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That’s Reassuring!
Read Jeremiah 30:1–33:26
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10. “Listen to this message from the Lord, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: The Lord, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock.
11. For the Lord has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them.
12. They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem. They will be radiant because of the Lord’s good gifts—the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the healthy flocks and herds. Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone. 13. The young women will dance for joy, and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.
14. The priests will enjoy abundance, and my people will feast on my good gifts.” Jeremiah 31:10-14
When friends fight, as they sometimes do, it’s as if they’ve blown a circuit. To reset the breaker, so to speak, they apologize and make amends. The same is true in our relationship with God—only we do all the breaking.
This reading is about God resetting the breaker with the people of Judah. Though they will be spending some time in Babylon as a punishment for their sins, God reassures them that this won’t last forever. As proof of this promise, Jeremiah buys a field back home in Judah.
People who don’t know God typically make one of two false assumptions about him. First, some suppose that God loves them so much that he doesn’t care about their sinful behavior. These people also don’t believe in hell or that God would punish anybody. Second, others assume God is an angry tyrant. People caught in this falsehood imagine that God cannot possibly love them because they are too sinful. They don’t believe in heaven (at least for them) or that God could accept anybody (as bad as they).
Jeremiah’s prophecies in this reading address this second assumption. Though God doesn’t like it when we sin, he loves us enough to reach out and draw us to him (Jeremiah 31:3). He is eager for us to repent of our sins and turn to him for salvation. He doesn’t hold grudges or fume over our every past offense. Rather he forgives us and forgets each sin when we repent.
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