* I chose the photo for this post because it contrasts light and darkness and made me think of John 1:5 "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it." *
Redeem: גאל (ga-al) – redeem, with God as subj. implying personal relationship, chiefly in poetry: a. individuals from death b. Israel from Egyptian bondage c. from exile
In chapters 46-51 of Jeremiah, the message the prophet brings switches from being primarily to the children of Israel to the foreign nations or city-states surrounding Judah; Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hatzor, Elam, and Babylon. These messages were delivered at various times and places through Jeremiah’s ministry. Tucked within the verses in chapters 46 and 50 are contained messages of hope to Israel. As judgment is being pronounced over these various countries, a word of redemption is spoken over Israel.
I have spent a long time pondering what it is that I am to get out of these chapters. What it is that the Holy Spirit wants my heart to grab ahold of. As the events in the Old Testament are a shadow of Messiah, the warning became crystal clear. Adonai is a God of mercy and grace, but He is also a God of judgment. The days we are living in we tend to want to focus on the God of love, but discard that other side of the coin, that He is also righteous and will bring judgement against the unrighteous. For the purpose of this post, I will be sharing the verses pertaining to Israel, rather than the individual judgments to the nations, but will be taking a look at both judgement and mercy.
[27] “Yet don’t be afraid, Ya’akov my servant; don’t be distressed, Isra’el. For I will save you from faraway places, and your offspring from the lands where they are held captive. Ya’akov will return and be at peace, quiet, with no one to make him afraid. [28] Don’t be afraid, Ya’akov my servant,” says Adonai, “for I am with you. I will finish off all the nations where I have scattered you. However, you I will not finish off, I will discipline as you deserve, but not completely destroy you.” Jeremiah 46:27-28
The last two sentences of this passage are extremely important for us to understand. Adonai is with us, He is for us, He has defeated the enemy, BUT He WILL discipline us are we deserve when we sin against Him. Galatians 6:7-8 warn us “Don’t delude yourselves: no one makes a fool of God! A person reaps what he sows. Those who keep sowing in the field of their old nature, in order to meet its demands, will eventually reap ruin; but those who keep sowing in the field of the Spirit will reap from the Spirit everlasting life.” If we look back to the previous chapter, we see the contrast between the fruit of the old nature, and that of the Spirit. [19] “And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; [20] involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue [21] and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God! [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] humility, self-control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things. [24] Moreover those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have put their old nature to death on the stake along with its passions and desires. [25] Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also bee through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day. Galatians 5:19-25
On an individual level, when we fall back into our old nature, when we step back into sin, He is faithful and merciful and will forgive us when confess our sins and ask for that forgiveness. On a national level, when that nation continues to sow after the things of the flesh, that nation is going to see the protective hand of God removed and judgment will come to its shores. A nation that turns from the ways of God cannot expect to see His blessings, only the cup of judgment poured out. Israel was made an example concerning this, and it is one that we should be heeding.
Looking back at the scriptures from Jeremiah, there was one line that hit me in the face as I was preparing to type them. For I will save you from faraway places, and your offspring from the lands where they are held captive. I am a mother that prays for her children, and I speak the Aaronic Blessing over them daily. My number one prayer is always for their salvation and that they grow in God and become the men He has called them to be and that they fulfill the call on their lives. Anytime I draw away from the Lord, He is always faithful to save me from that faraway place and draw me back to Him. But even more than that, He has given me a promise that He will save my children from the lands where they are held captive, their Egypt, their land of sin. It is one that I am holding onto, standing on in faith that one way or another when they stand before the Lord they will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
We don’t ever like to think of God’s judgement or wrath, but as we have seen throughout His word, it is very real for both individuals and nations. When Saul disobeyed the Lord, his kingship was stripped from him and given to David. When David sinned by committing adultery and murder, judgement came at the price of the child born to Bathsheba. When Ananias and Sapphira, sold property and lied about the amount received when they were giving the proceeds to the church, judgement came at the cost of their lives. When Israel rebelled against God and did not keep the Sabbatical year, offered their children to the false God Baal, among other sins, they were taken captive for seventy years. Judgement is real, and it will come for each of us one day. The question is, what type of judgement will we face? Judgement from the Bema Seat, or the White Throne. If you are saved, you will stand before the Bema seat, where Yeshua will declare you as His, that your sins are no more. If you do not choose salvation through Yeshua, you will stand before the White Throne of God and will be cast out into eternal darkness, eternal separation from God, eternal torment.
Jeremiah 50:17-20 shows the shadow of this. [17] “Isra’el is a stray lamb, driven away by lions. First to devour him was Ashur’s king; and the last to break his bones is this N’vukhadretzar (Nebuchadnezzar) king of Bavel.” [18] Therefore Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel says: “I will punish the king of Bavel and his land as I punished the king of Ashur. [19] I will bring Isra’el back to his pasture, to graze on the Karmel and the Bashan, on the hills of Efrayim and in Gil’ad until he has his fill. [20] In those days, at that time,” says Adonai, “Isra’el’s guilt will be sought, but there will be none, and Y’hudah’s sins, be they won’t be found; for I will pardon the remnant I leave.” When we are in Yeshua, your guilt will not be found, and when we are not in Him, we will be eternally punished. Jeremiah 50:34 reads, “But their redeemer is strong; Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name. He sill thoroughly plead their cause, so that he can give rest to the land but unrest to those who live in Bavel.”
I am thankful for that reassurance that my sins have been cast as far away as the east is from the west. I am thankful that I am redeemed, bought with the ultimate price, the blood of the Lamb of God, Yeshua. I am thankful that I can stand in agreement with other children of God, crying out for revival in this nation, and for the hearts of its people to be turned to the One who loves them more than anyone ever could. May we be a people of repentance. May we be a people that cries out for the mercy of our Lord. May we be a people that prays for hearts to return to Yeshua. The love of Messiah is a very tangible and real thing; however, the Lord’s judgment is just as real. Let us stand in the gap and pray not just for revival, not just for our friends and loved ones, but for those who do not know the love and mercy of an everlasting Redeemer. Let our hearts truly be for the lost and the hurting. As we live in these end times, and we witness the Word come to pass, let us not be complacent in doing good, fighting the good fight of faith, and walking in that high calling.
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