Jeremiah 31:1-14.  Well I got a little bit of a late start today but here we go. Remember that we have just started a section of Jeremiah that focuses a little more on hope for the Israelite’s situation and less on the trouble they have gotten themselves into by defecting from God.  Back in Chapter 25 Jeremiah predicted judgment on several nations, in fact he predicted judgment on “all the inhabitants of the earth”.  Although some may see that prediction as being ”local” it’s pretty clear Jeremiah was seeing beyond his time into another.   Several other times in Jeremiah he has talked about things that were current (for the near future), but seemed to have a more distant part to them also.  When he talks of permanent hope for the nation of Israel or a king from the line of David (Jeremiah 23:5; 30:9) we know that those things are still future.  Some of the judgment scenes are still future too.  In chapters 26-29 Jeremiah (or Baruch) took a little side trip to look at problems with false prophets.  In chapter 30 I said we were starting a section about hope.  But there is also a return to this “distant” or maybe “double” fulfillment idea.  In yesterday’s reading I emphasized that the chapter (30) seemed to be about a time in the distant future.  That chapter involved restoration of all of the Israelite people to the land not just the people of Judah (Jews) who had been taken captive to Babylon.  The people in Jeremiah’s time probably would have tried to apply it to their own situation even though it didn’t really fit that, but he had told them the captivity would only be for 70 years.

In today’s reading the author continues to focus on that “distant” future.  In verse 1 starts out “at that time” meaning the time that was talked about in Chapter 30; the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7).  In that verse we see that “all the clans (a word that means tribes or families)” of Israel will turn back to Yahweh and they will be his people.  There is a real emphasis on people here.

Verse 2 seems to be a reference to the “wilderness wanderings”.  The “Clans” of Israel had started out as just a few people (70, Deuteronomy 10:22).  After about 400 years in Egypt they had grown to a “nation” of more than 2 million people (See Numbers 26:1-2, 51, 62.  Those numbers do not include women, children under 20 except v. 62, and for v. 62 second, third, etc. children nor female children).  The Egyptian king (Pharaoh) was hostile toward the Israelites and used them as slaves.  Yahweh (the one true God, God of the Israelites (and us too)) decided to fulfill his promise to Jacob to give them their own land.  Through a variety of miraculous events the Israelites left Egypt and headed for Canaan (the land we know as Israel and Palestine, Parts of Jordan too).  When it came time to take over the land the Israelites disobeyed God and told him they didn’t think they could do it (there were giants in the land, real giants).  God sentenced the whole generation over the age of 20 to die in the wilderness, the Sinai Peninsula.  For the next 40 years the Israelites wandered around the territory until that generation all died (except for Caleb and Joshua).  This was the time of the “wilderness wanderings” that Jeremiah is referring to here.  According to Jeremiah that group “survived the sword”. Although they would fight several battles with inhabitants of the wilderness over the course of the fourty years the reference to surviving the sword may refer to one battle they tried to fight after God sentenced the one generation to die in the wilderness.  The generation who was sentenced (Men over 20, the warriors) changed their mind and went back and tried to take the land anyway and lost badly.  Many were probably lost to the sword that day.  The loss wasn’t due to the strength of the enemy but because God was not with the Israelites that day (Numbers 14:39-45, Deuteronomy 1:41-44).  The rest of the people got the message and turned back to the “wilderness” where they spent the next 40 years as nomadic shepherds.  During that time of “wandering” the people were cared for by Yahweh (LORD).  They were fed with a miraculous food, manna, directly from God.  And led by a miraculous display of God’s power.  According to Deuteronomy 2:7 they lacked nothing as God was constantly with them. Jeremiah tells us that they found “grace” in the wilderness.  That word can also be translated “favor” or “mercy”.  In English the word “grace” has the idea of giving you something you don’t deserve, like a teacher giving you grace on a test and letting you retake it instead of making you take the “F” you got the first time.  Mercy is the other side of “grace”; it’s the not giving you the “F”.  This word has both ideas.  These people got more that a second chance, they disobeyed and rebelled many times over the 40 years and got many “second” chances.  They truly found “grace” in the wilderness.  And at the end of it all they did enter into the land promised to their ancestors.  In verse 3 we see that God came to this people and loved them with an everlasting love.  God also “drew them to himself with lovingkindness”.  In this phrase we see the nature of our relationship with God.  Jeremiah has already told us that Yahweh (LORD, God) is the maker of all that is (Jeremiah 10:16).  That gives God complete authority over the whole universe, Bible scholars like to use the word “sovereign” for this idea, it relates to the absolute power of a king.  God has the right to force us to do whatever he wants but in Jeremiah 31:3 we see God “drawing” us.  That word can mean to “drag” but here we see that God is “drawing” us with “lovingkindness”.  In Hebrew the word is “hesed”.  It is a very big word that contains the ideas of love, faithfulness, loyalty, and steadiness.  It’s about God’s promises and his love for us.  One scholar says it is about belonging together.  There is no room in that word or the idea of la loving relationship for a choke chain and a leash.  The consisting picture in the bible is one of God using his goodness, kindness, and mercy (all parts of hesed, too) to convince us to “return” to him (Check out Hosea 2:14-20 to see hesed in action).

