Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 23-26

After 23 years of proclaiming the message of repentance to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, Jeremiah made it clear to God’s people what was about to happen and why. He had been warning them to turn from the evil road they were traveling, to stop the evil things they were doing, and to quit provoking the anger of God, but they would not listen. Therefore, God was allowing King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to come in and destroy life as they knew it.

I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out. This entire land will become a wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. – Jeremiah 25:10-11

The Lord gave Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs sitting in front of the temple in Jerusalem. One basket was full of fresh, ripe figs; the other basket was filled with figs too rotten to eat. The first basket represented those who had been exiled to Babylon and God had a word of hope for them:

A WORD OF HOPE

“I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.” – Jeremiah 24:6-7

The basket of rotten figs represented the king of Judah, his officials, and those left behind in Jerusalem or Egypt. God would make them an object of horror. They would be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed. They would experience war, famine, and disease. God had had enough!

A WORD OF JUSTICE

“What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people — the shepherds of my sheep — for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,” says the Lord. – Jeremiah 23:1

After the 70 years of exile, God would gather His people together and give them new leaders — responsible shepherds who would care for them. But those who had led God’s people to this place of destruction would themselves be destroyed. This included the prophets who were claiming to speak the words of the Lord without hearing from God. They were saying, “God told me this” or “I heard from God and He said this” without taking the time to listen to what God wanted them to say. But God was listening to them carelessly run their mouths.

“Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared to listen?…If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds. Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord. “No, I am far away at the same time. Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord. – Jeremiah 23:18, 22-24

We see clearly in these chapters that we serve a God of justice who is jealous when we serve something other than Him and who is angry when we are self-serving at the expense of others. He does not tolerate our misrepresentation of Him and He will not stand by and let leaders deceive His people — to destroy and scatter the very ones they are expected to care for.

But we also see in the book of Jeremiah that we serve a God of love and mercy who plans for the redemption of His people. He cares about us when we turn away from him; He pursues us for the sake of our salvation. Even as God was declaring the consequences of their sinful actions, He was unveiling His plan to redeem them through a Savior. Jeremiah’s message of hope for God’s people included prophecy regarding a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will rule with wisdom and his name will be “The Lord is Our Righteousness” (23:5-6).

A WORD OF MERCY

Now this is what the Lord says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them. But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession. — Jeremiah 12:14-15

“But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the Lord your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that he has announced against you.” – Jeremiah 26:13

This God we serve — the God of justice and the God of mercy — is a God of forgiveness if we will only repent and begin living in obedience. He is a jealous God because He is a loving God. This God of punishment is also the God who would leave the ninety-nine to go in pursuit of the one who is lost. What a privilege it is to serve this God! What a joy it is to share my morning coffee with one who loves me that much!