7 August 2024 Jeremiah 31:17

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Please read the passage before reading the commentary

Chapters 30 and 31 come between chapter 29 and chapter 33.  You and I all know this.  Chapter 29 describes the initial defeat of the Israelites at the Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.  Chapter 32 relates events surrounding the final definitive defeat of the people and the exile into Babylon.

The prophet had done his work.  Between the initial defeat and the final defeat, the prophet must assure his people that the defeat and exile are not the end of the nation or of God.  The people must learn that God’s love is an everlasting love and that God’s mercy will go with them even into the death of exile.

Prophets call us to account for our sins.  They threaten us to move us into conversion.  When disaster falls, they remain with us to comfort us and encourage us.  God does not want our lives to end in disappointing and unending failure.  God’s prophets warn us of impending disaster and console us in the aftermath of disaster.

The prophet’s work is something like that of civil authorities who command evacuations in front of huge storms or raging wildfires and then send in rescuers for those let behind. 

God does not give up on us, even when we are at our worst.  In the midst of more and more casualties from war, God sends the prophet with messages of hope and life because God’s love is eternal and everlasting.

Yes, chapters 30 and 31 do come between chapters 29 and 32, but they also bridge the first stages of war and the final stages of the conflict with the mercy and love of a God who only desires good for God’s people.  From this, we can take heart when we seem to have landed in the midst of impossible and traumatic circumstances that God does remains with us, loves us, and saves us.