In verses 4-6 we see a time of goodness and peace with the people back in the land.  There will be times of music and dancing (v. 4), time to sit back and enjoy the fruit from our gardens (v. 5), and time to go hang out with God.  A couple of things to notice.  First God uses the name Israel, this is about the whole group not just the Northern or Southern Kingdoms.  Second Israel is a “virgin”.  The idea behind that word is one devotion and dedication; the idea of being separate, or pure.  These people had been cheating on God; they had been “running around” on Him; passed around (by their own actions).  In the Bible Israel is sometimes called a “harlot” that is an old word for prostitute.  In fact in Hosea, that prophet is told to act our the relationship between God and Israel.  Hosea represents God and he is told to marry a prostitute, one who cheats on him after they are married.  The wife represents Israel.  Hosea is told to take her back after she cheats.   The verses above give us a picture of how he gets her back.  God doesn’t see Israel as a prostitute; she is his virgin.  She is young and devoted, singing and dancing.    This time of peace and goodness is long lasting.  In verse 5 the planter plants a vine and eats from it’s fruit.  That is multi-year process.  In the Law of Moses the first three years of fruit could not even be picked, the fourth year the fruit was dedicated to God and only on the fifth year could it be eaten (Leviticus 19:23-25).  That doesn’t even take into account how long it takes for the vine to start producing (maybe the first year).  By the way did you notice that the vine grower was in Samaria.  That was a part of the Northern Kingdom that was dispersed by the Assyrians in 722 BC.  We also see the Northern Kingdom in verse 6, the hills of Ephraim were a part of that kingdom too.  But here we find the people of Ephraim planning a trip to Jerusalem to honor Yahweh their God.  Zion refers to either the mountain that the Temple was built on or the cithy of Jerusalem, either way they are in Southern territory now.    We see here a reunited nation of Israel.

In verses 7-10 God tells the Israelites to sing and pray.  Their prayers (talking to God) are supposed to be thankful and wishful. The people are told to praise or honor God for what he is doing for them and they are also supposed to ask him to do what he is already in the process of doing, saving them or bringing them back home.  That is the wishful part.  By that I don’t mean that they are trying to control God or that they are unsure of what will happen.  I think it’s like when a guy proposes to a girl.  “Will you marry me?”  He certainly hopes so, it is his wish, but hopefully he is already pretty sure of the answer.  It’s an act of respect for the woman as a person.  God wants us to acknowledge him and respect him in our prayers; He wants us to ask Him and he most certainly will say, “Yes.”

In verses 8-9 we have the answer, God is going to resort his people; he will bring them back to the land from all over the earth.  There will be no discrimination (the blind and lame).  We also see how determined the people will be to get back home, even women who are pregnant and in labor will make the journey.  Most women who are pregnant don’t really want to travel very far, they are uncomfortable and concerned that they might go into labor.  The only place women in labor want to go is somewhere to have the baby.  For these women to travel tells us there must be something very special at the end of the trip.  We also see that many people will make the journey back to the land.

