Skip to main content

20. You Will Be Restored


Jeremiah 33:15-26
Key verse: "In those days and at that time I will make a righteous branch sprout from David's line. He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: 'The Lord, our righteousness.'"
Jeremiah 33:15-16

More time has passed since yesterday’s reading, perhaps 20 years.  The exile has begun. Most of the people whom God had chosen to survive are now in Babylon along with Daniel, Ezekiel and the others who are devoted to God's ways.  Rather than seeing this as God's preservation, however, it must have felt like God's punishment and abandonment.  The question must have been continually asked, "Where is God?  Has He forgotten us?"

Zedekiah is on the throne. He is the last king of Israel and he only has about a year before he too is destroyed.  Some people are defiant and rebellious, believing that God will not allow Jerusalem to be destroyed.  Others in Jerusalem are frightened.  They too are wondering where God is in all of this misery.  They may be questioning God's promises now that the situation looks so bleak.  Can Israel really be restored?  Those who are still in Jerusalem are under siege.  They are starving and they have no hope.

We are entering into the darkest days of Israel's history.  Jeremiah had said that God would send a good shepherd, but things are only getting worse and more corrupt.  Can you relate?  Have you ever tried to hold on to God's promises while your situation only seemed to become more dire with each passing day?

Yet God is saying here, through His prophet Jeremiah, "Yes, I can restore.  I can also rebuild.  I have not forgotten my promise to give Israel a righteous king.  I have not forgotten my people.  I made my promise to their forefather, Abram, and I will make it happen.  Messiah will come.  There will be restoration.  There will be life and hope again for My people.

The same promises are there for you.  Even though it doesn't look or feel like it, God is still with you, holding your hand.  Trust may be the hardest thing that you can do right now.  It was certainly hard for the people of Israel, but it's still what they, and we, are called to do.

Believe it or not, though it is dark, the mileage on the sign is lower for sure this time!  We are still on course with God's redemptive plan.  Hang on!  Messiah is coming!  God has promised.

Hymn: "O God Our Help in Ages Past" 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

258. "Remember, Always Remember!"

Exodus 12:1-30 Key Verse: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 "Celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." (Exodus 12:17) "And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:27) The original act was an act of worship as the first true act of freedom for the people of Israel. They had been brought to Egypt by Joseph during a time of famine so that through Joseph God could preserve their lives. ( Genesis 37 , & 39-50 ) After Joseph died, however, instead of heading back to C...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Little Light of Mine

Scripture: Psalm 130 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. It’s the first Sunday of Advent. Today we lit one candle and heard the passage, in Isaiah 9, about the great light! We have heard that the great light is the child born to us on Christmas day. It is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas is a day we will truly celebrate as we have for years and years, and our ancestors before us for centuries. Christmas is coming! Advent means coming! It is good to spend the next few weeks reflecting on all that it means for us. We begin from the depths of darkness. The world is still suffering the effects of sin. We are still suffering the effects of a world broken by sin. And not just the consequences of our own sins. According to Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The fires in California, the floods and storms on the East coast, and all the other natural disasters we hear ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

August 13 What Is Fitting

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—how much less for a slave to rule over princes! ~Proverbs 19:10   On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. ~Acts 12:21-23  Wow! Well, what in the world can there be to benefit us here? First of all, perhaps we should review the first Biblical definition of a fool, penned by no other than Solomon’s Father, David himself. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1) It is not fitting for the fool to live the blessed life. Why should they when they deny from whom all blessings flow?  King Herod was a fool. Now, just to be clear, this is not the Herod who ruled at Jesus’ birth and ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more