In the midst of trial and difficulty, God reveals the reality of a time in the future when there will be peace, prosperity and great joy. Is there a contemporary revelation for us?
Israel’s time of peace and prosperity has yet to come in it’s completeness. They are prosperous today, but there isn’t much peace in the region. One day, and hopefully one day soon, God will return and fulfill all his promises both to Israel and to us. It’s good for us that He delays however, so that we have additional time to help other find their way into the kingdom.
It’s difficult for us to hear about times when God brings (or allows) punishment to people, isn’t it? Maybe it’s because we understand that if it could happen to them, it can happen to us… and who wants to be punished? Nobody. Generally speaking, if you stand by and allow bad things to happen to others and make no effort to prevent them you aren’t a very nice person. So again, it’s hard for us to hear that God (who loves us) would act like that. And it’s even worse to imagine that He would be the one who sends hardship our way, right?
Today’s passage reminds me that God takes no pleasure in our suffering. His first inclination is to bless us and comfort us, He only permits punishment when it’s absolutely necessary. God never allows hardship for His sport or amusement. Since God is just, punishment is an inevitability for those who willfully transgress Him. (30:15) If He didn’t do what He said He would, then He wouldn’t be perfect, and the Bible wouldn’t make sense, in fact, if God weren’t just, the Bible would probably never have been written and Jesus would never have come.
Today’s reading balances out the picture of God that Jeremiah and Isaiah and other prophets have been revealing. Today we hear of hope and a promising future. God may allow trials and punishment, but He also stays with us right through them, and speaks to us about how wonderful the future will be.
Today as you read this, remember that God loves you more completely and more deeply than anyone else ever could. Even if you are in the middle of hard times don’t despair. Even if those hard times are the natural consequence of your own actions, don’t give up. God may allow hard times, but He won’t allow you to be crushed by them. He may allow persecution, but He will never abandon you. (2 Corinthians 4:8-12) You are His child, and He wouldn’t dream of letting go of you. That’s what 31:20 and 31:36-37 are saying.
Okay, so here are a couple of “stray thoughts” that passed through my head as I read today:
31:6. Ephraim is a reference to Israel north, so God is saying that one day in the future all Israel will be united again. Just as they are today, but sadly I don’t think their faith is in Jesus Christ.
31:15 was fulfilled twice, as some passages are. The first time was when the invading hordes came through and killed mothers, children and pregnant women. The second time was when Herod killed the children hoping that he would also kill Jesus in the action. Matthew 2:16-18
31:19 should be my summary verse for my life before I came to my senses and accepted Christ. Even now I can’t believe how careless, ignorant and self-serving I was. In fact, God reminds me occasionally that I still have a long way to go.
31:26 I often wondered how the prophets received their visions…where they awake and seeing things, or were they taken to another place (like John in the Revelation)? In this case, Jeremiah appears to have received his vision in a dream.
31:29-30 The point is: each person will be responsible for their own spiritual destiny. A father/mother’s sins will not be held against their children. I think we inherit some tendencies that incline us to sinful behavior, but this promises that the guilt stain of sin will not be passed from generation to generation. Ezekiel 18 speaks a little more on the subject.
31:38 I wonder if the city of Jerusalem or the nation of Israel will ever be captured again? I think we are close to end times, so I doubt that it will be. On the other hand, the wicked people have to overrun the temple and set up the “abomination that causes desolation” spoken of in Daniel and Matthew 24 and Mark 13. Which, by the way, lends itself to the belief that the temple will have to be rebuilt. If Jesus hadn’t quoted from this passage we might have been able to say it was meant only for the Old Testament generation. But when Jesus used it to speak of end times He implies that there will be a temple in existence.
Daniel’s prophecy could point to 167 BC when pagan rulers of Jerusalem insisted on sacrifices to Zeus inside the temple. This brought about war at the hands of the Maccabees. However, the events that precluded the temple being demolished (and it’s still gone today) likely happened because the priests refused to offer sacrifices for anyone but Jews. The Romans and other gentiles were furious at this and it began a period of unrest and rebellion that eventually ended with the destruction of the temple. I mention that only to state that the “abomination that causes desolation” which will be standing in the temple, was not the cause of Herod’s temple being destroyed. I am beginning to think that there must be a third one yet to be built.
Faithfully,
PR