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19. Not Forgotten


Jeremiah 23:1-8
Key verse: "The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, a king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which He will be called: 'the Lord our righteousness."
Jeremiah 23:5-6

The sign posts pointing to Jesus are few and far between in this section.  We have now moved another four hundred years beyond the time of David.  Do you realize how much time that is?  If we were to go back 400 years in our own nation's history, the Mayflower wouldn't have even set sail yet.  Yet, we have had at least three such spans of time pass for our purposes, 1,200 years and Messiah is still only being talked about and promised, not yet seen.

Israel is steeped in sin. God has already allowed ten of the tribes of Israel, or the Northern Kingdom, to be destroyed due to their extremely corrupt practices. (See 2 Kings16) Now, the last two tribes, Judah, and Benjamin, or the Southern Kingdom, are to face punishment of their own for their blatant disregard for God's law.  All the way back in Deuteronomy, before Israel crossed the River Jordan to possess the land, God had promised a curse if His people disobeyed.  Now, the people are on the verge of learning just how seriously the Lord takes His covenant for blessing and for cursing.

The Lord, through Jeremiah, places much of the blame for Israel's disobedience on the priests themselves.  The priests have not led the people in the ways of righteousness.  They have not instructed the people in the way they should go.  They've allowed the people to scatter their allegiance to other gods and foolish behavior.  Many of the priests are corrupt themselves.

Those who love the Lord will be sent into exile in Babylon.  The rest of the people will be destroyed.  There is, however, still hope for the devoted.  God has not forgotten his promise to Abraham, Isaac, Israel, Judah and David.  There will still be someone, descended from David, a righteous branch, who will still fulfill all of the promises that God has made to His people.  He will lead with righteousness and bring peace.  He will gather the scattered remnant of God's people and make them dwell in safety.

Living in our day as we are, we know this is about Jesus.  He is the king who will reign one day.  Yet we know he came and went and this world is still in turmoil.  A lot has remained the same.  We are waiting for fulfillment of God's promises.  And while we wait, there are blessings and sometimes curses.  There is joy, but suffering and tragedy remain as well.  Some leaders are faithful.  Some are not.  We are also waiting and must be patient and keep the faith.

Fortunately for us, a lot has changed as well.  Jesus is with us by his Holy Spirit in a way that the children of Israel could never experience.  We have their entire recorded history so we might not make the mistakes they made.  We know that they returned from exile later which assures us that God's promises still hold.  One day, surely, Jesus shall reign!


Hymn: "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" 

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