©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 31:1-14 (ESV) - “At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
Thus says the LORD:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
the LORD appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
and shall enjoy the fruit.
For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
in the hill country of Ephraim:
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the LORD our God.’”
For thus says the LORD:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O LORD, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
Behold, I will bring them from the north country
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
With weeping they shall come,
and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.
“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
and they shall languish no more.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the LORD.”
Question to consider: Today’s passage opens with “at that time”. To what time did this refer?
Continuing with his oracles of hope for Israel, this word given to Jeremiah expanded on the plans the LORD had for Israel, plans to prosper them and not to harm them. Plans to give them a hope and a future. By “a hope”, the LORD did not mean a general sense of a brighter future but a specific hope in a specific person— namely Christ.
“At that time” was a reference to the “latter days” described in yesterday’s passage in which the people would understand the intentions of the LORD. I believe this understanding came through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, the revealing of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the birth of the church in the generation leading up to the destruction of the earthly temple and end of the animal sacrifices.
The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness. John the Baptist preached repentance and baptized the people in preparation for their Messiah. The LORD came from “far away” and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man according to the Nicene creed.
When Jesus began His ministry, people left the teachings of the Pharisees and gathered in the wilderness. While Israel was gathered from the north country in the sense that they returned to Israel after the fall of Babylon, I would say this oracle referred to the lost sheep of Israel, the Samaritans, the blind and lame, and the people of Galilee joining Jesus in the wilderness to be healed of their infirmities and learn about the grace of God which was now in their midst. Jesus called their pleas for mercy “blessed” in the beatitudes.
Christ made their paths straight by His suffering and dying on the cross to pay for their sins. This was the ransom of Jacob that led to their rejoicing and a life like a watered (baptized) garden. They were satisfied with the righteousness of Christ, and their mourning of His death was turned to joy at His resurrection. Jesus prophesied this to His disciples in John’s gospel, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:20-24)
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the church where we can receive Christ and share in the fellowship of Your kingdom. Help us support and pray for one another as we face a world that is at enmity with Christ. We look forward to the day when our joy in Christ is made complete. Amen.