rescue

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Today we continue with Jeremiah's rebuke to the people of Israel for their idolatry. The immediate future for Israel looks bleak because of God's judgment. At the same time in this passage we begin to see a ray of hope for the longer-term future. Our passage says, "The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,” but “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north...” In other words, the event people will see as the defining moment in God's relationship with Israel won't be the Exodus anymore, but the coming salvation from exile. The rescue from this exile will be just as clear a proof of God's love and power as the dramatic rescue from Egypt that has been remembered joyfully for thousands of years.

We're wise to remember the ways God has saved us in the past because those moments remind us of God's love and faithfulness. God's salvation is also continuing so we can look forward to new ways God will renew our relationship with him. We think about the God who raised Jesus from the dead, the God who led the early church, the God who gets us through the hard days, the God who strengthens us for ministry in New Orleans. Truly the Lord lives and he can save us powerfully today from everything that holds us back. Each of these rescues gives us a view of God's character and love.

Blessings on your day,
Sam


Jeremiah 16:15-21

14Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,” 15but “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.” For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.



16I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from my sight. 18And I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.



19O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: Our ancestors have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. 20Can mortals make for themselves gods? Such are no gods! 21“Therefore I am surely going to teach them, this time I am going to teach them my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.”