Friday 03/03/2023
Jeremiah 6 v 22-30
How many times have you found yourself in the embarrassing position of only hearing half of a story, acting upon that half and then making a gigantic mess of the subsequent outcome? I certainly have and quite often it is the people closest to me who have had to step in and help me to sort it all out!
I think that what we need to remember is that it isn’t a question of the half story being wrong as such, it’s just incomplete and therefore we don’t get the full sense as to what is really happening. And that’s what happens in this passage. Everything written here is true; the Assyrians are going to invade and capture Israel in 723BC and the Babylonians will do the same to Judah in 586BC.
However that’s only one part of the story. As we will see in a few weeks’ time a remnant of the people of Judah will remain and return to Jerusalem and God’s plan for His people will ultimately be fulfilled. It’s the fact of God’s judgement that is outlined here however in time God’s mercy will also appear.
Both as individual Christians and as a parish we need to hear God’s story in its entirety. We need to pay attention to His warnings as well as His blessings, His challenges as well as His encouragements. And we need to respond to both in love and in gratitude.
Revd Robert Legge
