Jeremiah 31:1-40

The everlasting love of God is hard for us to comprehend.  The children of Israel have been disobedient, idolatrous, complaining and unfaithful for so many generations and yet God has continued to affirm His love for them.  Even though they are in captivity now and have suffered many difficulties along the way; God continues to affirm His love for them.  The same is true of every man.  We have all sinned against the Lord and walked in disobedience but He continues to love us and longs to have us restored to a right relationship with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.  His love is everlasting and unconditional and our sin causes Him great pain because it separates us from Him.
GOD WILL TURN MOURNING INTO LAUGHTER: Sin has brought Israel and Judah into captivity and turned their land into a desolate wasteland.  Their cities have been destroyed.  Their fields have been made unproductive.  They have lost their freedom and many of them have lost their lives or the lives of their family members.  The mourning and lamentations can be heard from all over the land and in all the nations where the children of Israel have been spread.  Just when things look as if they were hopeless; God declares His everlasting love for His people and He promises to turn their mourning into laughter.  He promises to bring the people back into their land and to prosper them in the land.  They will be able to plant crops and harvest them without fear of invasion from the surrounding nations.  They will give their sons and daughters in marriage and their families will be blessed with many children.  Weeping will be replaced with shouts of joy and the people bask in the joy of their God.  All of God’s children sin and they are all disciplined as our Father disciplines His sons and daughters.  We all live in a world where Satan has ruled and so suffering is a part of our daily experience.  God is at work to change all of these things because He loves us so much and will, one day, bring an end to all suffering and bring us safely into our eternal dwelling where there will be unbounded joy for evermore.

GOD WILL TURN HEARTS OF STONE INTO FLESH: God’s promise of transformation is far more than a promise of physical blessing.  God declares to Jeremiah the message of a New Covenant.  This unconditional promise from God is different from the one He made with Moses.  God had placed many conditions upon the Covenant He made with Israel when they were about to enter The Promised Land.  He promised them that IF they would obey He would bless them and IF they would disobey they would be punished.  This New Covenant has no “IF” clauses.  God declares His intention to change the hearts of Israel and implanting within their hearts the Word of God so they will each know God’s Word and not be in need of a teacher.  This covenant is not dependent upon Israel’s obedience; rather it is established as an unchangeable law of nature.  God promises to save the nation from their sin and bring them into a loving and personal relationship with Him.  He also promises to bring them safely into the Land He promised to their forefathers and establish them there in an everlasting peace from which they will never be taken.  Their hearts and homes will be forever established within the love of God.  God has offered the heart transforming blessings of the New Covenant to all who trust Christ for forgiveness of sin.  In this great promise we can all rejoice.The everlasting love of God is hard for us to comprehend.  The children of Israel have been disobedient, idolatrous, complaining and unfaithful for so many generations and yet God has continued to affirm His love for them.  Even though they are in captivity now and have suffered many difficulties along the way; God continues to affirm His love for them.  The same is true of every man.  We have all sinned against the Lord and walked in disobedience but He continues to love us and longs to have us restored to a right relationship with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.  His love is everlasting and unconditional and our sin causes Him great pain because it separates us from Him.

GOD WILL TURN MOURNING INTO LAUGHTER: Sin has brought Israel and Judah into captivity and turned their land into a desolate wasteland.  Their cities have been destroyed.  Their fields have been made unproductive.  They have lost their freedom and many of them have lost their lives or the lives of their family members.  The mourning and lamentations can be heard from all over the land and in all the nations where the children of Israel have been spread.  Just when things look as if they were hopeless; God declares His everlasting love for His people and He promises to turn their mourning into laughter.  He promises to bring the people back into their land and to prosper them in the land.  They will be able to plant crops and harvest them without fear of invasion from the surrounding nations.  They will give their sons and daughters in marriage and their families will be blessed with many children.  Weeping will be replaced with shouts of joy and the people bask in the joy of their God.  All of God’s children sin and they are all disciplined as our Father disciplines His sons and daughters.  We all live in a world where Satan has ruled and so suffering is a part of our daily experience.  God is at work to change all of these things because He loves us so much and will, one day, bring an end to all suffering and bring us safely into our eternal dwelling where there will be unbounded joy for evermore.

GOD WILL TURN HEARTS OF STONE INTO FLESH: God’s promise of transformation is far more than a promise of physical blessing.  God declares to Jeremiah the message of a New Covenant.  This unconditional promise from God is different from the one He made with Moses.  God had placed many conditions upon the Covenant He made with Israel when they were about to enter The Promised Land.  He promised them that IF they would obey He would bless them and IF they would disobey they would be punished.  This New Covenant has no “IF” clauses.  God declares His intention to change the hearts of Israel and implanting within their hearts the Word of God so they will each know God’s Word and not be in need of a teacher.  This covenant is not dependent upon Israel’s obedience; rather it is established as an unchangeable law of nature.  God promises to save the nation from their sin and bring them into a loving and personal relationship with Him.  He also promises to bring them safely into the Land He promised to their forefathers and establish them there in an everlasting peace from which they will never be taken.  Their hearts and homes will be forever established within the love of God.  God has offered the heart transforming blessings of the New Covenant to all who trust Christ for forgiveness of sin.  In this great promise we can all rejoice.

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