In verses  10-14 we get more of the good picture of the restored nation.  The people are so happy to be back that they cry tears of joy.  The nations who had been oppressing them will now be their guardians (v. 10).  In verse 11 we see that this is all the doing of Yahweh (LORD).  The other guys were bigger and meaner but God is bigger yet.  In verse 12 the people are very happy about all the good that Yahweh has given them.  Their fields and vineyards and heard will all be strong and healthy.  Their life will be like a watered garden, they will never suffer again.  In verse 13 more youthful partying but even the old people are going to join in.  What ever might have been sad or depressing in their minds God will comfort and bring joy to.  This isn’t going to be some wild evil party though.  Even the priests will be spiritually satisfied.  Remember priests would talk to God for the people.  They made offerings to show God the people were serious about what they had done wrong and were serious about God in general.  Clearly they will feel that the people have finally turned back to God.  Everyone will be satisfied with the good Yahweh (LORD) has provided.  Certainly the goodness here would remind them of the goodness of God in providing for the people in the wilderness wandering mentioned earlier.  The people of Jeremiah’s time should have seen the faithfulness and “hesed” of God in this message  But I think there might be more; the image of a well watered garden and a close relationship with God seems to hint, at least slightly, back to the garden of Eden before Adam and Eve disobeyed; all was well they had a close relationship with God and lived in an ideal environment.  We get a very similar picture in the end of Revelation.  After the description of the time of Jacob’s Trouble in Revelation 4-19 there is a chapter where those who rejected God invitation into eternity with him are tried and banished.  Revelation 21-22 use language similar to what we see here in Jeremiah to describe what eternity with God will look like; in part it sounds like a restoration to what the garden of Eden was like and more.

[See Romans 8:19-22 where the creation suffered when God cursed it as a lesson to Adam and the creation wants to be restored with the “sons” or “children of God”.  Also notice in Luke 23:43 and 2 Corinthians 12:4 that Heaven (where God “lives”) is called “Paradise”.  Compare that with a description in Revelation 2:7 where that same “Paradise” contains the Tree of Life, last seen in the Garden of Eden].

Remember we are reading chapters in the middle of Jeremiah that are designed to bring hope to the Israelites.  Although Jeremiah was speaking to people of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, he seems to include all twelve of the tribes in this message.  That is a hint to us that the message has meaning beyond what the people of Judah might have gotten from it.  In fact in our reading today Jeremiah uses the name Israel (rather than Judah, which he uses other places) which was often used just for the Northern Kingdom.  He also mentions a couple of places in the Northern Kingdom by name; places that have a part in the restored nation.  But still the use of Israel, as we were told (v. 1), is referring to all twelve tribes.  As I mentioned yesterday Jeremiah is filled with a lot of doom and gloom.  It seems like these chapters were placed here in the middle to give the readers/hearers a little break from all the bad news (though there has been little pieces of good news in earlier chapters).  Today’s reading seems to be concerned with the distant future and promises about the whole nation.  You might think that doesn’t have much to do with the situation in Judah and Babylon during the time of Jeremiah.  If you have read “The Old Testament Connection” you know that the whole Old Testament and the history of Israel that is in it is for our benefit (Romans 2:14-15; 3:19-21).  The Old Testament sets the stage for the coming of Messiah, Jesus, and the rest of what happens in the New Testament (and beyond).  The fact that God was not abandoning his promises to Abraham and Israel should have been comforting to the people in exile in Babylon.  In tomorrow’s reading the assurance will get a little closer to home but it will still contain some of this distant future talk (maybe).  For now it is important to see that God knows what he has promised, that he knows the conditions he puts on his promises (if any), that he doesn’t forget (the first promise was to Eve (maybe as far back as 4000 BC), then Abraham (2200 BC), Jacob (1850 BC), David (1050 BC)), and that he will follow through.  We see from the already fulfilled predictions by all of the Old Testament prophets that God knows what he is talking about, the predictions He has give have all come true so far, we all should be confident that the rest will come true too.  The reminders in these chapters about what God has promised will come should have given comfort to the Jews of Jeremiah’s day and they should give us comfort to.  John told his readers that anyone who accepted who Jesus is (the infinite God-man) and what he did for them (allowed himself to be separated from God the Father as a substitution for us all(see “Three or One?”)) could spend eternity with God (be come children of God, part of His forever family)(John 1:12).  God has spent the total of our history working our his plan to keep as many people as possible out of Hell (that is the reality of being banished from God’s good and giving presence in his forever kingdom).  The question is will you respond to lovingkindness or reject his love?

God help many people find you, understand you, understand your love, understand who really messed up life.  Help many people respond to your proposal.  Help us all realize how we have offended you.  Thank you for your patience, thank you for your promises.  Help me be a good child of yours.  Thank you for forgiving me and thank your for taking my horrid punishment.