There’s Always More Grace

Readings for today: Jeremiah 33-36, Psalms 22

God’s grace is truly amazing. No matter how bad things get. No matter how far we fall. No matter how fast we run. God is always quick to forgive. Quick to relent of the judgment our sin rightfully deserves. Zedekiah is another in a long line of evil kings. Kings who reject the will of God. Kings who worship idols. Kings who seek their own glory and power instead of humbly serving God. Judgment is coming. Jeremiah has been sent to proclaim the impending doom. The sins of Israel are many and have piled up over the years, creating a mess God intends to use Babylon to clean up. It’s going to be ugly. It’s going to be tragic. It’s going to be painful. Many will suffer. Many will die. All they hold dear will be destroyed as God’s justice rolls down on the earth. 

But even now at the eleventh hour, there is hope. God’s mercy makes one last appearance. God commands Jeremiah to speak a word of grace to the nation. To speak words of life instead of death. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not knowI will certainly bring health and healing to Jerusalem and will indeed heal them. I will let them experience the abundance of true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and of Israel and will rebuild them as in former times. I will purify them from all the iniquity they have committed against me, and I will forgive all the iniquities they have committed against me, rebelling against me. This city will bear on my behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the prosperity I will give them. They will tremble with awe because of all the good and all the peace I will bring about for them.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭33‬:‭3‬, ‭6‬-‭9‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Yes, they cannot escape God’s judgment. Yes, they cannot escape the exile to come. But this is not the final word. God will not allow His eternal covenant to be broken.

"Look, the days are coming” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “when I will fulfill the good promise that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a Righteous Branch to sprout up for David, and he will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is what she will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness. For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel. The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭33‬:‭14‬-‭18‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

Friends, Jesus is the righteous Branch God has caused to spring up out of the waste and desolation that is left of Israel. God sends His Messiah to executive justice and righteousness in the land once more. God sends His Messiah to save His people and secure His city. Jesus is the greater David. The righteous King who now sits on His throne. Jesus is our great High Priest constantly making intercession for us before the Ancient of Days. Jesus is God’s answer to all that has gone wrong in this world and Jesus is God’s solution to the perpetual problem of human sin.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 37-39, Psalms 23

The End of Judgment

Readings for today: Amos 6-9

Reading from the Message today was like reading something straight out of the headlines of the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Amos’ prophetic words powerfully describe what’s happening in our nation today. Listen to them again from Amos 6:3-6…

“Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster! Catastrophe is just around the corner! Woe to those who live in luxury and expect everyone else to serve them! Woe to those who live only for today, indifferent to the fate of others! Woe to the playboys, the playgirls, who think life is a party held just for them! Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain! those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles! They could not care less about their country going to ruin.”

Greed. Exploitation. Indifference. Indulgence. Unrestrained hedonism. The constant pursuit of the dopamine rush. Obsession with appearance and the fountain of eternal youth. These same sinful attitudes infect our culture today and they represent a clear and present danger to the future of our country. God will not be mocked. He will hand us over to the lusts of our hearts and allow us to suffer the natural consequences of the choices we make. We might as well be “holding a horse race in a field of rocks” or “plowing the sea with oxen.” (Amos 6:12 MSG) We have forgotten God. Even worse, we have specifically rebelled against His will and created design. It won’t end well.

So what are God’s people to do? What are we to do when we read Amos 7 and the series of visions God gives His prophet, foretelling the destruction of Israel? What are we to do when we see the cutting locust on the horizon? The firestorm that’s on it’s way? The plumb line God is holding over our nation? We do what Amos did. We pray. We intercede. We call on God to remember His love for His people. We call on God to remember His love for the world. Most of all, we call on God to remember the judgment He poured our on Jesus Christ who died not just for our sins but for the sins of the world. (1 John 2:2) Amos cried out to God. Three times he interceded for the people of Israel. Jacob is so small. Jacob is so weak. He cannot stand the coming judgment. Twice God relented. The third time He brings judgment and it is terrible but leaves Amos with a promise.

“But also on that Judgment Day I will restore David’s house that has fallen to pieces. I’ll repair the holes in the roof, replace the broken windows, fix it up like new. David’s people will be strong again and seize what’s left of enemy Edom, plus everyone else under my sovereign judgment.” God’s Decree. He will do this. “Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God’s Decree. “Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people Israel: “They’ll rebuild their ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables. And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land. They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them.” God, your God, says so.” (Amos‬ ‭9‬:‭11‬-‭15‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

God’s judgment is never the last word. It is always a means to the much greater end of restoration, redemption, salvation. God longs for the nations of the earth to turn to Him. God loves every nation on earth. Every people group on earth. Every tribe and tongue and language. This includes our own. The most important thing we can do as God’s people, called to live and serve for such a time as this in our nation’s history, is pray for our country. Pray for our leaders. Pray for the hearts of our neighbors. Ask God to intervene and bring us to repentance for we, like Jacob, are small and timid and weak and cannot stand the coming judgment.

Readings for tomorrow: Hosea 1-5