Gathering in the Chosen
(No. 3308)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1912.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORDS-DAY EVENING, APRIL
29, 1866.
"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from
the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the
woman with child and her that travails with child together; a great
company shall return there. They shall come with weeping, and with
supplications I will lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers
of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a
Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born." Jeremiah 31:8,9.
THERE IS a wonderful variety in the acts of God and yet there is a most
singular uniformity. So complete is this uniformity that any one
deliverance which God works for His people will be found to be, in its
main features, just like any other of His deliverances.
Starting–for it is a convenient starting-point–with the deliverance
of God's people out of Egypt, there are many points of similarity
between that marvel of mercy and the bringing back of the banished
tribes from Babylon to their own land. There was a manifestation of the
same gracious consideration, of the same Omnipotent power, of the some
efficient purpose worked out in all points according to God's Eternal
Covenant. Then, taking another great leap, that return from Babylon is,
no doubt, a very fair picture and a very excellent type of the
gathering together in their own land of the Jews in the days that are
yet to come when they shall say to one another, "Let us go up to the
house of our God." Everybody will admit that it will be as great a
wonder to see the Jews, who are now a nation scattered abroad
throughout the whole world, once more dwelling together in Palestine,
as it was for them to have been brought out of Egypt or delivered out
of Babylon in days long past! But taking a still greater leap, this
again is a type of the greatest of all deliverances–the deliverance
neither of the Jews alone nor of the Gentiles alone, but of the whole
chosen company who shall be brought out from all the lands of sin and
error into which they have been driven by their first parents' fall and
their own actual transgressions! They shall be brought out by the same
almighty power, only on a far greater scale, and they shall meet, as in
a common focus, in that Jerusalem above which is the home of all the
chosen! I want to turn your thoughts toward that glorious future when
the vast assembly of the redeemed will "sing the Song of Moses, the
servant of God, and the Song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous
are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, You
King of saints."
I. And, first, I am going to show you that we have, in the text, DEITY
MANIFESTED.
There is a Divine ring about the text as there was in that ancient fiat
which startled the darkness and caused it to flee away. "Let there be
light, and there was light." So here the Lord says, "I will bring them
and gather them.. .and they shall come.. .I will lead them. I will
cause them to walk; they shall not stumble." It is, "I will," and,
"they shall" all the way through! There is no admission of doubt or of
the possibility of failure. Jehovah speaks in the Sovereignty of His
power and says, "I will do this, and I will do that," and there is not
an, "if," or a, "perhaps," or a "maybe" to mar the certainty of the
Divine Declarations–"I will" and "they shall."
Remember, Beloved, that it was so in Egypt. " Moses and Aaron went in
and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Let My people go,
that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said,
Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know
not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Yet, when the Lord smote
his first-born with all the first-born throughout the land of Egypt,
"he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up and get you
forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and
go, serve the Lord as you
have said." And when the time came for captive Israel to return from
Babylon, God had but to speak and the iron bars snapped in sunder and
the gates of brass flew open! So also shall it be in the latter days
when the Jews are restored to their own land. By some mysterious
influence which probably many of them will not be able to understand,
they will be irresistibly drawn from all parts of the earth to
Emmanuel's land and, meanwhile, that same Divine Energy is gathering
together the chosen unto the great Shiloh, for "unto Him shall the
gathering of the people be." Invisible bands of love are continually
drawing to Christ those for whom He died. The mighty magnet of His
atoning Sacrifice is constantly attracting to Him the members of His
redeemed family–more in one age than in another, yet always according
to the eternal purpose and decree of God–for although He acts
mysteriously and silently, yet He always "works all things after the
counsel of His own will."
