“Look, the time is coming when I will turn everything around for my people, both in Israel and in Judah. I, God, say so. I’ll bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors and they’ll take up ownership again.”
(Jeremiah 30:3 MSG)
God was speaking through Jeremiah to His people who have been exiled from Israel. He whispered hope in their ears as they sullenly trudged away from the Promised Land and toward Babylon. He told them, they’ll be back, that His plan wasn’t yet complete. He reminded them of His covenant love and the commitments He had made maybe a thousand years prior. He slipped the anticipation of restoration in their pockets as spiritual treasure to sustain them on foreign soil.
What does this mean for the modern reader?
Beloved, we still live in Babylon. Sin has extracted a terrible price on this planet and we wade through it’s consequences every day. But even as exiles, we hang on tight to the same white-hot hope that God will one day soon make it all right again. We take Him at His word as Redeemer and we trust that though we live and work and worship in a foreign land, one day He’ll call us Home. One day He’ll dwell among us again, we’ll be His people and He’ll be our God. Like the early Jewish exiles, we stoke that hope and take small steps each day toward our God; hearts set on going Home.
“So fear no more, Jacob, dear servant, don’t despair, Israel. Look up! I’ll save you out of the faraway places, I’ll bring your children back from exile. Jacob will come back and find life good, safe and secure. I’ll be with you. I’ll save you.” (Jeremiah 30:22 MSG)
“And that’s it: you’ll be my very own people and I’ll be your very own God.” (Jeremiah 30:22 MSG)
Lord, help us keep our eyes on the prize of our future with You. Give us grace in Babylon but tug our hearts every homeward. Amen.