He Restores

Jeremiah pronounces the final judgment over Judah because of their unrepentant sins.

Jeremiah 16:13 (ESV) Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’

They are bound for exile. And in exile, they are bound to backslide spiritually. So they are gone forever? Is it the end? Have they finally gone too far for God to save? No.

Next verse:
Jeremiah 16:14–15 (ESV) “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

God will change their story. Their story was the Lord brought them out of the land of Egypt. But that nation quickly deteriorated and abandoned Him. Now their children, the next generation would be brought out, like their parents, but not from slavery, they would be brought out from exile. 

The question could be asked. which story is more hopeful? The first time Israel was delivered and brought out of a nation was because from slavery due to the fact Pharoah was intimidated by their astounding population growth. The second time was because they wilfully turned from the Lord who saved them and were handed over because of their sins. In the first story, God was bringing them to birth. In the second story, God was restoring them to sonship. 

Some Christians think a dramatic story at one's salvation is more impressive than the many times God brings us back to Himself after we've been saved. I know that after years of following the Lord, I'm more impressed with His grace to restore me than I am with the initial work to save me. The first work happened when I was ignorant of sin, the many other subsequent actions were despite my own rebellion. 

Praise God for His marvelous grace. But His grace has a greater purpose for Israel. You see, they would be restored to the land, to the temple, to sacrifices and possession of God's initial promise. And to that newly restored nation, the Lord Himself would come. 

He would call fishermen to the work of evangelizing the nations. Notice what Jeremiah says in verse 16:
Jeremiah 16:16 (ESV) “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.

I see both the great commission (fishers of men) and the tribulation (hunters) in this one verse. We live between the two. And Jeremiah, perhaps oblivious to how expansive his prophesy was, breaks out in song. 

Jeremiah 16:19–20 (ESV) O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. 20 Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!”

When God restores, He does so for a purpose - to reach others. The grace you've been given is not simply for you to be saved. It accomplishes something far greater - the saving of many lives. 



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