I do not know any theme upon which one might dilate with greater joy
than that of the Omnipotent energy of God as displayed in the salvation
of sinners, yet it must always be understood that we proclaim this
Truth in complete harmony with the responsibility of man and his
absolute free agency. I have always taught you that the Omnipotence of
God over the human heart is never exercised in such a way as to violate
the free will of man. It would be a clumsy kind of Omnipotence that
would do as it pleased with men whether they were willing or not! But
it is Divine Omnipotence that molds the will, enlightens the judgment
and fashions the heart and mind and character of man according to the
Lord's eternal purpose. Yet, on the other hand, let me beseech you
never to let your ideas of the free agency of man prevent you from
adoring the Omnipotent Sovereignty of God. We are not to have man's
free will sitting on the throne! Its place is that of a humble servant
waiting at Jehovah's feet. Let the glorious Truth of God that "the Lord
reigns" be proclaimed in its fullest sense and let the man who dares to
limit the Sovereignty of God answer for it before Him who, with a rod
of iron, would dash in pieces the potter's vessel that presumed to say,
"Why have you made me thus?" We believe that when the great drama of
human history is complete, it will conform in every jot and tittle to
the eternal plan that was in the mind of God long before He spoke the
great creative word which called the Heaven and the earth into
existence!
In the bringing up of Israel out of Babylon there were a great many
questions to be considered. Would the king be willing to let them go?
Would they themselves be willing to go? By what process could they be
ranged under one leader? How could they be provided for and provisioned
for such a long journey? By what means could they be safely conducted
through the perils of the wilderness? How could they again be settled
in a land which had become barren through the curse of God resting upon
it? Yet, when the set time came, all these difficulties vanished! As
God was in that plan of bringing His people back from Babylon, the
king's heart was turned as the husbandman turns the channel of
irrigation in the midst of the garden! As God was in it, the Jews
sighed and longed to return to Jerusalem! As God was in it, they went
back, not like trembling doves flying from a pursuing hawks but like a
bannered host returning from the conquest loaded with spoil!
Just so is it with the sinner and the salvation of his soul–there are
many questions that he may want to ask. How can prejudice be subdued?
How can ignorance be overcome? How can the stubborn will be controlled?
How is it possible for the Ethiopian to change his skin and the leopard
his spots? But, when God comes forth to save, it is as though a man
walked through cobwebs and brushed them away from him on either side,
or as though a giant stalked through a host of pigmies and made them
fly to right or left–
"When He makes bare His arm,
What shall His work withstand?" When He puts forth the fullness of His
strength to effect His Divine Purpose, who shall say to Him, "What are
You doing?" Therefore, you ministers of God, be bold, for you serve the
Lord God Omnipotent! You servants of Christ in every sphere, be brave,
for you have not espoused a losing cause! Everyone of you, though you
may be but little in the army of the Lord, yet are–
"Strong in the Lord of Hosts, And in His mighty power"–
for His Kingdom cannot be overthrown, it must spread until it fills the
whole earth! And God, even our own God, must be exalted and the praises
of His holy name and of His glorious work must go on ringing down the
ages forever and ever! II. Now turning to the second point, we see in
the text DIFFICULTIES REMOVED.
Difficulties would naturally be suggested by unbelieving minds. It
would be said, in the first place, that the people had gone too far
away ever to be gathered. Yet the Lord says, "I will bring them from
the north country, and gather
them from the coasts of the earth." There may be at the present time,
some of the Lord's chosen far away in Greenland, Labrador, and other
lands of snow and ice. There were some, in the olden times, when the
Moravian Brethren went forth at God's command to bring to Christ those
who belonged to Him in "the north country." There were also others in
the far-away islands of the south–cannibals given up to the wildest
passions–but Christ had bought them with His precious blood and a
sacred instinct compelled John Williams and many other martyrs and
missionaries to go forth to the Apostolic task of turning savages into
saints! It may be that God has many of His chosen ones at the present
moment in the center of Africa–and if it is so, they shall not die
before the Gospel has been made known to them and they have been
brought to trust in Him who loved them and gave Himself for them!
Distance is no distance in the sight of God! He sees all the
inhabitants of the globe at a single glance and His gaze is fixed upon
the blood-bought sons and daughters of men wherever these may be
dwelling! And He will gather them from all the coasts of the earth
where their lot has been cast.
