March 22, Jeremiah 50
"In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, 'Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.'" - Jeremiah 50:4-5
Judah went into Babylonian captivity because of their ongoing sin. They refused to listen to the inspired prophet's warning and turn back to God. The Lord was patient for a long time, and then he finally let them go. But God promised to redeem a remnant of the people, bring them back to their land and pardon their sins. Babylon, the great destroyer of nations, was due to be destroyed for their own wickedness. God advised the people to flee from Babylon and get out of the land of the Chaldeans before the awful judgment against them began.
Chapter 50 and 51 describe the judgment against Babylon and the utter destruction God would bring down on them. Most of these chapters' 110 combined verses are about the total ruin of Babylon. We will summarize the verses in the essay about Chapter 51.
But in this chapter I want to focus on a couple of verses in our text that describe the attitude and actions of this remnant that God would pardon and return to their land. What lessons are there for us who want to be in the saved remnant out of the world that is bound for destruction?
First notice that they came weeping. God said they would be "weeping as they come." These tears of penitence were not tears about being caught in their sin, or tears about suffering the consequences they were due. They may have been tears of joy at being delivered from their captivity, but their tears remind me of the weeping that should accompany and produce genuine repentance. Paul said the Corinthians had a godly sorrow that brought them to repentance. When we grasp the idea that we have offended our holy God by sinning against him, we should be moved to tears. When we realize how wrong we've been and how much harm we've done to ourselves and others by our sins, we should weep over our guilt. A "no tears" repentance may be some kind of reform effort, but real repentance should be accompanied by weeping over our sins.
Also notice that people from Israel and people from Judah were reconciled to one another in the remnant. God said they "shall come together." The old wars and divisions between Israel and Judah melted away when they were brought together as members of that saved remnant. That is precisely what is supposed to happen to us as we come to Christ. Paul said that when we are saved by grace and brought near to God by the blood of Christ, that God would "reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility." He was speaking about Jews and Gentiles becoming fellow members of the body of Christ. But it's true of all of us and the divisions we have made among ourselves. Jesus prayed fervently that his people would be one as a testimony to the world that God had indeed sent him. As repentant, redeemed people draw nearer to God, they are drawn nearer to one another as well. We come together, not divided, to the cross of Christ.
These repenting people in the remnant came seeking. "They shall seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion." They wanted to know God and his will better than they did. They were teachable and they were searching. They acknowledged they had been on the wrong path and they had turned their faces in the right direction. They wanted to know the right way and were not ashamed to ask. When a man or woman truly repents, when he or she really turns to God, they want to know more about doing right and pleasing God.
And last, let's see that these people were eager to make a commitment to God. "Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten." They understood the true power of a genuine covenant commitment. We need that understanding as well when we come to God through the New Covenant in the blood of Christ. When we confess Christ as Lord, we must set him apart as the one and only Lord who will direct our lives and control our will. We ought to be like the people who heard the voice of God at Mt. Sinai. They were terrified and pleaded with Moses to go listen and come back and tell them what God said. They promised, "Speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it." They didn't follow through, but God acknowledged that their words were right. When we come to God, we are to put off the old way of life and put on the Lord Jesus. This covenant is truly an everlasting one. God will never forget it, and neither should we.
This is a good passage to use as we examine ourselves and our spiritual standing. Our penitent response to the gospel should be like the response of these remnant people. When we meditate on these words, it should produce a sobering, sincere self-examination that ought to draw us nearer to God. I pray that God will use these words to lead us to more genuine and lasting repentance.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—March 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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