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| The Prophet Jeremiah by Michelangelo ~1508 |
Everybody loves the hope and comfort of Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
But have you ever considered the promise of Jeremiah 18:11, "Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you."
Huh?!
Jeremiah was proclaiming Yahweh's word to the people of Judah (the southern kingdom) in the years 640-586 B.C. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been taken into exile by the Assyrians because of the wickedness and rebellion of Yahweh's people. Now, Jeremiah is warning the rest of Yahweh's people to beware the wrath of Yahweh which will be poured out on them because of their sin.
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| Jeremiah Lamenting by Rembrandt 1630 |
Here's what Yahweh's people were doing. This was the condition of their hearts.
Read it carefully, asking the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and expose any of these sins in your heart.
they have forsaken Yahweh 1:16, 16:11
they followed idols 2:5
they played the harlot with other gods 2:20
they have forgotten Yahweh 2:32, 13:25, 18:15
they were rebellious 4:17
they did not fear Yahweh 5:22
they did not plead the cause of the fatherless or defend the needy 5:28
they did not delight in Yahweh's Word 6:10
they were covetous 6:13, 22:17
they were not ashamed of their sin 6:15
they rejected Yahweh's Word 6:19
they oppressed the fatherless and the widow 7:6
they followed the stubborn imaginations of their own evil hearts 7:24, 13:10, 11:8, 16:12, 18:12
truth has perished 7:28
they burned their children as sacrifices to Molech 7:31
they worshipped the sun, moon and stars 8:2
they have bent their tongues for lies 9:3, 23:14
they proceed from evil to evil 9:3
they love to wander 14:10
their hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked 17:9
they have forsaken the covenant 22:9
they do not know the LORD 9:3
Are you guilty? I'm guilty.
So what do we deserve?
"Therefore, Yahweh will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape, and though they cry out, Yahweh will not listen to them" 11:11. "Yahweh will appoint over them four forms of destruction: the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy" 15:3.
Is there any hope? Can we be saved? Who will rescue us?
"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." 23:5-6
Jesus is our Rescuer! Jesus is our king! Jesus became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." 31:31-34
Jesus died and rose again to forgive our sins and make us Yahweh's new covenant people.
"They shall be My people, and I will be their God; And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good." 32:38-41
We will dwell with Jesus in joy and delight forever.
So how should we respond to such grace and mercy? How should we respond to Jesus?
"If you return, says Yahweh, then I will bring you back. For I am with you to save you and deliver you. I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible" 15:19-21.
"Return now every one from his evil way" 18:11.
"In those days and in that time," says the LORD, "The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, 'Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten." 50:4-5
Our only response must be REPENT! Turn to Jesus! Trust Jesus as Rescuer! Follow Jesus as King! Pursue Jesus as Treasure!
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