Lamentations 1-2
Now if somewhere along the line you began to think of Jeremiah as hard and cruel, you will change your mind now. He is broken-hearted over his nation, Israel.
The city of Jerusalem had once been called the “perfection of beauty; the joy of the whole earth.” Now it is totally destroyed. The nations around about who have envied Israel’s splendor, now are rejoicing over her destruction. They are “hissing” at her as they go by.
Everyone is in shock. These people have been raised to know that they were God’s special people – called to bring the Messiah to the earth. Even when they were disobedient, they would get warnings but they were still protected.
Yet as the warnings became more persistent, these people refused to listen. When the prophets proclaimed that repentance should come, the majority of Israelites wanted to stone the prophets If they could just shut them up, everything would be ok. They wanted their ears tickled, not wanting to hear the truth.
Well, the prophets were from God, and their word did come to pass. Alas, if only the Jews had listened.
But, as we know, God is not through with His people. As we will see later, He is with them even as they are led off to Babylon.
Hebrews 8
Not only do we have a new High Priest, we have a New Covenant. (In fact the word “testament” is another word for “covenant”).
If the old covenant had been perfect, there would be no reason to replace it, but it wasn’t perfect. In fact, no one ever became righteous by the law. The law pointed out sin, not righteousness.
If only we can get this, our lives will be so different. In this day, “the law is written in our minds and put upon our hearts” (V.10).
Now things are different. Jesus has made us clean by His blood, and His Holy Spirit is living on the inside of us. We are now God’s holy temples, the many mansions of God. (John 14:2).
If we continue by meditating on His Word and spending time with Him, our lives will grow to be more and more pure all the time. His Word feeds our spirits and causes them to grow. As a result, we are not only purer, but also more powerful. We are God’s people.
Spend time with Him, worshipping Him, and there you will see your life changing. You will go from “glory to glory” as you do.
“This is the day which the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24) The dispensation of God’s grace upon His people. The dispensation of His Holy Spirit leading and guiding us into all the truth.
This is our day to rejoice!