And as distance of space is no obstacle to the bestowed of God's mercy,
so neither is the distance that is caused by the greatness of sin. "Now
in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the
blood of Christ." There may be one among those whom I am now addressing
who has gone to the cold "north country" of infidelity, where he stands
shivering in the biting winds of doubt and skepticism. Ah, but my
Friend, God is able to bring you to Himself even from that dreary
region! There may be some who have gone to the uttermost coasts of sin
until they have become masters in iniquity, trafficking upon the broad
sea of transgression and doing business in the deep waters of infamy
and perhaps of blasphemy. Ah, but if you are among these who were given
to Christ, God will gather you sooner or later–even if you have sold
yourself to the devil, "your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
and your agreement with Hell shall not stand." If you are, indeed,
"bought with a price," Christ will surely gather you with the rest of
His redeemed! By might and main He will make a conquest of you, for,
when the Lord determines to bring His people to Himself, neither
material distance nor moral distance can prevent Him from doing so!
There was also another difficulty–not only were these people in
Babylon far away from Jerusalem, but some of them were blind. What did
it matter to them where they lived? No landscape, even though it was as
grand as that which Moses saw from the top of Pisgah, could have any
attraction for them. Even if others go back, shall not the blind be
left behind? Of what service are the blind? How shall they behold the
beauty of the Lord? But the Lord said that He would bring back the
blind with the others from the north country, and from the outcasts of
the earth, and we may apply this promise to those who are spiritually
blind. How can you get at a man who will not see his own sin and who
will not or cannot see the beauty of God's plan of salvation? How are
you to get at those whose eyes are covered with the scales of
prejudice? How can you reach the Romanist whose eyes are plastered up
with ceremonies and superstitions? How can you convince the work-monger
that his own good deeds, of which he thinks so much, are blinding him
to the beauties of Christ? How can these blind ones be saved? Ah,
Beloved, no eye is too blind for God to pour light into it! And some of
us can bear our personal testimony upon this matter. We would never
have known the Grace of God in truth if that Grace had not come to us
in our blind ignorance and enlightened us! May it be so with some who
are here tonight! Is there a very ignorant person here? Well, my dear
Friend, do you know that you are a sinner, that you are guilty in the
sight of God? Then do you know that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save such guilty sinners as you are? If so, and you put your trust in
Him, you are already wise unto salvation however little you may know
about other matters! Learn the great Truth that Christ died in the
place of all who believe in Him and you will no longer be numbered
among the spiritually blind!
With those blind people in Babylon there seem to have been some lame
folk and an objector might have said, "Surely, if the caravan is to
pass through the desert, it would be better to leave these poor limping
ones at home! How can they ever be brought to Jerusalem?" But the Lord
said, "The blind shall be led, and the lame shall be carried, but they
must not be left behind." Now, there are some who are morally lame. If
ever they enter into life, it will be among the crippled and the
maimed. They seem as if they could not walk uprightly, there is a limp
in their gait. Their knees are weak, they cannot pray as they would.
Lame Sinners–are you here tonight? Do you feel as if you cannot get to
Christ, and cannot pray, and cannot do anything right? Well, do but cry
to Him, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" Turn your eyes to Christ,
think of Him as He hung upon the Cross and trust Him to save you, and
you shall find that, lame as you are, you shall be brought safely Home!
Mr. Ready-to-Halt shall get to Heaven as surely as Mr. Great-Heart
himself!
Then there were some others of whom it was said that they could not
possibly join the caravan–"the woman with child and her that travails
with child.''" These were certainly unfit to go–they were in such a
weak state that they could not take that long journey from Babylon to
Jerusalem, yet the Lord said, "I will gather them and bring them," and
so He did! Well, there are some like them in our midst tonight,
burdened ones who have a load of sin pressing upon them, fainting ones
whose souls are in a sacred travail. They would gladly run, but they
cannot even stand! And they are all too apt to fall. But, O you who are
thus soul-distressed, the blessing is that Jesus Christ will not leave
you behind! You shall be brought with the rest of the chosen seed to
the heavenly Jerusalem to praise and magnify your great Deliverer
forever and ever!
