Jeremiah

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I really like this scripture text from Jeremiah. It is God’s promise that he will save his people. I like stories about God saving his people, because I am one of his people. You are his people too. This scripture gives me hope. It should give you hope, as well..

The Background of Israel.

To understand the scripture, you need to know its background. The Israelites were God’s people, and he watched over them closely. However, the Israelites disobeyed God, and he allowed them to be punished for their disobedience. Their punishment was quite severe. God allowed the Babylonians to defeat them in battle and to take them into captivity. The Babylonians took them on a forced march from their homeland and made them slaves in Babylon.

False prophets promised an early return from exile, but Jeremiah told the Israelites the truth—they would be in captivity for seventy years. The people who had marched from their homes in Israel to captivity in Babylon would die in slavery. Jeremiah therefore calls on the people to seek the welfare of Babylon and to pray for it—a very revolutionary idea to the Israelites—praying for their enemies.

But Jeremiah reassured the Israelites that God loved them and would redeem them as a people. Those who had committed the sins that resulted in their captivity would indeed die in slavery, but God would redeem the people in the next generation. God would bring them back to their home in Israel. God would include even the weakest and most vulnerable people among them—the blind, the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. In other words, God’s salvation of his people would be complete.

Tears Of Joy.

Jeremiah said, “They shall come with weeping…” (31:9)—not tears of sadness but tears of joy. God said: