Thanks be to
God! I don’t live under a shadow of fear
of punishment, captivity and the soul-sorrow of unforgiveness. While I am a free citizen of my country and
blessed within loving relationships, I am not a stranger to personal failure
and sorrow. Because I live within the new
testament of God in Jesus Christ, I can trust and rejoice in His ongoing mercy and
forgiveness as one redeemed.
Jeremiah preached at a time when Israel was turning away
from God. He saw his people taken into
captivity. Out of this disaster he prophesied that good would come through the
Messiah who would save Israel. (Jeremiah 33:14-17) He described the future
kingdom that Jesus would set up in great detail. Christ is pictured as the fountain of living waters, the great physician, the good shepherd, the
righteous branch, as David the King, as the Redeemer and as the Lord our
Righteousness. Jeremiah prophesied that
God's people would be brought home, that sorrow would be turned to joy, that
repentance would restore prosperity, that Judah would be rescued and that through a
new covenant God would never again leave His people.
Although the
book of Jeremiah’s overarching theme is judgment, simultaneously we are given the
clearest glimpse of the new covenant God intended to make with His people once
Christ came to earth. This new covenant would be the means of restoration for
God’s people. He would put His law within them, writing it on hearts rather than on tablets of stone.
God’s patience with His people in the Old
Testament reminds us that He has always been and continues to be merciful. Though
we fail Him He is patient. He works within us to bring about our best as we draw
life and love in relationship with Him.
Again we say, “thanks be to God!”
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