Day 584: The right response - Jeremiah 31 vs 23 - 30

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: ‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!’ 24 And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” 26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27-28 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the  Lord.  29 In those days they shall no longer say: “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge.” 30 But everyone shall die for his own sin. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. Jeremiah 31:23-30 (English Standard Version)

There's a familiar English saying that “an apple doesn't fall far from the tree.” It's a figurative way of expressing how children often behave in similar ways to their parents. Jeremiah mentions two such sayings that were familiar to the Jews of his generation. What did the first of these express in vs 23?

It was an expression of God's favour. It especially spoke of how privileged Jerusalem was. God was giving a promise that the day would come when they could use this saying once more because, as vs 24 says, the whole region of Judah would be populated again. What was the particular promise God made in vs 25?

Dear reader, that's a promise we can take hold of too. Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

It appears from vs 26 that much of this part of Jeremiah's prophecy was revealed in a dream. And after the words of comfort he'd just heard, no wonder his sleep was sweet! That's what God's promises lead to. So vs 27-28 declare how God would restore the lives of those whom He'd had to discipline. That's also encouraging because it means that God is willing to satisfy and replenish the souls even of those who have drifted from Him through their own disobedience.

This leads, in vs 29, to the other familiar saying in the land. What did that saying imply when it was used, and why did God say they would no longer use it when they returned?

The saying suggested that the current generation was suffering because of the disobedience of earlier generations. That was partly true because when God commanded Israel to never make idols to worship, He had said: “For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,  punishing the children for the sin of the parents  to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” (Exodus 20:5) But in the verse following, God also said: “But I show love to a thousand  generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6)

So Jeremiah was saying that, along with returning to their land and their souls being refreshed, there would also be a new personal responsibility! If they were again disobedient after all God was doing for them, they would only have themselves to blame for what followed. There's always a right response to God's grace, and a wrong one. The apostle Paul put it this way: “Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we’ve died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.“ (Romans 6:1-4)