HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land.

“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God. After I strayed, I repented;
after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord.

“Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, Virgin Israel, return to your towns. How long will you wander, unfaithful Daughter Israel? The Lord will create a new thing on earth—the woman will return to the man.”

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.

“In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.”

Jeremiah 31:16-30

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Imagine for a moment that you and everyone who lives in your community were attacked and taken hostage, your homes and places you might frequent for things you need destroyed and left in ruins. Your captors hauled you away to their land, a place completely foreign to you, and enslaved you for seventy years.

Seventy years.

During that time, you were forced to live under the oppressive rule of your assailants and did not have the liberty to come and go as you please. You were essentially trapped with your freedoms taken away.

If you were in the midst of this situation, can you see where you would be in dire need of any hope or encouragement that could be offered?

Well, the scenario painted above is exactly what the people of Israel had to endure. You might recall that prior to the exile, God’s people were doing what they desired instead of what God wanted. This included the foolish decision to worship false gods and idols in direct violation of God’s commandment not to. Obviously, God wasn’t going to sit back and watch anyone disrespect and dishonor Him in such an atrocious way, even if they were His people and He their God.

And so God took action and two waves of attack against the Israelites within the country He had given them.

The first assault came on the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians who ransacked the land and hauled off any survivors to serve their needs. Most of those from the Northern Kingdom would never return to their homeland again.

Contrast this with the attack of the Babylonians on the Southern Kingdom of Judah and its beloved, holy city of Jerusalem. Like what the Assyrians did to the north, the Babylonians devastated the south and took its residents to Babylon where they would be held captive for seventy years. What made the Israelites in Babylonian capture different from the ones who had been taken by the Assyrians was that God allowed them to return home to rebuild their homes, their lives, and their relationships with God.

It had to come as good news for the Israelites in exile and as we see in today’s passage, God did indeed speak a message of hope into the future of His people. Look again at the words here:

This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land.

“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God. After I strayed, I repented;
after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord.

“Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, Virgin Israel, return to your towns. How long will you wander, unfaithful Daughter Israel? The Lord will create a new thing on earth—the woman will return to the man.”

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord. “In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.”  Jeremiah 31:16-30

Note here that the Lord emphasizes the theme of hope for His people. He had heard their cries and their desire to repent of their sins to rid themselves of their feelings of shame, humiliation, and disgrace. And so he chose to bring them home after they had suffered the consequences for their transgressions. He still had a heart that yearned for His people, a heart that beat with compassion, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Yes, better days were ahead for the Israelites who would return to Judah and its towns, refreshed and satisfied as the Lord relieved them of their weariness. Once again, they would be recognized as a people who were sacred, holy, and blessed by God as they rebuilt and planted, flourishing in a place they had been perishing before. Redemption would be the underlining theme of God’s work but there would still be punishment for sin if the people returned to it.

Friends, this message of hope and the accompanying liberation from the hands of an enemy are recurring themes even at play today. For all of us are doomed as a result of our sins and held hostage by Satan if we opt to try and live separate from God, the only one who can point us to a point of salvation. Yet into the midst of this doom comes Jesus, who through His crucifixion and resurrection, sets us free from the judgment of sin (He paid the penalty for our sins already on the cross) and sets us on the path to eternal life with Him and God forever.

With this, have you acquired your pardon from sinfulness by accepting Jesus as your personal Savior? Have you set things in motion for you to feel freedom and liberation from sin, death, and the grave when your life is over? Have you committed your life to Jesus, surrendering yourself so He might be able to rebuild you from the inside out?

The word of God is truth and the truth for today is that we serve a God who watches over us and yearns for us to live with Him forever some day, satisfying that yearning by leading His people to believe and trust in Jesus.

Truly, it’s a message of hope for the future.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com