This Has And Will Happen
14 “However, look, the days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—”when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’ 15 but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.
16 “I am about to send for many fishermen”—this is the Lord’s declaration—”and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks, 17 for my gaze takes in all their ways. They are not concealed from me, and their iniquity is not hidden from my sight. 18 I will first repay them double for their iniquity and sin because they have polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their abhorrent and detestable idols.”
19 Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in a time of distress,
the nations will come to you
from the ends of the earth, and they will say,
“Our ancestors inherited only lies,
worthless idols of no benefit at all.”
20 Can one make gods for himself?
But they are not gods.
21 “Therefore, I am about to inform them,
and this time I will make them know
my power and my might;
then they will know that my name is the Lord.”Jeremiah 16:14–21
Jeremiah tells the church a NEW thing from the Lord: 14 “However, look, the days are coming“—the LORD’s declaration—”when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’ 15 but rather, ‘As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.
What is the difference? The first was the Gospel message for the people of Israel until God was ready to show them more…more Grace than they thought they could have…
More mercy than they could possibly expect…could ever deserve….
Who is this…their God? I mean, He HAD ALREADY rescued them out of slavery in Egypt…
And made them His own possession…a Holy Nation…a Royal Priesthood unto Him…not because they were, but because He made them to be…by His actions…by His DECLARATIVE WORD.
It is so. They are.
And He gave them a wonderful place to live…
And … what did they do? They sinned against Him.
And as He had warned…they lost their land. They were exiled and deported.
Does this mean that the original promise…the first Gospel message was now null and void?
Not at all! But understand this, it is not as if God did not know this ahead of time. It was not as if God did not know that they (we) would not be faithful to Him…despite all that He did do. No, they as we, need more than this. We humans need more Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness than this.
Because our corruption goes far deeper than this. It is not just a fix, but a remaking that has to take place.
But it was not the fullness of time, yet.
So, God scattered them. God took away their pride, dignity, false self-reliance…
But again, He promised to bring them back after 70 years.
And He keeps His promises. He is faithful…even though He has no reason to be towards us.
The only reason is THAT He is Merciful. He is Forgiving. He is Loving. This is who He is…
So now, when asked Who God is…and what has He done…Jeremiah tells them to say now…instead:
15 … ‘As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.
So… harder, God makes it for them… for us … to get ourselves out from under… untangled…freed… OR RATHER, harder for God to rescue… making sin to be VERY SINFULL… for men, He says, it is impossible… showing the world and the devil this… HOW TRULY IMPOSSIBLE it is for us to be saved… to be rescuable… from this dire situation that we really are in…
But that is STILL not the end of it…because that is not the end of His inheritance…His people…His church…
…even if it is also not the end of them and us from getting into more trouble.
Not that that has ever been any different. Not that the depth of depravity has not already been in us to the fullest extent, even back then…as it still is today.
Jeremiah himself, in an earlier verse (vs. 9) reports to us from God…on the human condition. He says: 9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it? [CSB] [Jeremiah 17:9]
Yes, who?
Only God!
And so that is why He did what He has done. That is why it takes all of this… and all of this time…
Yes, even this second round of rescue, it too is still not enough. God knows this, and as St. Paul tells us…in the fullness of time…He will complete it…as He promised…
And of course, that is what the rest of what Jeremiah is telling the people about…that even though God has brought you back…He still has to do more to fully save humans.
So He says to us: 16 “I am about to send for many fishermen”—this is the LORD’s declaration—”and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks, 17 for my gaze takes in all their ways. They are not concealed from me, and their iniquity is not hidden from my sight. 18 I will first repay them double for their iniquity and sin because they have polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their abhorrent and detestable idols.”
When will this take place? In the fullness of time…
And behold a virgin shall give birth and He shall be called Immanuel, God with us.
And they took Him out to the place called the skull…and they crucified Him.
And He cried out with a loud voice…and said, “IT IS FINISHED!”
All because HE… God… has not hidden His eyes from our iniquity….
Not until He had it all… and not until it all… had been buried in the flesh of Christ…
… and drowned in the sea of Baptism.
Eli eli lama sabachthani… My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?
Not until it has been paid for in full!
…and in human flesh we did pay double…in Jesus—in His Flesh and by His Blood…and…
Because just as in one man (Adam) we all died, so too, in one man (Jesus Christ) have all been made to rise to new life…
… because He has paid…
Jesus has paid for our polluting of all the Good that God has given to us…with our many, many idols…
With our many, many sins—sins piled upon pile… and put upon Him… nailed into Him…
In this… we have a new inheritance…in this Christ…
By Baptism…as we are born anew into this; in Him…from Jesus.
And so, though this… being in Him…He made us into fishers of men. Sinners to help bring back sinners from exile…to lead sinners away from idols to worship the One True God…
From many nations across the whole earth… on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks…as Jeremiah prophesized…
First this was the disciples…Peter a sinful man…his partners James and John… precocious and wrathful sons of thunder… and then the others…great sinners all… who became Apostles…these first fishers of men…
Remember?
…and… when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind… And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
…41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls…And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. [ESV]
And so…from then on…fishers…catching sinners…are you and me…and those after us… to the end of the age.
But THIS has always been the same salvation as promised. From the beginning. From Adam and Eve to Abraham and Moses…to Luther…and to us.
It was just that God had to show us how much we needed a real savior. How much salvation was necessary…
THAT GOD HAD TO DIE FOR US TO BE SAVED! That it took that much Mercy and Grace… as how great our sins are…how terrible we sinners actually are…
That it required so great a sacrifice to accomplish. And this was no simple repair. No, it had to be a new creation. The old must be put down and dissolved by death and fire.
Yet, God in His great Wisdom and wonderful Love, made it in such a way that we are still us. Jesus was no mere ghost. That the old creation is still persevered because God called it Very Good, will be another of His wonders!
And yet… it will be even better still, but itself also.
And so, we… not just Israel… together with every kind of people… can pray with Jeremiah:
19 LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a time of distress, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our ancestors inherited only lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.” 20 Can one make gods for himself? But they are not gods.
From this confession of guilt and of faith, that God has created in us, God answers our prayer…our need, saying:
21 “Therefore, I am about to inform them, and this time I will make them know my power and my might; then they will know that my name is the LORD.”
Where will this be done? The Cross and the empty tomb. What Name? Jesus our savior—God with us.
Amen.
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