Tear Down, Then Build Up

When the Lord sent the prophet Jeremiah to preach to the southern kingdom of Judah, He sent him with directions, some of which were expected, some perhaps surprising, but all reassuring. "Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth" (Jer. 1:9). Praise the Lord for His Word! It is God's Word that changes men's hearts. Having His Word is the part we would expect.

But notice the next verse: "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant" (Jer. 1:10). We can easily understand the last part: "to build up, and to plant"; but "to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down"? That might be the surprising part. But in all actuality, that is the part that must be done first.

You see, sin entrenches itself, as though it is setting up its own bulwarks (these sins function as spiritual strongholds), and they must be dealt with in a thorough way. But this is difficult to do, and it is difficult to receive. We like the building up part and the planting part; but the other part, the negative part, we tend to avoid, But sin must be confronted and uprooted. This is done through Scripture. Then comes the building up and planting.

This process is true for the sinner coming to the Lord for salvation: sin must be recognized and repented of. It is also true of the believer for sanctification. In Ephesians 5, Paul calls it putting off and putting on. The putting off comes first. In other words, we can't put on until we first put off. You can't put new wine into old bottles. The process is painful, but it has a peaceful end. The purpose of doing spiritual warfare is to help. God offers help and hope, but it comes His way.