Jeremiah 4

 The Lord continued, through Jeremiah, saying to Judah: "Return to Me...if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved..."

He commanded them to circumcise their hearts. And He warned them to take refuge and not delay, for He will bring disaster from the north -- "A great destruction...to make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, without inhabitant."

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? 

Then Jeremiah lamented for Judah and Jerusalem: 

O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace...for the whole land is plundered.

And the Lord said:

For My people are foolish, they have not known Me...and they have no understanding. 

Jeremiah envisioned "...the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; and the heavens, they had no light...I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, by His fierce anger."

COMMENTARY

Again, context: this is before the Word of God (the Law) was found in the temple. King Josiah was listening to the messages of God from Jeremiah, and the people were hearing, but their hearts were not changing. There was reformation, but not revival of the heart. They were going to the temple and doing the rituals, but their hearts were the same. Reformation is not the same as revival, and revival can only take place in the heart and because of the Word of God. The people's hearts needed to turn to God. 

As per McGee, "the natural man cannot produce any righteousness at all. That is why Jeremiah called the people to a circumcision of their hearts." But the people still reject[ed] the message, and when people reject God, eventually He will reject them, too. When Jesus came and offered Himself as King to Israel, they rejected HIm. He told them: "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate (Matt 23:38)."

The Lord is patient, but only for so long. 

from Bible Art