Jesse Tree Symbol #17: Jeremiah's tears

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"Suffering of Jeremiah" by Chagall

Jesse Tree Symbol #17: 

Jeremiah's tears
Jeremiah 23:5 – 6; 31:31 – 34;   
Romans 11:26-31

*most of the following summary is from
  Jeffrey Kranz’ Overview Bible Project*

The scene:  
God had warned Israel that they would face exile if they continued to turn away and now Jerusalem’s time has come. Once in a while, a king, a descendant of David, would turn the people back to God, but the other kings led the people into all kinds of disobedience. The people worshiped other gods, perverted justice in the land, and ignored God’s laws. 

Yet even as Jerusalem’s destruction looms, God sends a prophet to warn, challenge, and comfort the people. That prophet is a young man named Jeremiah.

Known as the “weeping prophet,” Jeremiah  ministers to the Jews for about 40 years, and his career is a sad one. He's the only prophet of God in the land: everyone else who claims to have a word from the Lord is a fake (and false messages of hope are a lot easier to hear than the truth about consequences).

Read Jeremiah and you’ll learn to anticipate Jeremiah’s advice and the people’s response—and you’ll see just how many chances God gives His people to follow His voice and keep His covenant.

But the covenant is broken. 
The people are broken.
And people don’t like to hear the truth.

Although Jeremiah’s messages focus on the coming punishment of Judah (the southern split in Israel's civil war), this book is not without hope. Jeremiah promises restoration and return for the Jews. It’s here, in Jeremiah, that we learn about God’s plan to make a new covenant with His people:
“His law will be on their hearts, and they will all know Him. He shall be their God, and they shall be His people. He will forgive their sin and remember it no more .” 31:31–34.

Jeremiah also looks forward to a righteous king—”a righteous branch from the line of David”—to arise in the future… A king who is coming to set things right and turn the world to justice...

Pray: Almighty God, we believe in your new covenant—we believe in Jesus—so we often read the prophets at a distance. But the truth is that we are no better than those in Jeremiah’s day. We, too, have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love. We have not loved our neighbors, and have not heard the cry of the needy. May we draw near to you, confessing our faults, confiding in your grace, and finding in you our refuge and strength; through Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.




____________________________________________________________________________

Kids Corner

Discussion:  What does it mean to be righteous?  How can we be righteous before God?  Discuss ways we can be righteous (kind, good deeds, loving)  to others?
 
 
Prayer: Dear God, help me to be the best I can be.  Help me to follow the path of Jesus, loving others and loving you everyday. Amen




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