Jeremiah has a better understanding of his situation. He saw as the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and removed the Davidic king. For Jeremiah this was a challenge to the faithfulness of God. Yet, he has now come to see the situation more accurately. God can be trusted to fulfill His promises to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3), even as He had been faithful to His promises to Moses (Deut. 11:26-28; 28:2,15). The former promised a land and nation and salvation to the world, all of which had become doubtful to Jeremiah; the latter promised judgment on Israel if they were disobedient, all of which was evident to Jeremiah.
Given his renewed perspective, Jeremiah called the people to two conclusions. First, there should be no complaining against God since He had done as promised to Moses: Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishments of his sins?” (3:39). Second, building on the first, the people should turn back to the LORD (repent). They should acknowledge that in all that happened, God was righteous: We have transgressed and rebelled, You have not pardoned (3:42).
This is the end to which those created in God’s image must come, that God has been righteous in our traumatic experiences. It is why we have said that our struggles with PTSD will be missing the most fundamental source of healing if we do not, as Jeremiah did, bring our Creator into the picture. Daniel, in dealing with the same event (Israel’s chastening by the Babylonians), said it clearly: O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face (Dan. 9:7). Affirming God’s righteousness made it possible for Daniel to then reaffirm God’s mercy: To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him (Dan. 9:9).
But now let us see something that takes us away from Jeremiah. Under the new covenant, established through the death and resurrection of Christ, sins have been forgiven for those who have received this good news (gospel) of Christ. On the cross He took our punishment, paying the price for our sin by the shedding of His blood. By the empty tomb He has defeated death and brought “life and immortality to light” (2 Tim. 1:10). This life is bound up in the Holy Spirit who has been given to all who put their faith in Christ, having received this good news. The Holy Spirit enables us to live the life to which we have been called, a life of submission to our Creator.
This fits perfectly with what we have seen from Jeremiah. To believe in Christ means we submit ourselves to Him: I beseech you, therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Rom. 12:1). Day by day we yield ourselves to Christ. And then, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2). We can come to a deeper appreciation and embracing of God’s will for our lives as our minds are renewed, as we gain new perspectives through the word of God. What Jeremiah said you will quite likely find hard to swallow. The words are strong, especially when we are in the midst of our traumatic experience. But in submission to Christ there is the desire and ability to be transformed into the person God has called us to be, to see that it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
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