All throughout Scripture we find the declaration, “Thus says the LORD.” We were fashioned with ears that we may hear; yet, we numb our sense of hearing. As a loving Father, God gently but with increasing and relentless pressure nudges us to call our attention. Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.1
Again I will build you, and you shall be built, . . .2 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father . . .3 There is a time, a season. Most important to the Father is the character formation of his children. All living creatures need water; peculiar though that God chooses a brook, which by nature dries up. Purposely, God tests our heart; will we trust Him? A horse needs to be trained; thus, a bridle4 and an eye blinder are used to protect it from distraction and go in the direction that it is led. Later, it learns to trust its master and becomes useful.
As the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.5 Again you shall adorn yourself . . . and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards . . . ; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit6 Thus says the LORD: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, . . . There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country.7
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, . . . For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.”8
But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.9 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.10
Notes:
1. Jeremiah 31:2-3
2. Jeremiah 31:4a
3. Jeremiah 31:9
4. James 3:3
5. Psalm 16:3
6. Jeremiah 31:4b-5
7. Jeremiah 31:16-17
8. Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34
9. Isaiah 43:1-3a
10. Psalm 16:5
