hope for distressed property

Anata (Anathoth), Hill Country, Judea.
Original steel engraving drawn by W. H. Bartlett,
engraved by E. Brandard. ca 1850. 19x13cm

Jeremiah 32:1-15
For Sun. Sept. 30, Year C, Proper 21

Things could not have looked worse. The Babylonians were at the city gates besieging Jerusalem, the single remaining bastion of God’s people in the world. Jeremiah had said the Babylonians would come, and that resistance was futile. The king at the time, Zedekiah, being a fan of the power of positive thinking, would have none of this, and threw Jeremiah in prison. But as the Babylonians pressed the attack, a flustered Zedekiah went back to Jeremiah, and with exasperation exclaimed, “Why do you prophesy as you do!”

Jeremiah responds with a story of how he came into possession of a little piece of real estate in Anathoth, just north of Jerusalem. The point of the was also an answer to Zedekiah’s exasperation:

For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land. – Jeremiah 32:15

Do you happen to find yourself in bleak circumstances that leave you feeling exasperated? Maybe you are a President of a world superpower that has just learned of North Korean nuclear s material half-way around the world in Syria. Maybe you are a spouse who sees no hope for a difficult marriage. Maybe you are facing a terminal illness. Maybe you’ve completely lost your way vocationally. To you God says, “Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”

So it came to pass for the Jews, who were allowed to return to their homeland a mere 50 years after the fall of Jerusalem when King Cyrus, the Persian who had conquered the Babylonians, declared their freedom to return in 536 B.C. So it will come to pass for us as we trust and obey our Heavenly Father.

So will it also come to pass for the world itself. Just as Jeremiah himself may have been the one to open the sealed title to the property he purchased fifty years earlier, so will Jesus open the sealed title to the whole world, which is the property he purchased on Calvary:

When I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" . . . Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. (Rev. 5:1-5)

don't be fooled

Rembrandt. The Prophet Jeremiah Mourning over the Destruction of Jerusalem.

1630. Oil on panel. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
For Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007 (Proper 19)

There is a stream of thought that thinks a loving God couldn't possibly bring condemnation to anyone and that somehow we'll all pull through. Don't be fooled. Judgment came to the northern kingdom of Israel with the fall of its capitol Samaria to the Assyrians in 721 B.C. Despite this, the people of the southern kingdom refused to repent:

My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good. (Jer. 18:22)

This appears to be a deeply innate human tendency. I found confirming evidence this morning in my garage. I've been very clear with my boys about the importance of putting the garbage lids back on the containers, and keeping any garbage sealed up. Otherwise, one is libel to arrive home discovering that our dog Godfrey (that he is a family namesake makes it all the more painful) has decorated the driveway with various accoutrements of trash. At times they appear to be senseless children that have no understanding!

Judgment did come to the southern kingdom with the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Judgment will also come to the entire earth:

The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.

So what . . . ? Here is the so what:

O Jerusalem (a.k.a. people of God, a.k.a. dear reader) wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

. . . Don't be fooled. Fortunately for us, there is still time.