III. Now in the third place, we have in the text not only Deity
manifested, and difficulties removed, but we also have
DESCRIPTIONS GIVEN.
How shall this great company be brought to the Jerusalem which is
above? Listen! There is a mighty host on the march, but I hear no sound
of trumpet, no voice of mirth, no song of joy! What do I hear? Weeping,
mourning, lamentation–"They shall come with weeping." That is the
music to which sinners usually set out for the heavenly Canaan– seldom
if ever is that start made without tears! It is not the shriek of
despair. It is not the groan of disappointment. It is not the yell of
rage, and hate. It is the plaintive wail of a soul that says to God, "I
have sinned against Heaven and before You, and are no more worthy to be
called Your son." From those who compose that throng you may, every now
and then, catch such sorrowful sentences as these, "I acknowledge my
transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." "My sorrow is
continually before me. For I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry
for my sins." This is the kind of music that we hear from those who are
setting out for Heaven! Have you, my Friend, ever practiced it? You
will never sing in Glory if you have never wept over your sin! I do not
merely mean such tears as men and women shed, though these will
probably not be absent, but I mean that you will experience that
spiritual sorrow which is often too deep for tears. May God the Holy
Spirit teach us to weep at the remembrance of our sin, to weep at the
foot of the Cross as we look upon Him whom our sins have pierced, and
mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and be in bitterness for
Him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born!
Listen again! Now I hear another note rising from the great caravan,
the note of supplication. It is the hour of prayer. They have got
beyond weeping into anxiety, desire, petition, request–and I hear many
voices crying, "Save Your people who trust in You. Be merciful unto us,
and bless us, and cause Your face to shine upon us." In our day, the
supplication takes some such form as this, "Reveal Yourself unto us, O
Christ, for in You do we put our trust! In Your name have we set up our
banners. Come forth, O Lord, as our Helper and Deliverer!" The march is
with weeping and supplication–and I believe these two things will
attend that caravan right up to the brink of Jordan! The last tear will
be dropped in Jordan's flowing stream, for we shall sorrow no more and
repent no more when we stand before the Eternal Throne of God! And the
last prayer–at any rate, the last prayer that has any sense of sin in
it–shall be breathed on the bank of the river which we cross to enter
into Glory!
I must next direct your attention to something in our text about the
road the caravan has to traverse–"I will cause them to walk by the
rivers of waters." They had to pass through a wilderness in going from
Egypt to Canaan, and also in returning from Babylon. And we, also, have
to traverse the wilderness of this world in journeying to the better
Promised Land above. But as they had water in abundance on their long
marches, we, also, have "the rivers of waters" of Divine Grace and
Almighty Love. When we first began to seek the Lord, we found that one
of the channels in which the precious rivers were flowing was this
precious Bible at which we still quench our spiritual thirst. Then,
when we trusted in Jesus, and confessed our faith in Him, we found the
two ordinances that He instituted–Believers' Baptism and the Lord's
Supper–to be as refreshing to our spirit as cold water is to the
thirsty. I trust that you, Beloved, while sitting under the sound of
the Word of God, have often been able to drink of the brook by the way.
And certainly private prayer and intimate fellowship with God, and,
above all, the secret and mysterious indwelling of the Holy Spirit have
caused you "to walk by the rivers of waters," so that although the
earth is in itself arid, "a dry and thirsty land where no water is,"
you have found that from the foot of the Cross there flows a living
stream from which all the chosen may continue to drink until they come
to that "pure river of Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out
of the Throne of God and of the
Lamb."
