Jeremiah 1:11-12 Tu B Shvat, God Will Perform His Word

(We are beginning a trip in Israel.  Today is the scheduled arrival day, although most have already arrived.  Below is an email I sent to the group a week before.  So the Israeli holiday was this past Sunday/Monday.)

Greetings!

I believe this Sunday the first in our group (Steve & Trina) will be boarding a flight for Europe and then Israel.  I think Ron and Julie and also yours truly are next on Tuesday.  Seven more on Wednesday and three people named Dillabaugh and one named McCoy on Thursday.  Interesting detail: the last ones to arrive, if all are on schedule, are Steve & Trina, the first to leave.  The time is drawing nigh, a phrase that is usually connected with another event that will happen soon.

I want to share something with you.  The following was the lead on an Israeli tourism page that might make you even happier to be going to Israel in February.  

"It’s a little known fact: February is one of the most beautiful times of the year in Israel! With the winter rains dwindling, much of the country is covered in luscious green grass and blooming flowers after the rain."

This Sunday at sundown through Monday at sundown in Israel is a minor holiday called "tu b shvat."  It celebrates the birth of the fruit trees after the winter.  It is evidenced in Israel by the white blossoms on the almond trees.  The almond trees, before they have any green leaves, put on these gorgeous blossoms.  You will want to have your eyes open for these beautiful trees as we drive from "Dan to Beersheva."  Those blossoms loudly proclaim that winter is coming to an end and spring is on the way.

When God was calling a young man named Jeremiah to be a prophet, we read this in Scripture:

"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' And I said, 'I see a branch of an almond tree.'  Then the LORD said to me, 'You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.'" (Jeremiah 1:11-12)

There is a "play on words" in this passage.  Jeremiah would have understood it; so should we.  In Hebrew, the "almond tree" is shawkade.  The word for "ready" is shawkad.  This "readiness" has a sense of imminency about it.  Jeremiah was being called to preach a message that had been preached by many prophets for many years.  God was going to bring judgment on Judah.  Isaiah preached this message 100 years earlier.  But God was telling Judah through Jeremiah that now was the time for this message to be fulfilled.  The fulfillment, involving God's judgment through the Babylonians, happened in Jeremiah's lifetime.

Perhaps, as we see the almond trees around Israel, we will be reminded that the message of the return of Christ also has a sense of imminency in Scripture.  Even though this message has been proclaimed for 2000 years (Acts 1:9-11), we are not permitted to lose the imminency (2 Peter 3:8-13).  

Looking forward to being with you all.  Let us pray for one another as our individual journeys will bring us together for a special period of time.  LORD WILLING!

Ron