In Jeremiah, chapter twelve, verses seven through thirteen, “I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it desolate, and being desolate, it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth to heart. The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even unto the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
The Lord Himself laments the deplorable spiritual condition of the people and the desolation coming upon the land. God experiences immense pain and sorrow whenever He must deliver His people over to the consequences of their sins.
God’s people had been the dearly beloved of His soul, precious in His sight, but they acted so that He gave them up to their enemies. Many professing churches become like speckled birds, presenting a mixture of religion and the world with its vain fashion, pursuits, and pollutions. God’s people, as men, wondered at, as a speckled bird, but this people had their own folly made themselves so, and the beasts and birds called to prey upon them.
The whole land would be made desolate. But until the judgments were actually inflicted, none of the people would lay the warning to heart. When God’s hand is lifted up, and men will not see, they shall be made to feel. Silver or gold shall not profit in the day of the Lord’s anger. And the efforts of sinners to escape history, without repentance and works, answerable thereto will end in confusion.