Readings for today: Jeremiah 49-50
History is littered with the ruins of empires. Civilizations come and go. Kings rise and fall. Even the most powerful like Rome or Egypt or China or the Ottoman Empire eventually succumb to Father Time. He truly is undefeated with one notable, miraculous exception. For thousands of years, God has preserved a people for Himself. For centuries, God has protected His people, guided His people, and prevented their annihilation. Has there ever been a group more oppressed than the Jewish people? Has there ever been a group more targeted by more pagan empires than the people of God? Egypt tried to wipe them out. Assyria, Babylon, and eventually the Persian Empire tried to bring an end to the Jewish people. Those empires gave way to the pogroms of Europe, the Crusades and Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church, and eventually the Final Solution in Germany. Even in our time, there has been a marked rise in anti-semitism. Synagogues have been attacked. Jewish homes and businesses targeted. It is happening in America as well as across Europe and, of course, the Middle East. Many of the nations surrounding modern-day Israel still make her complete destruction the cornerstone of their foreign policy though, thankfully, there are signs that may be changing.
The reading from Jeremiah for today seems to highlight this reality. Jeremiah lists the number of nations who will rise and fall while Israel endures. Ammon. Edom. Damascus. Kedar. Elam. Even Babylon herself! The names may not mean much to us but these were the tribal and even global powers of their day. All of them thrown on the trash heap of history by God Himself. All of them consigned to the dustbin of history by the Lord. Their gods have been forgotten. Their cities lay in ruins. Their glory forgotten. Meanwhile, Israel endures. Though she has been consistently oppressed and persecuted. Though she has been beaten down and chased from seemingly every nation on earth. Though she has had to endure so much, she remains. She is still here. She still finds ways to not just survive but even to thrive. Surely, one can see the hand of the Lord in this?
Does this mean Israel is perfect? Absolutely not. Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets catalog her sins. What was true for ancient Israel holds true for modern day Israel as well. She continues to perpetuate the sins of her past in many ways. In many ways, she looks just like the ungodly nations around her. She acts just like the ungodly nations around her. The same is true for the church as well. Those of us who’ve been “grafted in” as part of the people of God as the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans 11. We too look far too much like the world. We’ve adopted the ways and means of the world to try and accomplish Kingdom ends and it never seems to work out well. Quite the opposite, in fact. Thankfully, God is faithful in the face of our unfaithfulness. God is loyal in the face of our betrayal. God is good in the face of our evil. God is righteous in the face our unrighteousness. He preserves and protects us even from ourselves. Though we are “lost sheep” and our “shepherds lead us astray.” Though we “wander aimless through the hills and lose track of home.” Though we “can’t remember where we came from and everyone tries to take advantage of us.” Though we “abandoned our True Pasture and the hope of our ancestors”, God will never let us go. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. He will make us lie down in green pastures. He will lead us beside still waters. He will restore our souls if we but turn to Him.
Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 51, Psalm 137