Jeremiah 31:1-28

Jeremiah 31:1. At the same time, faith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

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.

Jeremiah 31:2. Thus saith 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 maketh me to lie down in green pastures.» The rest of the heart is a miracle of divine power.

Jeremiah 31:3. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

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 thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.» They were given to Israel of old, but the spiritual Israel possesses all the privileges of the natural Israel, and much more.

Jeremiah 31:4. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built,

Whatever God does is done effectually; there is never any failure in his work.

Jeremiah 31:4. O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tablets, and shalt 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 tablets or timbrels again.

Jeremiah 31:5. Thou shalt 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.

Jeremiah 31:6. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go 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.

Jeremiah 31:7. For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness, for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. 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 travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.

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.

Jeremiah 31:9. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them:

Weeping and prayer go well together. There is no prayer like a wet prayer saturated with the tears of repentance.

Jeremiah 31:9. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight way,

Hear this, ye mourners. God will supply your need with rivers of waters, and he will make you to 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,»

Jeremiah 31:9. Wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn.

They had forgotten their relationship to Jehovah, but he still remembered that they were his children.

Jeremiah 31:10. Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off and say He that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. For the LORD hath 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.

Jeremiah 31:12. Therefore they shall come and sing 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 of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not 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 of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness saith 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.

Jeremiah 31:15. Thou saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tear: for thy work shall be rewarded saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.

A mother's sorrow over her lost babes 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 for ever.

Jeremiah 31:18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus;

What a wonderfully expressive word that word «bemoaning» is!

Jeremiah 31:18. Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art 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, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

Hear what the Lord says about these bemoaning ones, these sin-loathing ones:

Jeremiah 31:20. 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.

Jeremiah 31:20. For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still:

Think of this, you who forget your God, ye backsliders, wanderers from your Father's house.

Jeremiah 31:20. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD. Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps:

Raise cairns along the road at various point to let other travelers know the way in which they should go.

Jeremiah 31:21. Set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath 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 Saviour, that «new thing in the earth» the incarnation of the Son of God.

Jeremiah 31:23. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell is 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, thou shalt be satiated, that is more than being satisfied; thou shalt have as much of holiness and joy as thou canst hold! Plead his promise now, O sorrowful soul, and may God fulfill it to thee!

Jeremiah 31:26. 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.

Jeremiah 31:27. Behold, the days come saith 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, saith 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 convinced of sin, you shall be sweetly convinced 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.