Aug 23: Jeremiah 30-31 Restoration Promise

The message of restoration continues. And the underlying principle repeats: God is merciful and He forgives us, because He loves us.

1. A Fresh Start.

God offers us a fresh start. Sometimes, it’s easier for us to grasp and accept that a sin has consequences, than to understand and accept that God is loving enough to forgive us for that sin. Israel’s restoration is not just a promise for a nation: it also is a promise to each person who turns to God:

"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

I will build you up again
and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.
Again you will take up your tambourines
and go out to dance with the joyful.” (Jer 31:3-4)

Isn’t it astonishing that few days ago we read of God comparing Israel to an adulteress because of her sin, yet here we see God calling her ‘Virgin Israel?’ How could Israel's standing before God become as pure as a virgin’s virtue after all they’d done? It could, only with God’s forgiveness and transformation in their lives.

The experience of having your sin wiped away from your guilty heart and being given a fresh start in a new life, feeling as innocent as a newborn baby, is one of the biggest miracles that can happen in our life. And that’s the miracle Jesus does.

2. Re-turn to God.

But God never forces His love and forgiveness on us. We must want it. Love forced is not love at all, right? The remnant of Israel would have to want their restoration. We see that people would pray to God, while weeping:

'O LORD, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.'

See, I will bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor;
a great throng will return.

They will come with weeping;
they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
on a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel's father,
and Ephraim is my firstborn son. (Jer 31:7-8)

We also need to acknowledge we need the forgiveness. In human relationships, when we hurt another we ask for forgiveness, we say ‘I’m sorry’ the least. If we don’t, something remains unresolved, letting in the big elephant in the room who can eventually trample down the relationship. How much more we need to do the same with God? To say a much needed ‘sorry.’ To repent.

Here is how the repentance prayer of Israel to God would sound:

'You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
because you are the LORD my God.

After I strayed,
I repented;
after I came to understand,
I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.' (Jer 31:18-19)

And here would be God’s response:

Is not Ephraim my dear son,
the child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I have great compassion for him,"
declares the LORD. (Jer 31:20)

You are a dear son or a dear daughter. A child in whom God delights. Nothing you’ve done can make God forget you. He wants you to run to Him.