In the description of the caravan route we are next told that it is "a
straight way." The path to Heaven is not at all difficult to find. It
would be very difficult to find the way to Heaven by the rites and
ceremonies about which some are so particular, but to those who trust
in Jesus, the way of salvation is a very simple one, so simple that the
wayfaring man, though a fool in other things, need not err therein! If
any of you are trying to find your way to Heaven by the road of your
own good works, you may well be puzzled, for you are off the right
track altogether! But the Believer's path is straight and plain. He
trusts and he is saved! He looks and he lives! He believes God's Word
and he proves that it is true! You know that the way of policy, such as
ungodly men often follow in this world, is a very crooked way, and
Christians are sometimes tempted to tread that treacherous path. But
that is the slimy way into which the devil led our first parents, and
nothing but evil can come to those who walk in it! The giving up of the
whole heart and soul to Christ is the simple way of being saved–and
then yielding complete obedience to Christ is the simple way of living.
The Lord's promise is, "I will cause them to walk by the rivers of
waters in a straight way"–not in a crooked, twisting, winding,
in-and-out way, but in a straight way–the way of faith in Christ and
of unquestioning obedience to His commands.
The description of this straight way concludes thus, "Wherein they
shall not stumble." It is a good thing to have a straight road, but it
is a better thing to have also a sure foot! And God, who teaches His
people to do right, also gives them Grace to do it. These blind ones
and lame ones and weak ones of whom I have been speaking, are upheld by
Sovereign Grace in the narrow way in which the Lord is leading them. My
eye seems to catch the glorious vision! I see the blind finding their
way to the great center of eternal blessedness. I see the lame come
running as though they had wings on their feet to speed them onward to
the pearly gates above! I see the vast blood-bought throng, from the
North, and the South, and the East, and the West, casting away, by
Divine Grace, all their burden and their cares! And with the fetters of
their sins snapped forever, streaming in crowds to the one blessed
center–
"Jerusalem the golden, With milk and honey blest"–
where we ourselves expect, by-and-by, to be! Angels and the redeemed
from among men must be continually witnessing the arrival of those who,
first chosen by the Father, then redeemed by the Son, then regenerated
by the Holy Spirit, have repented of sin and trusted in the Lord Jesus
Christ and by Grace have been preserved in their march through the
wilderness and brought Home to that blessed city from which they shall
go no more out forever! Well may we sing–
"O Paradise eternal!
What bliss to enter you,
And once within your portals,
Secure forever be!
In you no sin nor sorrow,
No pain nor death is known–
But pure glad life, enduring
As Heaven's benignant throne!
There all around shall love us,
And we return their love
One band of happy spirits,
One family above."
IV. Now I must close when I have spoken but for a minute upon the last
point, which is DIGNITY BESTOWED. "For I am a Father to Israel, and
Ephraim is My first-born."
Those who are brought out of the bondage of sin, as Israel was brought
out of Egypt and Babylon, by the almighty power and Grace of God, are
acknowledged by Him as His children. John writes concerning Jesus, "He
came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as
received Him, to them gave Him power (the right, or privilege) to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." This
relationship cannot be disputed and cannot be disturbed–and this is
the relationship which exists between God and every pardoned sinner!
Happy soul! Though once in the family of Satan and an heir of wrath,
you are now a child and an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus
Christ!
I think there are some here whose mouths are set a-watering for this
same blessing and who are longing to be found among the innumerable
multitude who shall be gathered in the heavenly Jerusalem at the last!
Well, if you truly desire to
be the Lord's, that is a sign and token that the Lord also desires to
have you as His child! That is a true declaration in one of our hymns–
"No sinner can be beforehand with You."
If you really desire to have God as your God, and Christ as your
Savior, God desires it, too, and Christ desires it. If you are willing
to be saved, do not imagine that Christ is unwilling to save you! If
you are coming to Christ, Christ is coming to you. No, He HAS come to
you, or you would never want to come to Him! "Only believe." These are
Christ's words to you now–believe that He is able to save you through
the merit of His atoning Sacrifice and through the prevalence of His
intercession before His Father's Throne above. Trust Him! Trust Him to
save you now, and then you also shall be among the redeemed of the Lord
who shall return and come with singing unto Zion! Everlasting joy shall
be upon your head! You shall obtain gladness and joy–and sorrow and
mourning shall flee away from you forever!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JEREMIAH31:1-28.
