardson makes the case for the final empire of biblical prophecy being a resurrected Islamic Ottoman empire.

He argues that the related ‘legs of iron’ in Nebuchadnezzar's dream represent the Sunni and Shiite parts of the Ottoman Empire. He also presents historical evidence that the "people of the prince who is to come" (Dan 9:26), prophesied by Daniel and who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, were legions recruited by Rome from the local populations of regions which today are mostly in Syria and are all Islamic.

Richardson also investigates the seven-headed beast of Revelation, pointing out that the argument for Rome being both the sixth beast which ‘is’ and the seventh which replaces it, is contradictory. Islam overtook Rome in the Middle East, conquering its capital Constantinople (now Istanbul), with the Ottoman Empire receiving a "fatal head wound" nearly 100 years ago. The author makes a compelling argument for its future reappearance as the eighth beast, which is intriguing in the light of recent developments in Turkey.

Direct, Analytical, Logical

Although Richardson writes primarily for the biblically-literate believer with an interest in ‘end times’ prophecy, his compelling argument for the veracity of Scripture has caused me to recommend MidEast Beast to believer and non-believer alike.

His style is direct, analytical and logical, whilst being highly readable and devoid of theological jargon. Not surprisingly, his views have generated much debate, so he engages in a spirited defence of his position against his critics, including citing the opinions of prominent believers from earlier generations who also understood biblical prophecy as referring to Islam.

As a result of the author’s meticulous research, some readers may find MidEast Beast overly long at nearly 270 pages, but this is probably necessitated by the controversy he has generated.

Richardson’s views have generated much debate, so he engages in a spirited defence of his position against his critics.

Thoroughly Recommended

This book is more than just theological argument – it is a call to action, challenging Christians to recognise that Islam will continue to grow powerfully. Richardson argues passionately that this knowledge should impact believers' attitudes towards the evangelisation of Muslims, our preparation for increasing persecution and our commitment to stand with the Jewish people.

I thoroughly recommend MidEast Beast, not only because it challenges us to consider carefully what the Bible actually teaches (rather than simply accepting recycled opinions at face value), but also because of the implications if his interpretation of Scripture proves to be correct.

Mid-East Beast (published by Joel Richardson) is available from Amazon in hardcover, Kindle and audio forms.