"And I will make and everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they will not turn from me." Jeremiah 32:40
When we experience relational pain through being wronged or deeply disappointed by someone we've shared life with- when we fail to find as much common ground as we'd hoped for- sometimes it can feel easier to abandon the relationship altogether. The last several years of the pandemic have epitomized how it can become increasingly difficult to countenance those who hold opposing convictions on politically/socially charged issues. It's just easier to ignore such people, or at least to find ways to avoid them if you have to be in the same room. It's just feels easier to turn away.
This week's passage in Jeremiah takes place while Jerusalem is under siege by Babylon- Jeremiah is locked up by King Zedekiah for prophesying Jerusalem's defeat through the word of the Lord given to him.
Yet it's in this context that the Lord gives Jeremiah a tangible vision of His promise for their restoration. He has Jeremiah purchase a field in spite of the pending defeat, and tells him to keep the purchase deeds secure because He will one day rebuild His city and gather His people in it
God doesn't sugar coat the reasons for Jerusalem's fall- He doesn't sweep away Israel's sin under the rug. He clearly calls them a people who have "done nothing but provoke me to anger," who have "turned to me their back and not their face". And it is to such a people that our memory verse is spoken.
Knowing that Israel had not the ability in themselves to keep the covenant of Moses, He promises to make a new covenant- one in which He accomplishes and provides all that Israel would need to stay in right relationship with Him. To a people who persistently turned their faces away from Him- the Lord in His mercy refuses to turn away from them; He will not turn away from doing good to them. Not only that, the Lord does not do so begrudgingly- he will rejoice in doing them good (Jer. 32:41)! Israel has no merit in herself to lay claim to such mercy!
For us who live on the other side of Jesus' death and resurrection, we know this new covenant was ultimately fulfilled through the gospel of Jesus Christ. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do, by sending His own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement would be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4). Those who trust in the work of Christ alone have been given the Holy Spirit, who will lead.us into all truth and conform us into the image of our Creator.
I encourage you read all of Jeremiah 32- God gives a such a beautiful and merciful vision of what He has for His people in the face of their faithlessness. And to know that all of this is truly fulfilled for those who have His Spirit now through faith in Christ is worth heartily rejoicing over! We worship a God who rejoices in doing us good, even through our hardships, even through our waywardness and stumbling! May the Lord who keeps us in in His love grant us the grace to continually turn to Him in repentance, to seek His strength continually. And may His Spirit increasingly make us a people who will adopt and embody this same ethic to turn towards one another in the face of conflict, hurt and disappointment.