Verse 1. At the same time, says the LORD, willIbe the God ofall the
families ofIsrael, and theyshall be Mypeople. How divinely He talks–as
only God can talk! These people had rejected Him, yet He says, "They
shall be My people," not only some of them, but all of them! "I will be
the God of all the families of Israel." Behold the wonderful power of
Divine Grace upon the hearts of rebellious sinners. There are no "ifs,"
and no, "buts," here! It is, "I will" and, "they shall." God knows how
to work out His own purposes of love and mercy!
2. Thus says the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found
Grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest
If we ever do get true rest of soul, God must cause us to rest. As
David said, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures." The rest of
the heart is a miracle of Divine Power!
3. The LORD has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yes, I have loved you
with an everlasting love: therefore with
loving kindness have I drawn you. [See Sermons #1914, Volume 32–SECRET
DRAWINGS GRACIOUSLY EXPLAINED; #2149, Volume 36– EVERLASTING LOVE
REVEALED and #2880, Volume 50–NEW TOKENS OF ANCIENT LOVE.] There is
the source of everything that is good and gracious– "everlasting
love." When God has once set that love upon His people, anything and
everything that is for their good may come out of it! All temporal good
and all eternal blessings will come out of everlasting love. Oh, that
we might, each one of us, have Grace to appropriate these blessed words
to himself–"I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with
loving kindness have I drawn you." They were given to Israel of old,
but the spiritual Israel possess all the privileges of the natural
Israel, and much more.
4. Again I will build you, and you shall be built Whatever God does is
done effectually–there is never any failure in His work.
4. O virgin ofIsrael: you shall again be adorned with your tabrets, and
shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry. They had wept and
mourned, but they were to dance! They had been very sad and
disconsolate, but they were to take down their harps from the willows,
and even to have their tabrets or timbrels again.
5. You shall yet plant vines upon the mountain of Samaria: the planters
shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. God makes the
luxuries of Grace to be common things to His people. Fare that once
seemed so rare as to be enjoyed only on high days and holidays shall
become everyday meat to His people when their Lord reveals Himself to
them!
6. For there shall be a day that the watchmen upon the MountEphraim
shall cry, Arise you, andlet usgo up to Zion unto the LORD our God. For
many a year Israel had gone to Bethel to worship the calves, or stayed
at home to adore the shrine of Ashtaroth. Now they were to go to Zion
to serve Jehovah! See what the Grace of God can do even for idolaters?
If any of us have been bowing down to our idols, may we this day turn
to the living God! May the power of His Grace lead us to go heartily
and unanimously to worship the Lord our God.
7. 8. For thus says the LORD; Sing with gladness, for Jacob, andshout
among the chief ofthe nations: publish you, praise you, and say, O
LORD, save Your people, the remnant ofIsrael. Behold, I will bring them
from the north country, and gather them from the coasts ofthe earth,
and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that
travails with child together: a great company shall return there.
Whatever God does, He does thoroughly. When He shall restore His
ancient people, He will not leave the weak ones behind and if, today,
we are enjoying His Presence, the most
afflicted and the most infirm among us shall know what the joy of the
Lord means! The Lord grant it, and we will praise His holy name.
9. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead
them.Weeping and prayer go well together. There is no prayer like a wet
prayer saturated with the tears of repentance.
9. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight
way—Hear this, you mourners! God will supply your need with rivers of
waters, and He will make you walk in a straight way. Sometimes we are
perplexed because the road seems to wind in and out like a labyrinth,
but God can lead us in a straight way! "I will cause them to walk by
the rivers of waters in a straight way"–
9. Wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a Father to Israel and
Ephraim is My first-born. They had forgotten their relationship to
Jehovah, but He still remembered that they were His children.
10, 11. Hear the word of the LORD, O you nations, and declare it in the
isles afar off and say He that scattered Israel will gather him and
keep him as a shepherd does his flock. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob
and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. They
were the Lord's chosen people even when they were in captivity in
Babylon! He had scattered them because of their sin, but He would
gather them in His mercy.
