The Lord is calling people to himself. This is always his way. And for those that come, there is a new covenant, a new relationship, not just the Ark behind the veil that no one could approach. Now, the Lord will set His throne in Jerusalem and call all people to him. But this is all based on one thing: Will you return to Him? Will you circumcise your heart? Will you leave the things of the past and instead choose to live, from Jeremiah 4:2 “in truth, in justice, and in righteousness”? Will you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life? Say yes right now and come into the fullness of life that the Lord has for you.
Have You Seen What Apostate Israel Has Done?
They Will Call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh’
Jeremiah 3:11–25
The Lord is calling Israel back. But they have been scattered and it is also true that not all are willing to return. For those that will in Jeremiah 3:13 “acknowledge your guilt”, the Lord says in Jeremiah 3:14 “I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you to Zion”. Here, though, is God’s heart toward them, and also to us as Christians, “all shall be restored (Am 9:9). So, in the spiritual Israel, God gathers one convert here, another there, into His Church; not the least one is lost (Mt 18:14; Ro 11:5; compare Je 24:5–7)”.1
Even thought there are those that will refuse, it is the Lords desire for all to be saved in
1 Timothy 2:3–4 This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
And for those that will come, they will find in
Jeremiah 3:15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight.
Even more than this, it will be a much closer relationship. In Jeremiah 3:16 “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh” by which only the high priest could enter in and then only once a year. Now, in Jeremiah 3:17 “they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem”.
Circumcise Yourselves to Yahweh
Jeremiah 4:1–4
People often say they are waiting on God, when it is usually God that is waiting on us. Here in Jeremiah 4:1 the Lord says “If you return … if you remove your abominations …” and in Jeremiah 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves … remove the foreskins of your hearts”. The action is on the people that the Lord is calling, for them to set themselves apart from the old life and take on in Jeremiah 4:2 “in truth, in justice, and in righteousness” which is a new life. This is new life that begins with “a new oath by the life of the Lord in truth, justice and uprightness as an indication of genuine repentance”.2
Blow a Horn Through the Land
Jeremiah4:5–13
Cleanse Your Heart From Wickedness
Jeremiah 4:14–22
Again, the cry goes out from the Lord in Jeremiah 4:14 “Cleanse your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved”. But the will not so the Lord then says, in Jeremiah 4:18 “You obtained this for yourself because of your way and your deeds” and in Jeremiah 4:22 “For my people … are foolish … They are skillful at doing evil, and they do not know how to do good.”
All of the Land Will be a Desolation
Jeremiah 4:23–31
They Together Have Broken the Yoke
Because You Have Spoken This Word
Jeremiah 5:11–19
The Lord says in Jeremiah 5:11 “the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt utterly treacherously with me,” but what prompts him to say this? It is their disregard for the covenant and disregard for the word of the prophets in Jeremiah 5:12 where they say “evil will not come on us” which denies that God has any power over the affairs of men. And in Jeremiah 5:13 “the prophets are like wind” which denies that the prophets are speaking from presence of God.
Here, the people have made the mistake many make today, depending only on God’s love and ignoring the sceptre of righteousness in Hebrews 1:8-9 “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of righteous is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness”. These “people, forgetful that God maintains his rights (Exod. 20:5), had stressed the privileges of covenant membership at the expense of its responsibilities, thinking that punishment was incompatible with the nature of a loving God. Consequently they had scoffed at predictions of calamity (cf. Zeph. 1:12), regarding the prophets as mere windbags whose word had no higher authority than their own, and adhering instead to the soothing utterances of false prognosticators”.3
And because of this arrogant attitude toward God and his covenant, in
Jeremiah 5:19 And then, when you people say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all of these things to us?’ Then you will say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and have served gods of a foreign land in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that does not belong to you.’
Study Verses
- Jeremiah 3:11–25 They Will Call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh’
- Jeremiah 4:1–4 Circumcise Yourselves to Yahweh
- Jeremiah 5:11–19 Because You Have Spoken This Word
Today’s Reading
- Jeremiah 3:6-25
- Jeremiah 4:1-31
- Jeremiah 5:1-19
References
- 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 510). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
- 2. Harrison, R. K. (1973). Jeremiah and Lamentations: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 21, p. 72). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
- 3. Harrison, R. K. (1973). Jeremiah and Lamentations: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 21, p. 80). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
