THE LORD SPOKE (October 24)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Jeremiah 32-33

It didn’t seem like the right time for investing. The economy was shaky and nobody had any confidence in the government. Some prognosticators were saying there would be a turn-around but their words weren’t very convincing. Everyone knew the future was very bleak. Everyone knew they were headed for a crash.

In those days, a crash meant murder, pillage, and a scorched earth policy. If you were one of the fortunate ones, it meant “only” physical abuse, theft, deportation, and slavery. Enemy forces were perched on the border, the vultures were circling, the king’s men were plotting....

And God told Jeremiah to buy an expensive piece of property in the suburbs of Jerusalem? He probably had a hard time even finding a real estate agent or a lawyer to draw up the legal documents (32:9-15). Who was wasting time with paperwork when it was all about to go up in smoke? And who was so dumb to throw money down a bottomless hole?

Jeremiah’s prayer in 32:17-25 is a model of trust and dedication to following God. It contains praise of God for his awesome attributes and for His mighty works. It expresses profound trust in His providence and His power to save. Yet, is there a note of doubt in the last sentence? “Are you sure you want me to make this unwise investment, Lord?” The thundering reply repeats Jeremiah’s own prayer as if to say, “Do you believe your own words?” Nothing is too hard for the Lord!

What follows in chapter 33 is a reaffirmation of God’s covenants that still resounds to our day. God has promised to never forget His servant David or His people Israel. As sure as day follows night, He will fulfill His promises (33:19-22). In fact, even more sure than that!

You can bank on it too. If God ever abandons His people Israel, then it’s all over, all hope is lost, finito la comedia. But He hasn’t and He won’t. The promise of the return of the Jews to the land of Israel is being fulfilled in our day is still going on at the rate of tens of thousands every year. The miracle of modern Israel is the greatest visible affirmation of God’s covenants imaginable. It was still an impossibility just a hundred years ago. It’s hotly contested to this day, though it was recognized by the world (UN vote on Nov. 29,1947) and legally established on May 14, 1948. Though Jerusalem is Israel’s designated capitol, it too is hotly contested. Much is yet to come, but who can say that these historical events have nothing to do with God’s promises as found in Scripture? Of course, that all assumes a literal interpretation. No other form of interpretation can bring such assurance to the soul. God is a God of His word and may be trusted - in Jeremiah’s day and in ours!


Psalms 75-76

Psalm 76 is closely related to Psalms 46, 48, and 87. All four have Jerusalem as their central theme. The other three were all composed by the descendants of Korah. Of the four, only Psalm 76 was attributed to Asaph, one of David’s Levitical choir leaders. However, others in this group of eleven psalms “of Asaph” (Ps. 73-83) were certainly written later so this appears also to be a collection from the descendants of Asaph. In the case of Psalm 76, there is a strong tradition that it was composed after Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem and had his entire army of 185,000 men destroyed when the angel of the Lord passed over his camp (II Kings 18-19) in 701 BC, during the days of King Hezekiah.

The story is told in II Kings 18-19 and Lord Byron put it so beautifully in verse...

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset was seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent - the banners alone,
The lances unlifted - the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

Read again the words of Psalm 76 and you’ll see the connections. The application for the survivors of Jerusalem back then (and for us today) was, “You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? ...Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them!” (Ps. 76:7,11). If He was an evil deity, this would be fearsome. But a gracious and loving God is both to be feared and greatly adored. He is Almighty God. And, He is our Father.