Jeremiah 51:5 “For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord Almighty,
     though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.

 

    When we have offended someone, we may, after expressing our remorse, detailing our offense, and asking for forgiveness, get a response from them like, “It’s okay.” I understand that. Often we don’t really know what to say when someone has humbled them-selves before us in that way. (It probably is a novel experience!) 

    Jeremiah has come to the end of the prophecies he has been given. The last one is concerning Babylon. Babylon had been conquering one nation after another, and most nota-bly for our interests that included Judah. (The Southern Kingdom of Israel.) Tucked into this long chapter about Babylon is the little verse for today. This verse is a reassurance that God has not forgotten or forsaken Israel and Judah. What great news! However, we should remember that at the time this was written they had just been carried away into an exile that would last for 70 years. 

    They have not been forsaken. God still cares about them. But it was not a case of God giving them a second look and deciding that, “they weren’t so bad after all.” God hadn’t heard them and said, “It’s okay.” It wasn’t okay! Their land was full of guilt before God! The exile and punishment they were facing was well-deserved on their part. They had done wrong, repeatedly, despite numerous warnings to stop.  

    No, God didn’t decide to look at them and see them for what they weren’t. (He hadn’t decided to ignore their sin.) He decided to reveal Himself to them for what He was and had always been! That is a lot like the Gospel of the New Testament!

    Jesus didn’t come looking for good people to follow Him. But we so often think that. We get the wrong idea that we have to ‘clean up our act’ before we could come to Him. We need to ‘take care of some things’ before we come to church to seek Him. Jesus said in Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Jesus calls to us as we are. He sees us as we are. He realizes that ‘our land is full of guilt before the Holy One’ and He loves us anyway. Not because of who we are. Because that’s Who He is! If I have to clean myself up before I can come to Jesus, that’s not much of a Gospel. 

    But God Almighty, Creator of the Universe, knows me! He knows everything about me. He knows all my sin. And because He is loving, has not forsaken me. He calls all people to leave their ‘land of guilt’ and come to Him in repentance. When we do, He will make us new. That is the Gospel!

blessings,

Pastor Russ