The Ministry of Destruction
by F. B. Meyer Jeremiah 27 Ours the shame to understand That the world prefers the lie; That, with medicine in her hand, She will sink and choose to die! Ours the agonising sense, Of the heaven this earth might be, If, from their blank indifference, Men woke one hour and felt as we! Houghton When Jeremiah was first summoned to the work of prophet, it was summarized under six distinct divisions. He was set over nations and kingdoms to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to overthrow; to build and to plant (1:10). Two thirds of his work was therefore in the direction of destruction. It is not pleasant or easy work. No one would choose to stand amid the choking dust of the crumbling brickwork, which is being destroyed to make way for some palatial structure to be erected on the site. Vested interests, long-establishe d abuses, lucrative wrongs, cry out loudly against any attempt to interfere with their existence. But Elijah must precede Elish...