• 16:14-21: God tells Jeremiah that Israel will at some point be restored. There will be three “gatherings” of Israel to the land: the one from Egypt, the one from Babylon, and one in the end from “all the lands”. We had a conversation with a believer the other day who came to Israel in the 1980’s because he felt the call of God to be a fisherman to help bring Russian Jews back to the land. He believed as we do that the final gathering is in motion.
• 17:1-13: Nevertheless judgment will come. Judah’s sin has been written with a pen of iron. Those who trust in man will be cursed. Those, like Jeremiah, who trust in the LORD, will be blessed. In this section we see why God had rejected the seemingly repentant words of the people earlier (14:19-22). The LORD who searches the heart and tests the mind has found their hearts to be desperately wicked. Their repentance was not genuine. They had truly forsaken the fountain of living waters (v13; cf. 2:13).
• 17:14-18: Jeremiah at this point responds with a prayer for his own healing.
• 17:19-27: God’s response is to send him again to preach, this time in the gates of Jerusalem. The message was a call to hallow the Sabbath day.
What was it that brought Jeremiah back to the place of faithfulness? Now mind you, this was not the end of Jeremiah’s persecution. That would continue. And so would the rejection of his message from God. But what brought him back? We assume that God Himself was working in Jeremiah’s heart; that’s a given anytime our hearts are turned to obedience. We should also note that Jeremiah was not moved to faithfulness by God’s promise that he would survive the judgment (15:19-21).
Is it possible that the turning point for Jeremiah was God’s promise of a future re-gathering to the land? God did what He always does: in the midst of judgment God remembers mercy. God’s message through Jeremiah was by nature oppressive. Judgment would come and there would be no turning back. But, as He had said earlier, “I will not make a complete end of you” (5:18). So perhaps Jeremiah’s turning point revolved around his love for his people, God’s people.
Perhaps we think this because we know it to be the case with our Lord, Jesus Christ. He never ceased to love those He came to save, even those who took part in His crucifixion. And perhaps we think this because we know it must be so with us as well. This is Jesus’ first command for those who believe in Him:
to “love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34-35). May our service for God not be mere duty but may it be the outworking of just such a love as this!
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