Jeremiah was written in a three-fold manner. 1) The children
of Israel were in captivity
in Babylon. 2)
The Israelites were helped because they were assured of the Messiah to come. 3)
It was written to the Gentiles.
It was written for us. God is good to all, Jew and Gentile. We should take
literally the words in this passage.
Most all of us didn't get through school without a nickname being given to us.
It could have been chubby, bean pole, stinker, etc. What kind were you given?
It could have been aggravating or hurtful. Did you ever feel like the outcast?
Jeremiah 30:17
For I will restore health
unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they
called thee an Outcast, saying, This is
Zion, whom no man
seeketh after.
Reproach is a put down or
may be how we feel. Sometimes we bring reproach on ourselves and deserve it.
But many times we receive reproach due to the cruelty of the world. Satan wants
to injure us to the point that we may believe it and feel there is no hope. We
then feel down on ourselves. He says there is no reason to try and accept
Jesus. He says the Lord can't undo the reproach, whatever its source. DO NOT
LISTEN TO HIM. Verse 17 we were formerly called outcasts. GOD
HAS THE POWER TO BIND UP WOUNDS. HE
HAS THE POWER TO TAKE AWAY THE PAIN AND REPROACH. IT'S
NOT WHAT OTHERS SAY; IT IS WHAT GOD SAYS THAT MATTERS. The devil rubs it in. He tries to trick us into sin and then condemns
us for it.
God can take away sin and
the wounds of our lives. He can take away the reproach. GOD WANTS TO MAKE US ZION. Turn everything
over to God.
Verse 12 For thus saith
the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. God sees us and knows us to the fullest
extent. We see wounds and bruises; we see our failures or wrong decisions and
choices; we see the misery of it all. We feel so disgraced. The devil yells in
our ears that we are no good. DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM. God wants to take it away
and fix it just as if we had never sinned. God is the friend of the outcast no
matter how outcast we are, no matter how outcast we feel.. Jesus looks upon us
as potential for Zion.
For God so loved …..let's hear it one more time. Jesus reached over the arms
of the devil and got us to bring us out of the outcasts.
Who cares what others say? Who cares what the devil says? IT'S WHAT GOD SAYS.
Verse 13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou
mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. There is none to plead
for us; the infliction is too deep; it's too hopeless. No one can help me. You
are correct. None can help, not philosophy, not a system of beliefs, no
medicine, opinions of others. There is no source for help. There is nothing on
this earth that can help. Verse 13 is correct. There is no one. Then in verse 5
we read For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of
fear, and not of peace. God
hears my voice. He sees the things that only I know about myself. God sees the
wounds and pain. Verse 8 states
For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will
break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall
no more serve themselves of him. The day has come to break the yoke. No
matter how deep the reproach Someone is willing to stand between you and me and
our condemnation.
Who is making your feel reproached? The devil is. God said he would break the
yoke of the devil. There is nothing I can do with this yoke. God can break
through the devil. He has the key to the lock and chain of the yoke. Strangers
then won't be able to put us on their platter and feast on us–the devil won't
be able to serve us up. The devil cannot take Jesus away or what he can make of
us. God target impossible situations. Don't say, "but you don't
know.." I don't need to know; I cannot change it. God's specialty is
fixing things. He deals in one-of-a-kind-situations. I am a
one-of-a-kind person with one-of-a-kind problems. So are you. There is only one
God, One Savior, and HE IS THAT HELP. He is a one-of-a-kind Savior. Jesus
died; he was bound to the cross to break our bonds. He hears us in our
reproach.
Remember again that verse 17 says I will restore health to you. He will
heal us of our wounds. He brings the super glue of heaven down and glues us
back together. No matter what– God says THIS IS ZION! We can look back and see
our reproach. Others may bring it up. GOD DOES NOT BRING UP THE PAST. ONCE THE
PAST IS TAKEN CARE OF, it's only a bad dream to us. We are in the hands of
Jesus. We are ZION,
the place where mercy dwells. Don't look to the mess in your life; look to
Jesus. Nothing else matters. Verse 18 says the
palace shall remain. The
house shall stand. Verse 19 says And out of them shall proceed
thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them,
and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be
small. God will make us merry giving us what brings happiness.
So, are you tired of being made to feel little. Let God make you big.
Verse 10 says fear thou
not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for,
lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity;
and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make
him afraid. DON'T BE AFRAID; GOD CAN SAVE US FROM AFAR–NOT MATTER WHERE
WE ARE HE CAN REACH US. Then we will have rest. We won't be afraid.
Turn it all over to him and be what he has chosen you to be–ZION!
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 