Year 3, Day 86: Jeremiah 33

Gore

We’ve enjoyed a few chapters that ended with a word of peace.  This is another one.  But this chapter starts off with a horrifically real prophecy to the people of Jerusalem.  It occurs in verse 4.

You see, the army of Babylon is surrounding the city.  We heard yesterday about the siege ramps and siege mounds that were literally being built up against the city.  These ramps were being built so the Babylonian soldiers could simply charge over the walls without having to scale them or knock them down.  It was a very labor-intensive but common practice.

As the people outside built ramps, the people inside had the futile choice of resisting.  In order to resist, the city inside was often dismantled.  You see, the city inside didn’t have the endless raw materials that the army outside had.  So they had to take apart their own town brick by brick and stone by stone.  Slowly the town – even the royal palace! – was dismantled in an attempt to shore up the walls and make the siege warfare from the outside useless.

Literally, the people of Jerusalem were dismantling their own precious city.

Literally, they were taking apart brick by brick the city that the Lord had built for them.  This precious city of God was being dismantled because the people had become rebellious and turned this city into something abominable to the Lord.  They rebelled and fell away from God.  Now they tore apart their precious city to protect their rebellion and to intentionally resist being humbled before God.  Because they resisted the chastisement of God, they tore apart their own livelihood.  There’s a good lesson in that.

I’d like to point out a quick fact.  What is really interesting is that as they are disassembling the city they maintain the place for a prison.  This chapter comes to Jeremiah while he is still imprisoned!  The town around him is being torn apart, but the prison stands!

Coming back to the chapter, listen to what the Lord tells Jeremiah as they dismantle their own city.  The people of Judah have come to Jerusalem to fight against the Chaldeans (Babylonians) so that their own dismantled homes can be filled with their dead.  Their resistance in the face of God will only hasten their death and fill their precious city with decay.

This is a dark day for Jerusalem.  There is reason to mourn for them.  There is reason to mourn for all who do not learn this lesson.  When we rebel against God, we do hasten our death – presently and eternally.

Restoration

However, blessedly this is not the end of the story.  Immediately after pronouncing the hastening of their death, God then announces that a time of restoration is coming.  God announces that He will heal them.  Note the pronouns there.  God will heal the people.  God will cleanse them.  God will forgive them.  God will restore their reputation.  God will restore their joy.

I love this immediate change from death to restoration because the source of the change rings forth loud and clear.  Jerusalem is being destroyed and filled with decay because the people are refusing to humble themselves before God.  They are refusing to accept God’s rod.  When we focus on what human beings can do, it ends in death.  But the restoration comes at God’s hand.  When we allow ourselves to be removed from the picture and let it be about God and what He desires to do in and through us, then there is restoration!  When God is the center instead of our human desires, then end result is completely and totally different!

Unbreakable Covenant

The final section of this chapter has to deal with the covenant.  One of the elements of this chapter and how it deals with the covenant is the unbreakable nature.  When I read this section of text I couldn’t help but think about just how often we as people are prone to making assumptions about God.  We assume that because things are going poorly that God has abandoned us.

In a way, that is no different than a child who is sent to their room believes that their parent has abandoned them.  I’m sure we’ve all been there, so we can all agree that this is just human nature.  But the reality is that the parent is establishing a framework around us so that we can process our life.  A child is set to their room to think about what is going on.  There is usually some internal processing of anger, frustration, and family dynamics - even if the child doesn’t think in those terms.  We are sent to our room to process life and come out with a modified perspective.

God is no different.  The Hebrew people need to be sent to their rooms so that they can process their life.  They need to sit down and think long and hard about what got them there.  Then they can come out with a new perspective.  As the siege mounts and they are dragged into captivity, God has abandoned them.  God has put them right where they need to be!

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