12-14. Therefore they shall come and bring in the height of Zion and
shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat and for wine
and for oil, and for the young ofthe flock and ofthe herd: and their
soul shall be as a wa-teredgarden; and they shallnot sorrow any more at
all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance both young men and old
together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort
them and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the
soul ofthe priests with fatness, and Mypeople shall be satisfied with
My goodness says the LORD. What a blessed change this was for those who
had sorrowfully cried, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange
land?" And we rejoice in a still greater change when the Lord brings us
into spiritual liberty!
15-17. Thus says the LORD, A voice was heardin Ramah, lamentation and
bitter weeping; Rachel weeping, for her children refused to be
comforted, for her children, because they were not. Thus says the LORD;
Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears: for your
work shall be rewarded says the LORD; and they shall come again from
the land ofthe enemy. And there is hope in your end, says the LORD,
that your children shall come again to their own border A mother's
sorrow over her lost babies is very great and long-enduring, but if she
is a Christian, she shall meet them again in the land of the blessed,
and shall be parted from them no more forever.
18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. [See Sermons
#743, Volume 13–ephraim bemoaning himself and #2104,
Volume 35–THE INNER SIDE OF CONVERSION.] What a wonderfully expressive
word that word, "bemoaning," is!
18, 19. You have chastised me and I was chastised as a bullock
unaccustomed to the yoke: turn You me, and I shall be turned; for You
are the LORD my God. Surely after that I was turned I repented; and
after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yes,
even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Hear what
the Lord says about these bemoaning ones, these sin-loathing ones–
20. Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? Or we may render
it, "Is this Ephraim, My dear son? Is this My pleasant child?" He is
all that now that he begins to hate his sin!
20. For since Ispoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still
Think of this, you who forget your God, you backsliders, wanderers from
your Father's house!
20, 21. Therefore My heart is troubled for him; I will surely have
mercy upon him, says the LORD. Set you up way marks, make you high
heaps. Raise signs along the road at various points to let other
travelers know the way in which they should go.
21, 22. Setyour heart toward the highway, even the way which you went:
turn again, O virgin ofIsrael, turn again to these your cities. How
long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter? for the LORD has
created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. Whereas
the enemy had compassed Jerusalem round about, now Jerusalem was to be
the besieger, and to compass her enemies and defeat them. Some
interpreters think this is an allusion to the birth of the Savior, that
"new thing in the earth"–the Incarnation of the Son of God.
23-25. Thus says the LORD ofHosts, the God ofIsrael; Asyet theyshall
use this speech in the land of Judah andin the cities thereof, when I
shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless you, O habitation of
justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah
itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they
that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I
have replenished every sorrowful soul. This prophecy is to be fulfilled
in the restoration of Israel to Palestine. Until that happens, the
promise bears a spiritual meaning to all the children of God. O weary
Soul, you shall be satiated–that is more than being satisfied! You
shall have as much of holiness and joy as you can hold! Plead His
promise now, O sorrowful Soul, and may God fulfill it to you!
26. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
Well might it be. Poor Jeremiah, who so often wept over the woes of
Israel, was the very man to be refreshed when he heard from God that He
would visit His people in mercy, and bring them back to their own land!
Happy dreamer, who dreams such a blessed dream as this, a dream that
came true in due time!
27-28. Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will sow the house
of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the
seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched
over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to
destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to
plant, says the LORD. What a black list of words we first have here!
God's way of dealing with His people when they wander away from Him is
very stern. They must be brought back, but it will be over a very rough
road. The Lord says that He "watched over them, to pluck up, and to
break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict." And in
the same measure He now declares that He will watch over them to do
them good. As our tribulations abound, so also shall our consolations
abound by Christ Jesus! If you have been bitterly convicted of sin, you
shall be sweetly convicted of pardon. The deeper God digs the
foundation, the higher He means to build the house. Those who are
brought to Him in great affliction very often afterwards know more of
Christ and more of the love of God than any others!