Today we continue the theme of Jeremiahs’ life in the light of the coming judgment. In the face of the horrible spectre of death, destruction, and deportation. Jeremiah is neither to marry nor to grieve for the objects of God’s just judgment. The Lord often used the marriages and families of the prophets to teach important lessons to the people (Isa. chapters 7-8; Ezek. chapter 24 and Hosea chapters 1-3).
God doesn’t want Jeremiah to be yoked with the idol worshippers. It was a natural thing for all to seek a wife, and many of the prophets like Isaiah, were married. This was not forbidding Jeremiah to marry, just requesting him not to marry these women who were involved in worshipping false gods. God didn’t want Jeremiah to have unbelieving children.
The LORD often anticipated the question ‘why?’ from the people and leaders of Judah and He was concerned to answer it. It was important to God that they didn’t regard the calamity as misfortune or bad luck; they needed to see that it was a just response to their sin. This coming conquest and exile of Judah was not due to the sin of one generation, it included the sins of their forefathers. It was hardened generational rebellion that brought Judah to their judgment. The sins of their fathers were enough to have made them liable, but beyond that they added their own guilt.
The previous word from Jeremiah was about as dark as could be, with God promising ‘I will not show you favour’ in the land of their coming exile. Yet as if God could not help Himself that word of despair is immediately followed by a wonderful and gracious promise. God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt was the central act of redemption in the Old Testament. Through the Passover and in other ways, God constantly reminded Israel of this work. God made a remarkable promise – that there would be a new measure of His greatness and redemptive power. The new measure would be the return from captivity when God would bring them back into their land.
Chapter 17 reminds the people and us included, that the heart can be deceptive v.9. We must guard against doing things because our hearts tell us it’s the right thing to do. The Old Testament prophets can be hard to study, but there is still much relevancy to our world today as there was to the pre Christian Israelites. God knows our hearts and minds better than we do and is there to guide us and nurture us as only our loving Heavenly Father can. Our responsibility is to listen for his guidance and be obedient to it.
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Father God, Thank you for your loving care. Help me to be obedient to you always and in all things, for the sake of Jesus. Amen.