Sin is no longer an ugly thing…
By Elizabeth Prata
“Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.” (Jeremiah 6:15).
Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a prostitute’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed. (Jeremiah 3:3).
What is a prostitute’s forehead? When we are ashamed, we blush. The blush shows on the forehead. Those who are deep in unrepentant sin will not blush, like a prostitute, as the Bible asserts. When conscience is seared, sin makes no impression on the heart. Conviction is absent. So is blushing.
The absence of conviction and the pursuit of sin is a concern to God. Forehead occurs many times in the Bible. Revelation mentions forehead 8 times. Believers’ new names will be written on our forehead, says Revelation. Tribulation believers will be marked on their forehead. Tribulation betrayers will be marked by the beast on the hand or forehead. The Great Whore of Babylon will be marked with a name on her forehead. (Revelation 7:3, Revelation 9:4, Revelation 13:16, Revelation 14:1, Revelation 14:9, Revelation 17:5, Revelation 20:4, Revelation 22:4).
Here is an excerpted entry for Forehead from Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary:
Part of the face above the eyes. Because it is so prominent, the appearance of the forehead often determines our opinion of the person. The Bible indicates that a person’s character can be determined by observing the forehead. A set forehead indicates opposition, defiance, and rebellion (Jer. 3:3). Hardness of the forehead indicates determination to persevere (Isa. 48:4; Ezek. 3:8–9). It has been used as a representation of Satan (Rev. 13:16–17). The forehead is used as a very dishonorable word when read of the harlot’s forehead (Jer. 3:3), indicating utter shamelessness.
Like Cain whose countenance fell, or like the prostitutes and other deep sinners who don’t know how to blush, the face shows its sin. Isaiah 3:9 says,
The expression on their face testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves. (Isaiah 3:9).
Puritan Thomas Brooks wrote,
“You have a whore’s forehead — you refuse to be ashamed!” Jeremiah 3:3. Most sinners in these days have brows of brass, and whores’ foreheads — which cannot blush. They are so far from being ashamed of their sins, that they think it a shame and disgrace not to sin, not to swear, and whore, and curse, and be drunk! Yes, there are many who are so far from being ashamed of their abominations — that they even glory in them. They flaunt their sins as Sodom, and make a sport of sinning! “Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush!” Jeremiah 6:15. (Thomas Brooks, “A Cabinet of Choice Jewels” 1669).
The following is from an author I do not recommend, but I thought the statement was concise and thought-provoking. When a society doesn’t even blush over sin anymore, it’s doomed. When a society actively pursues sin, it’s a marker of their lostness. When a society is actually proud of its sin, it will be near collapse, or worse- judgment.
These passages [in Jeremiah above] all have a similar context: They were written just prior to the fall and scattering of either Israel to the north or Judah to the south. Each shows a wealthy people unblinkingly focused on their pleasure. Giving no thought to God, they are casually uninterested in the moral welfare of their nation that is crashing into utter depravity. Shame for sin has disappeared. The Interpreter’s Commentary of the Bible states that the Bible shows that, in the period before these nations fell, their societies show significant breakdowns in two vital areas: in political and business leadership and in family life, with specific blame falling on women.
In these passages, the following characteristics are either directly named or strongly implied: rebellion, obstinacy, betrayal, distrust, shamelessness, and greed, comprising an audacious self-centeredness against God and fellow man. These are not the characteristics of a nation that would bring honor to God. At one time in the history of this nation, the overwhelming majority of people expressed a strong sense of shame when they sinned. Sin was an ugly thing, and due to this sense of shame, they did whatever they could to hide their moral flaws from others.
I look around today and I have to veritably peek between hands over my eyes, the sin is so rampant. It’s utterly amazing to me the pride that non-believers have in the sins they enjoy and promote. I am grieved, but then I think of HOW grieved Jesus must be!
We read the question in the Bible, ‘how long, O Lord?’ and it has passed from many lips. The Psalmist, the martyrs in Revelation, Abel’s blood, Moses…ask when will you avenge for sin, for death, for persecutors, for bloodshed? The state of America now, and also in many other countries like Canada, New Zealand, Australia, many countries, is one that deserves judgment. Sodom…Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim all were judged for as much, or even less.
As Ruth Graham said to her husband Billy, “If God doesn’t come soon and bring judgment upon the United States, He’s going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!”
The Unrepenting Cities
20 Then He began to reprimand the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.” (Matthew 11:20-24).
Our God is longsuffering, patient, and measured in timing His judgment. He waited 400 years to judge the Amorites.
At the same time, Genesis 15:16 demonstrates God’s love, mercy, and above all His longsuffering and patience with sinful man. Rather than immediately wipe out the Amorites, God chose to wait for over four hundred years to bring judgment upon them. The enemies of God would be displaced as God settled His chosen people in the land He had promised them. Yet God’s enemies did not need to remain enemies. They were given ample time to turn from their wickedness, turn to God, and be forgiven. The Amorites had a chance to repent and be saved, just as the Assyrians in Nineveh did during in the time of Jonah. (GotQuestions).
Will God judge America tomorrow for her sins? Will it be another 200 years? 400? Will He wait till Judgment Day and the Judgment of Nations? (Matthew 25:32). Only God knows when the clock started ticking the countdown to our own judgment. But when a nation wholesale and wholeheartedly begins to perversely absorb, instruct and co-opt young children into terrible sin, we know the time must be near. Matthew 18:6-7 says
but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea. “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!
