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How is God’s loyalty demonstrated throughout the book of Jeremiah?
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15 Replies
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How is God’s loyalty demonstrated throughout the book of Jeremiah?
Jeremiah’s ministry to Judah was evidence of God’s faithfulness to His people. Jeremiah was called to address the sins of the people and call them back to God. God could have abandoned Judah to the lies of the false prophets of the day, but He continued to be faithful by speaking truth to them through His prophet.
Even though much of the book of Jeremiah concerns the coming judgment for Jerusalem and Judah, there are messages of hope woven through Jeremiah’s words. God speaks of restoration and the glorious Millennial reign of Israel’s eternal king. He speaks of preserving a remnant. God is faithful to give some words of hope to His unfaithful nation.
The last chapter of the book closes with an encouraging account of the treatment of the Jewish King Jehoiachin who had been captured in an earlier invasion by the Babylonians. After thirty-seven years of captivity, the Babylonian king, Evil-merodach, released Jehoiachin. He set Jehoiachin upon a throne and allowed him to eat his meals at the king’s table. This incident parallels the future for all true believers who follow God faithfully.
God was personally loyal to the man Jeremiah throughout this book. God promised to deliver him even as He called him in chapter 1. God saved Jeremiah from many attempts on his life. He saved him from attempts by people from his home village to kill him. He saved him from starvation in a muddy cistern by using a palace official to rescue him.
God was personally loyal to Jeremiah through Jeremiah’s periods of sadness and depression. When Jeremiah would in effect lash out at God, God did not abandon him but lovingly corrected his corrupted thinking. God was faithful to Jeremiah through a long discouraging ministry and did not give up on him.
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God’s loyalty is demonstrated by the fact that he spares the lives of most of the people, not having them destroyed, but allowing them to be taken captive. They could have easily been totally wiped out by the Babylonians. God still loved His people and He allows them to hear the Word through Jeremiah that they need to repent. God’s ultimate plan is always to save His people and have them return to a place of obedience and devotion to Him. Some of the ways that God corrects us is not pleasant, but it is always for our good.
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He always provides hope to the Israelites, even while they endure the consequences of their erring ways. Through symbolic statements and actions Jeremiah demonstrates God’s love for His people and His faithfulness.
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God is faithful to what He says in His word (biblical) and to what He wants from us. Obedience to what God wants leads to His loving care and all that comes with that, However, disobedience will lead to punishments and God doing what He has done to allow us a chance to repent and return back to God’s love, mercy and grace.
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Some of God’s loyalty on display throughout the book of Jeremiah: God’s grace and mercy on Jeremiah’s life when angry and fraudulent religious leaders and officials wanted him dead. Despite the difficult task that was placed before Jeremiah, he remained loyal to God throughout his life. As for the nation of Israel, God gave them chance after chance to turn back to him. Although Israel didn’t turn back, it showed God’s patience and loyalty. A group called the Recabites in Jeremiah 35 surprisingly and in an encouraging manner displayed loyalty to God in the midst of an unfaithful nation. The justice carried out in the destruction of Jerusalem is God displaying his loyalty to his Word and to his people. Mindsets normally do not and cannot change unless a set of circumstance that is beyond the human reach happens. As painful as it was for God to allow the destruction to happen, He allowed it knowing that there will be a remnant that would fully return to Him. Finally, the promised hope of a new covenant which now is faith in our Lord Jesus shows the loyalty that God has towards anyone that is willing to turn back to Him for salvation.