Jeremiah 31 ~ a nation before Me forever

Jeremiah 31

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”


35 Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name:

36 “If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the Lord,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever.”

37 Thus says the Lord:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”


38 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”





Father God makes changes. And He stays the same. When Jeremiah was giving us the real hope from the puppet state of Nebuchadnezzar II - where the false uncle king (Mattaniah) would not be a proper puppet - Jeremiah spoke of real hope from the prison pit of King David's Palace.


We are all pretty sure the world is in bad shape. The news indicates bad weather, bad politics, unrest, rising costs, social situations we thought to never dwell on. And some people say abandon Israel - too much of a religious mess - flee - focus on Syria, or Libya. No.


Balance. Jeremiah was seeking not just to sound ridiculous speaking of God's Salvation and Plan from the pit inside the late King David's palace. He was speaking to those who knew the nation of Judah was going down for the final fall after a  2nd and 3rd invasion of Babylon. They saw and new and were in fear and denial of real trouble. The people felt Jeremiah's timing was off. The Holy Spirit did not.

Today, people want to have a state without religion. Oppressive morality. All laws indicate morality! We have seen the pendulum swing wildly from the USA Congress hosting Presbyterian Churches on Sunday until the 1950s. We have seen Prohibition and the release in under a hundred years. We question if these are the end times.




Jefferson

And Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand fought those who wanted their Christian nations to end.

This was Not Mild Trouble to them. This was life ending and crushing. And Israel did not exist.


War. Not one Empire on earth was ever created without war. Now sometimes Empires merge, but usually there is horrible war.



Have we ever had a time where marriage fell to 50%. Yes. The 1500s A.D.

Have we ever had a time where Church was considered to be in a falling state like the Pew Report of 2% attrition. In Israel. In Judah of the Bible.   Josiah - the famous king of Judah - had an archeological discovery. An amazing discovery lost for generations = THE BIBLE. The Scriptures were FOUND. What? Scriptures were gone from Judah. From the Temple of God.

And The 1500s. Right after "The Renaissance" - The Latin withheld what? The Word of God was withheld. The clergy were 50% cohabiting or marrying illegally. (Doesn't that make you wonder what a Renaissance really is???)


Jeremiah 31 is alive. We have forgotten most people pray and instead we grab saying they don't pray well or don't hope or just judge the prayers. A mere ten years ago we were publishing that Christianity was 2/3 rd's of the World.

Jeremiah 31 says when Israel exists - the faithful should have awe. God is on the move. Jefferson - no Israel. Queen Isabelle - no Israel. Black Plagues - when the world didn't have enough workers to bring in and plant food - incredible death - No Israel. 70 million killed by Mongols - No Israel.

The early Church had no Israel and felt that 200 A.D with freak weather that was incredible - was the end of the planet.



We won't know. Jesus said would He find faith when He was to return. Revelations would say no.








Redbook 2016

What social occurrence could we point to and have hope? What leaf is on the fig tree? What is our sign? 56% of people sacrificially give up benefits to raise children. There are no firm statistics of how many women own their own business to be at home. 6% of Fathers stay home. 57% of fathers say being a father is a key point in the identity Most Fathers say they spend as much time with their kids as their own parents and want more time.







Why focus on parenting? God does. Yep. Our Father.



I read the worst actually, very, last century, famous evangelism recently... A man confronted his parish on being phony. He said that they contributed nothing to making the Church more loving. He said that isolation and meaningless life was all the fault of the congregation - doing nothing to prove to the world at large that the Church is loving.

A father does not evoke positive change in this manner:

"Kids, we want a family meeting. Your mom and I were looking over the condition of our world and we have decided this: Frank, Betty, Lugaid, Ragnarr, Alfonso, Ivayla and Spike. We are not happy with you kids. You aren't adding to us. Where is the benefit to us? You don't bring in more kids. In fact we have decided that you kids are really flawed. You - Frank - you don't love Ragnarr - you are out. Ivayla you failed to do all that we wanted of you. Out. If you all can't be more loving and kind and please us more - well it's the fryer."

This is about as loving as the practice of medieval times of swaddling a child to be hooked on the wall.

That looks - zero - of Jesus.

Can you think of one time Jesus said to his disciples that they were the rise and fall of God's Plans. No.

Jesus said to people about His death, "Days will come, when you hunger to see what miracles have been done here."

We don't love Jesus because we are told - "...you stink."

Jesus is right again. We love Jesus because we have the New Covenant. We know exactly who Jesus really is. Jesus is the One we hunger and thirst for - wanting to see His glory. Even a glimpse of His Glory.

We want to say to Jesus - wait - "I want to be one of the few people who thank You - Again." I saw what Jesus did for someone I know. I saw miracles and answered prayers happen. We want the Light of Christ Jesus to shine brighter and brighter.

If you gather the faithful in a room and say, "Tell me about Jesus, you love." You are going to find hearts are warmed. You will see Jesus is Loved. Loves in return. We want more of the real Son of God, Jesus. The people who Love Jesus have a story to tell. Their own story. Stories of what can only be called a miracle. Telling us - Yes Jesus Answers Prayers. Jesus is Alive. He Lives. You will hear of Jesus saying "NO" and finding out that answer was the best answer ever.

Now ask the faithful who they have dearly loved and wonder and have concern for their dearly loved one - "Do you Love Jesus?" And consider - even the people we mildly know - who we have seen the seed parable actually happen. Good life crowds out ol' Church. Thorns rush in - covering up hope and faith. Nicks and dust cover up good intentions.

We have to love Jesus and understand the destination. We have to be warmed by Jesus to want to tell the ones we Love. We have to really contemplate what the destination is for...chilly.

How will you tell about Jesus? You tell about the One you Love - Who is Good. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. You tell your personal encounter with Jesus. Because your Love should not be ridiculed.

Ridicule. Israel? There were times in history people did not believe Israel existed more than Camelot. Before the amazing unearthing of continual artifacts from the Bible - my generation was told Pontius Pilate was a myth. That the Hittite Empire never existed - fantasy. One by one by one - God's Word proves again and again - Truth.

Ridicule. And surely this will sometimes happens just as spouses hear their spouse decried. And parents are told their children are forlorn. But when Real Love is here - Jesus is going to shine brighter and brighter and brighter.



The only requirement Father God has for us is faith. And if we have this faith, surely our words can keep trying to release Love.

Father God,

You've given us Acts 7, we take our shoes off, lift our feet off the ground to speak with You, the Almighty. We receive living Word passed to us.

We want to abide in You and see Your glory. Obeying Your Word. Remembering the sacrifice You want is Thanksgiving. Being like Joshua, balancing Your goodness and Love to flow out as refreshing Living Water.

Lord Jesus receive the Spirit of this Prayer to fill up our lives, hearts, and homes with Your Love. Fill those we Love. Fill our communities, Churches, cities, Nation, those who Call to You in Love.

We look for Your Glory. More Heaven on earth. In Jesus, we know Your Will is Good. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves!  †