November 5th, 2012
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

God of the Impossible

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Opening Prayer

Sovereign God, I thank You for Your powerful, bold, reliable presence with me today and every day.

Read Jeremiah 30:1-24

[1] This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. [3] The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.” [4] These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: [5] “This is what the LORD says: “‘Cries of fear are heard- terror, not peace. [6] Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? [7] How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. [8] “‘In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. [9] Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. [10] “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. [11] I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’ [12] “This is what the LORD says: “‘Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. [13] There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. [14] All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many. [15] Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you. [16] “‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. [17] But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’ [18] “This is what the LORD says: “‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place. [19] From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained. [20] Their children will be as in days of old, and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them. [21] Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me- for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the LORD. [22] “‘So you will be my people, and I will be your God.'” [23] See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. [24] The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm” (William Cowper, 1731-1800).

Think Further

Put it in writing! I stake my reputation on it! The days of restoration are coming! This is the assured promise of the Lord to a defeated and demoralized Israel. They were demoralized emotionally and demoralized ethically. God does not take the rejection of all that he has done for Israel lightly. It is not just for the insult done to the honor of his name that God will have to deal severely with his people. It is for their ultimate good that times of hard discipline will come. God is a jealous God, but not in the sense that he is primarily concerned about his own reputation. Rather, he is jealous for Israel’s reputation, that it should be a light to the surrounding nations, a living demonstration of God’s holiness as well as his power and his love.

Humanly speaking, Israel had reached a point of no return. Spiritually, morally and socially, its wound is incurable; it is now beyond redemption. Israel’s allies have forgotten them and it seems that even God has struck them as an enemy. Their plight, humanly speaking, is beyond healing, yet God will accomplish this, not by the waving of some kind of magic wand as we might want him to when we look at our present world’s many ills and perhaps some deep need in our own situation. Sometimes God will achieve his purposes by what seems to us a bursting out in wrath, “a driving wind,” his “fierce anger” (23,24). Scripture does sometimes speak of God working in ways that, to our limited understanding, seem to contradict how we understand the revealed nature of his love. Neither Jeremiah nor the rest of Scripture seek fully to explain what is fundamentally inexplicable to our limited understanding.

Apply

There are aspects of God’s working which our finite minds will not fully comprehend. Bring any such questions or problems to God now and resolve to trust him.

Closing prayer

Mighty Father, although I cannot fully grasp Your ways, I trust You completely. You control history and also the history of my life. I surrender to You.

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