November 17, 2022

Jeremiah 31:21-30  (HCSB)
Repentance and Restoration
21 Set up road markers for yourself; establish signposts! Keep the highway in mind, the way you have traveled. Return, Virgin Israel! Return to these cities of yours. 22 How long will you turn here and there, faithless daughter? For the Lord creates something new in the land — a female will shelter a man. 23 This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities, ‘May the Lord bless you, righteous settlement, holy mountain.’ 24 Judah and all its cities will live in it together—also farmers and those who move with the flocks— 25 for I satisfy the thirsty person and feed all those who are weak.” 26 At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me. 27 “The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I be attentive to build and to plant them,” says the Lord. 29 “In those days, it will never again be said: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. 30 Rather, each will die for his own wrongdoing. Anyone who eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.

Neil Andrews
Jeremiah 31:21a says: Set up road markers for yourself; establish signposts! If you’ve ever sung "Come, Thou Fount", you might recognize “Ebenezer.”  Many sing it, never knowing its meaning. In 1 Samuel 7:12, an “Ebenezer” is a pile of stones built as a reminder of YHWH. In this Scripture, “Ebenezer” served to commemorate the Israelites’ victory over the Philistines at Mizpah. Jer. 31:21b says: Keep the highway in mind, the way you have traveled. More literally, “Set Thine heart toward the highway…” rather than “thy affection…” In Hebrew, the heart is the center of the intellect. Essentially, it's saying, think about it and remember. 1 Corinthians 11:25 says: In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” In each of these situations, we are being commanded to REMEMBER. It would seem natural that each situation would be life-changing enough that we wouldn’t…but God and Jesus warn against our well known tendency to forget. With good reason, when September 11 comes each year we say, “never forget.’  More importantly, during time with our Savior, “never forget…”