THE LORD SPOKE (October 23)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Jeremiah 30-31

Expectancy. Anticipation. Hope. Without that, people lose the will to go on. If all the trail ahead is just as dark as the trail behind, you begin to wonder if it’s worth it. If there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, you’re tempted to not press forward - maybe even to back up the train.

These chapters mark a turning point in the book of Jeremiah. There’s still plenty of judgment to come. In fact, they haven’t even begun the seventy years of captivity yet. But, Jeremiah begins to use terms like “the days are coming when...” and “in that day I will...”. He quotes God as saying, “So do not fear...do not be dismayed.... I will surely save you out of a distant place...” (30:10).

Better yet, God says, “I am with you” and he promises to save. Though discipline will be applied it will be that of a loving father (30:11). Like nothing else, discipline gives a child a sense of security and belonging. He knows who’s son he is when Mom and Dad apply discipline. Would you really want God to ignore your sin and not discipline you? Then He might just ignore you, period. It works in Proverbs with child discipline (Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 22:6,15, etc.) and it works in real life with God’s discipline. It’s the best sign that He loves you.

And so Israel is assured of God’s love and receives the promise of restoration (30:18). Words like “thanksgiving” and “rejoicing” begin to reappear in the text. The broken relationship with God is restored and He asks, “who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?” (30:21).

The sky begins to lighten with the dawn of the previous chapter but the full sunshine breaks out in chapter 31. The promises begin to tumble out with words like...

• “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again....” (31:3-4)
• “Your work will be rewarded [spoken to Jeremiah]...they will return...there is hope for your future....” (31:16-17)
• “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel” (31:31)

That New Covenant is unconditional and eternal - read the terms in 31:33-38. It stands on nothing less than God’s word of promise to Israel. But it was gloriously amplified to include all peoples (non-Jews) and is known to us as the New Testament. It is found again repeated in Hebrews 8:8-12, where it is opened up to include believers of this age who have been grafted into that trunk that goes back to the Abrahamic Covenant.

No, we’re not “God’s Israel today” and the nation of Israel was not “the church in the Old Testament”. That’s poor theology. But we have been included in God’s eternal covenant if we have the faith of Abraham and become his spiritual descendants (Galatians 3:6-9; Romans 4:13-18). The joy that Israel experienced in Jeremiah’s promises becomes our joy too.


Psalms 73-74

Have you ever caught yourself envying the lifestyle, or at least the liberties, of the wicked? How can they get away with it? They seem to be able to enjoy certain pleasures with impunity; things that are attractive but, for me, carry a price I don’t want to pay. How is it that they can do it and not seem to pay for it?

Well, first of all, remember whose children they are. You have a different Father. He expects better of you and you have a responsibility to maintain the reputation of His Name. “You were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 6:20, KJV).

But don’t think for a minute that they will get away with it. That’s a lie from the Pit. That’s a deception that will be proven untrue in every case. Asaph said:

For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked...til I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. (Ps. 73:3,17)

Step into God’s presence for just a moment and you will see things differently. Eternity’s values will give you a different view. Like Moses, you will be encouraged to choose “to be mistreated with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time”. You will “regard disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt”, because you will see the reward that awaits the one who is faithful (Heb. 11:25-26).

Back to Psalm 73.... Asaph was tempted to despair. At times he thought it was all in vain; that getting beat up for doing good wasn’t worth it; that maybe the other side had the better deal. But when he entered the presence of God (vs. 17) everything changed and he came away saying:

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. (Ps. 73:24-28)