The one thing necessary for true change (Jer 31:1-26)
Jer 31:1-26
One time, a friend shared how much she longed for her dad’s approval. As a middle child she had always felt a bit passed over and her father was so busy with work that he had little time for her. She said that she knew as a Christian that God loved her, she was saved, but somehow that was not enough when she thought of her human father and her lack there. Whether it is the love of a parent, a spouse, a friend, we all long for affirmation, someone to say ‘well done’, someone to appreciate what we do and who we are. Some look for it through achievements at work, ‘conquests’ in relationships, even service to others, many try to manipulate reality, especially in the online virtual sphere where pictures can be airbrushed and the perfect photos of the perfect meals on the perfect holiday all proclaim that those people are living the perfect life. None of us can entirely shake off some sense of inadequacy that we do not measure up, however, and it is fuelled further by Western culture’s preoccupation with image and appearance.
The power of God’s love
Israel and Judah’s sense of what they needed expressed itself differently from our culture, but their history of disobedience and idolatry may be seen as a desire to meet those needs apart from God, whether it meant security from enemies, having bountiful harvests or growing families. The people thought that they knew God, but their taking Him for granted and seeking fulfilment in other things indicated that His love and grace were not real to them. Just like my friend for whom her dad’s lack of love was more real than God’s love, Israel needed to know God’s real affection for them to heal their wayward heart. It is God’s loyal love and commitment (NASB ‘lovingkindness’, ḥesed) that will draw them to Himself (Jer 31:3; cf. Hos 11:4). Despite all Israel’s betrayals and unfaithfulness with other ‘lovers’, God calls them virgin Israel (Jer 31:4, 21 cf. Jer 3:1). He does not allow the shadow of the past to poison the relationship. God is the shepherd who redeems and gathers the flock, the father whose firstborn son is Israel (Jer 31:9-11), a privileged and much valued position in the ancient world (Jer 31:9). Indeed, despite all their sins, God calls them a dear son and a delightful child for whom He yearns (Jer 31:20)!
Israel’s response
Israel’s response is a mixture of joy and tears (Jer 31:9, 12). It is as they truly experience God’s love through the aspects of restoration that they will acknowledge the Lord as ‘our God’, desire to have fellowship with Him and be satisfied with His goodness (Jer 31:6, 14) rather than look for fulfilment elsewhere. There is, of course, the grief over the death of the nation, pictured as the matriarch Rachel crying for her lost children as Israel goes into exile from Ramah (Jer 40:1).[1] But the hope God offers leads to repentance (Jer 31:18-19). In their remorse the people will even recognise that they need God’s help to turn around (the end of v.18 reads ‘cause me to turn [i.e. repent] and I shall turn’). Their change of heart in seeking out God will be as unexpected as a woman initiating a relationship with a man would have been in that culture (Jer 31:22).
The key to real change
How does real change happen? As Augustine famously said in his Confessions, ‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.’ All our searches for significance, affirmation and happiness are a seeking after that ultimate fulfilment and finding these apart from God will leave us with a desire for more. Determination to become better people and resist temptation will not change us long-term. It is not enough for God’s love to be an abstract truth that ‘should’ make a difference. Only when it penetrates our heart and becomes like water quenching our thirst after a long hot day that our loves (the things we value and feel we need) are re-ordered and seen in their proper place and perspective. Like Israel, who encountered God’s love through their deliverance, so we discover it through reflecting on the wonder of God saving us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
[1] Leah and Rachel, Jacob’s two wives were the mothers of the twelve tribes of Israel (some through the surrogate motherhood of their maids; Gen 29:31-30:24). Rachel died in giving birth to Benjamin on the way to Bethlehem and called him Ben-oni (‘son of my sorrow’; Gen 35:16-20) expressing her grief over her own dying. In Jeremiah, Rachel is used symbolically as the grieving mother this time for the nation. Since her tomb is thought to have been close to Ramah, where the exiles were gathered before taken into exile, this connection further explains the association with her.
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