Is There No Balm in Gilead-Jeremiah 8

Jeremiah 8:22 "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?"

Did you ever go to a doctor for a sickness and then go home and do something other than what the doctor told you to do? Then, did you stay sick and wish you had followed the doctor's instructions?

Israel has been told by the prophets what 'thus saith the Lord' but they have ignored it. Further, they have gone out to do themselves more harm. (Of course, we are talking about the scripture we are studying.)

v5 "Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return."

Israel has a great history, to this point, of the leadership and the grace of God. They were redeemed out of Egypt, led through the wilderness and crossed on dry ground where the waters were high. These are the memories they carry, yet we have this situation of them going to idols.

v9 "The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?"

It is as if the Lord is standing and pleading with them to please turn back to the Lord, yet they turn their back and are carried away.

v14 "Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defensed cities, and let us be silent there; for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD."

Can you hear Jeremiah crying in the streets to his people. As the rows of people file by. Perhaps he grabs an arm here and begs them to turn from their sin. Then with tears he tells them.

v20-21 "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt, I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me."

A nation that is built on the trust and promise of God cannot leave that position and hope to stand.