and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
his appetite will be satisfied
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, at that time,"
declares the LORD,
"search will be made for Israel's guilt,
but there will be none,
and for the sins of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive the remnant I spare. Jeremiah50:19-20
Yesterday we saw that God judges nations and He also holds the nations He uses as instruments of justice accountable for the the injustice of their "justice."
Now in the verses that follow we move to hope.
Hope for Israel is articulated in two key concepts: Restoration and Forgiveness.
Israel had sinned and had refused to listen even though God used every means possible to get through to them - (think of Ezekiel walking around naked, cutting off his hair, digging through walls and various other symbolic acts) - but they would not listen!
Defeat and Exile brought Israel to her senses.
And God restores - miraculously!
The book of Daniel tells us how the Babylonian King Belshazzar (son of Nebuchadnezzar) grabs the temple goblets and uses them for a pagan feast and a hand appears on the wall writing "Mene mene tekel parsin" (Your days are numbered, you have been weighed and found wanting and your kingdom will be divided among the Medes and Persians) And that _same_ night Darius of the Persians marches into Babylon and defeats the Babylonians. The policy of the Persians is to allow subject countries to govern themselves and the exiled Israelites are sent home. (They'd been held by the Babylonians for 70 years)
But more significantly, God forgives.
And the forgiveness articulated here anticipates Christ's work on the cross. This is not sacrificial forgiveness where the sinner has to do something to be forgiven. This is the complete forgiveness that is offered by a gracious God to an undeserving people. You can search as much as you like for their guilt - but it is GONE. It's not swept under the carpet - it's not hidden away in a cupboard - it's not locked up in a safe for blackmail - it is GONE!
There is justice and hope!
Be in church on Sunday to worship this amazing God!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@gracepresby.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
