Jeremiah

Chapter 31:15-22 (ESV) - Thus says the LORD:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    because they are no more.”

Thus says the LORD:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
    and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the LORD,
    and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
There is hope for your future,
declares the LORD,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.
I have heard Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the LORD my God.
For after I had turned away, I relented,
    and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
Is Ephraim my dear son?
    Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I do remember him still.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the LORD.

“Set up road markers for yourself;
    make yourself guideposts;
consider well the highway,
    the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
    return to these your cities.
How long will you waver,
    O faithless daughter?
For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth:
    a woman encircles a man.”

Question to consider: Who was Ephraim?

When Jacob gave his final word to his sons, the blessings of the firstborn son were split between Judah and Joseph. Technically, Reuben, who was born of Leah, was the eldest son, but he lost the rights to the firstborn inheritance when he began an affair with Bilhah, the servant of Rachel and mother to Dan and Naphtali. The firstborn inheritance also skipped over Levi and Simeon, for they were men of blood who simply were not worthy of the honor, and so the scepter was given to Judah. From Judah would come the line of kings which would culminate in the birth of the promised king of kings who eternally reigns from His heavenly throne.

Joseph received the double portion of wealth that usually went to the eldest son. Although Joseph had proven himself to be a shrewd money manager as the right-hand man of Pharaoh during the famine in Egypt, the portion was given to him as the firstborn of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. People will try to argue that because Jacob took two wives for himself, God is fine with polygamy. However, even though there is no direct prohibition against it in scripture, it was not a part of the original marital covenant, and it caused horrible outcomes like favoritism and division.

Today’s passage was an oracle for Ephraim. Ephraim was one of the twin sons of Joseph and thus associated with the northern kingdom of Israel after the split. The southern kingdom was associated with Judah and had the city and temple.

While the northern kingdom had already been conquered by Assyria, Ephraim was mentioned because the Babylonian army invaded Jerusalem through the northern country, coming down through Dan and destroying Benjamin on the way. Thus, Rachel, the mother of Benjamin, is described as weeping bitterly for her children and refuses to be consoled.

The consolation of Israel, however, occurred when the LORD “created a new thing on the earth.” That new thing was “a woman encircles a man,” a reference to the virgin birth of the incarnate Christ. While this oracle of Rachel weeping bitterly may have initially referred to the invasion of Babylon, its ultimate fulfillment according to the apostle Matthew was king Herod’s murder of all the male children two years and younger in this region, the region of Bethlehem (see Matthew 2:16-23), after the birth of Christ.

As horrible as it was for this to occur, the word from the LORD was that they should not mourn without hope, for their suffering was not in vain. At the time of the Babylonian invasion, the reward would be the faithful remnant who would return to the land after the time of exile. At the time of Christ, the reward would be in aiding the protection of Jesus so that He could return from Egypt after the death of Herod and grow up in Nazareth.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, we thank You for the hope that we have in Christ that we may look forward to the day when there is no more sin and death. While we may suffer for His sake, we praise You that our suffering is not in vain but is being used by You to mold us into the image of Christ and bring faith to our neighbor. Amen.