The end of Jeremiah 9 has some wonderful scriptures on how to have a relationship with God, even before Christ’s appearance.
Jeremiah 9:23–24
[23] Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, [24] but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” (ESV)
Because if you love God, you want to know Him much deeper by studying His Word and watching Him act in His creation, especially when His ways are such a contrast to what is acceptable and practiced in the world all around us. And God has this warning for those who practice religion, circumcised in the flesh, but uncircumcised in heart.
Jeremiah 9:25–26
[25] “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—[26] Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” (ESV)
Circumcision was to cut away flesh that can hold disease and be passed on to wives, important for the health of people physically, but also a symbol of the need for the heart to be cleansed from sin’s deadly disease. The really essential surgery needed to happen on the inside, where God calls for taking away fleshly things that keep the heart from being spiritually devoted to God and from true faith in God and His will. And God chose this symbol of the reproductive organ as it was most indicative of man’s depravity, and by it he reproduces generations of sinners (paraphrased from John MacArthur’s Bible Study Note on Jeremiah 4:4).
Jeremiah 4:4
[4] Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” (ESV)
And this goes along with a previous post on how those that practice religion are setting themselves up for a terrifying rebuke by God, rejected by God, never having received saving faith. And proofs of saving faith is a desire to read God’s Word daily to know Him, as well as showing signs of a changed life by the renewing of your mind and being conformed to the likeness of Christ. If you’re still living like you always did, partaking of the same sins, you should be concerned as this age is coming to an end, and your time is running out. And salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit, a gift of God, as all we can do is to make a heartfelt request.
Jeremiah 9
[1] Oh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
[2] Oh that I had in the desert
a travelers’ lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
a company of treacherous men.
[3] They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, declares the LORD.
[4] Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
[5] Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
[6] Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.
[7] Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Behold, I will refine them and test them,
for what else can I do, because of my people?
[8] Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
[9] Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
[10] “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,
because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
both the birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
[11] I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a lair of jackals,
and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
[12] Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? [13] And the LORD says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, [14] but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. [15] Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. [16] I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”
[17] Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skillful women to come;
[18] let them make haste and raise a wailing over us,
that our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids flow with water.
[19] For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
[20] Hear, O women, the word of the LORD,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
and each to her neighbor a dirge.
[21] For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
cutting off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
[22] Speak: “Thus declares the LORD,
‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’”
[23] Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, [24] but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”[25] “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—[26] Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” (ESV)