Jeremiah 24-25 I Will Bring Them Back

I saw great promise in 24:5-7.  God said, "I think of those people as good ... I will look after them and bring them back ... I will not tear them down, but I will build them up.  I will not pull them up, but I will plant them so they can grow.  I WILL MAKE THEM WANT TO KNOW ME, that I am the Lord.  They will be My people, and I will be their God, because they WILL RETURN TO ME with their whole hearts."

Father, please bring this about in the lives of those I love who have walked away from You.  Make them want to know You, even though right now they don't, just as I once did.

My commentary said, "In times of natural catastrophe, no matter how discouraging the circumstances may be, God doesn't desert His faithful remnant.  Rebels are scattered and destroyed, but true believers find God faithful to meet their needs and accomplish His great plans ... The destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of Judah were not accidents; they were appointments, for God was in control ... No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Over and over again, Jeremiah repeats God's words -- "You have not listened."  "Jeremiah had preached ... for 23 years and received the same response.  As they disobeyed the law, worshiped idols, and rejected God's servants, the people deliberately provoked God to anger, and the day of His wrath was fast approaching."

"Nebuchadnezzar wasn't a believer in the true God of Israel, but in his conquests he was accomplishing God's will ... The church today needs to remember that the Lord is sovereign and can use whatever tools He deigns to use to accomplish His purposes on earth, even unconverted leaders."

Jeremiah also had a message from God for the Gentile nations:  "Though the Lord had not given His law to the Gentile nations or entered into a covenant relationship with them, He still held them accountable for their sins."

First Peter 4:17 says, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that don't obey the gospel of God?"

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford