Are there worse words to hear than what the Lord said to Jeremiah regarding
Oh, God, may it never be so in my life. May it never be so…
What grievous action would cause the Lord to do such a thing to His beloved covenant community? God anticipated people asking. "When you tell these people all this and they ask you, 'Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God?' then say to them, 'It is because your fathers forsook me,' declares the LORD, 'and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. But you have behaved more wickedly than your fathers. See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me. So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor' (10-13). Generational rejection of the Lord…
But this is not God’s last Word. Immediately after the above, God offers hope… "However, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when men will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers (14-15).
God cannot and will not withdraw from His people forever. Days are coming," declares the LORD… My take-a-ways for today,
1) If I remain faithful, I will not need to feel the fury of God’s withdrawal…
2) Even when God punishes me for my sinfulness, days are coming when He will restore His hand of favor and blessing upon me.
Oh, Lord, I bow to You, my Lord and my God. I stand in awe that You have revealed Yourself to me and I confess my allegiance to You now and forever. I love and serve You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
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