Watchman Radio Hour

Announcer: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Shultier, your announcer. The Watchman Radio Hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker, Alex Dodson, to bring you this week's message from God's Word.

Host (Alex Dodson): Today we continue in our series on Jeremiah 31. The Jewish people had gone into captivity and been punished for their sins. Now God sends a promise to encourage them. He would bring them back to their own land, and they would come back as one people, no longer divided. He would bring them back for purpose.

Our text today is Jeremiah 31:23-30. Let us hear the Word of God. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: 'The Lord bless you, O righteous dwelling, O sacred mountain.' People will live together in Judah, in all its towns, farmers and those who move about with their flocks. I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. At this I woke and looked around, and my sleep had been pleasant to me. The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals.

"Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and overthrow, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares the Lord. "In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' Instead, everyone will die for his own sin. And whoever eats sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge."

Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the Bible that You have given to us. We thank You that it's Your infallible Word, and that we can put our full confidence in everything that it says. And now, O Lord, as we come to study Your Word, we pray that You will open the hearts of many to hear, that You will send Your Holy Spirit in great convicting power. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Let us see today that the Lord had promised that the Jewish people will return to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. All was not lost. There was hope for the Jewish people. They would return to their own land, and there they would await the coming of the Messiah.

Let us see in the first place there is a promise for their return. Verse 23 says, "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: The Lord bless you, prosperous city, you sacred mountain. The people will live together in Judah and all its towns, farmers and those who move about with flocks. I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.'"

The Lord would bring them back. They would come back a changed people. Matthew Henry writes, "This intimates that they shall return much reformed, in every way better. And this reformation shall be so conspicuous that all about them shall take notice of it. The cities that used to be nests of pirates shall be habitations of justice." The mountain of Israel. And so the whole land is called in Psalm 78:54. And especially Mount Zion shall be a mountain of holiness.

Keil and Delitzsch write, "Isaiah 1:21 where it is said of Jerusalem, that righteousness formerly dwelt in it. This state of matters is again to exist. Jerusalem is again to become a city in which righteousness dwells." The holy mountain is Zion, including Moriah, where the Lord had set up His throne. The prayer for the blessing implies that Zion will again be the seat of the Divine King of His people.

They would rebuild the temple. Once again, the temple would stand on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Again, verse 23 says, "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: The Lord bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.'"

In Haggai 2:1-9, he prophesies about the second temple. He says, "On the 21st day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the Prophet Haggai. 'Speak to Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the Lord. 'Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong all you people of the land,' declares the Lord, 'and work, for I am with you,' declares the Lord Almighty. 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And My Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty." A new temple would be built that would one day welcome the Messiah, for it would be to this second temple that Christ would come.

And then it would be a time of blessing, of peace, a time of peace and a blessing. Verse 24 again says, "People will live together in Judah in all its towns, farmers and those who move about with flocks. I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint." God promised blessings to His people when they go back to their land.

Matthew Henry writes, "They shall dwell in Judah itself, even in it, though it has now long lain waste, both husbandmen and shepherds, the two ancient and honorable employments of Cain and Abel." "For I have satiated the weary and sorrowful soul." That is, those there, those that came weary from their journey and have been long sorrowful in their captivity, shall now enjoy great plenty. And the love and favor of God, the weary soul shall find rest and the sorrowful soul joy.

God can give those things. Jesus promises peace and blessing to all who come to Him. In Matthew 11:28-30 it says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and a heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." As God will bring His people back to their land, He will be there for them and bless them in that place.

And then Jeremiah wakes up from a pleasant dream. In verse 26 it says, "At this I woke and looked around, my sleep had been pleasant to me." It was a pleasant prophecy from the Lord. It was a wonderful promise. Matthew Henry writes, "The prophet tells us what pleasure the discovery of this brought to his mind, the foresights God had given him sometimes of the calamities of Judah and Jerusalem were exceedingly painful to him. But these views were pleasing ones, and though at a distance. Upon this I woke, overcome with joy which burst the fetters of sleep. And I reflected upon my dream, and it was such as had made my sleep sweet to me. I was refreshed as men are with quiet sleep." God's promise was a pleasant one for the prophet and the people.

And then let us see in the second place that the Lord would plant the nation again. Verse 27 says, "The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. And just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow and destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares the Lord. Formerly they had been under judgment.

Verse 28 says, "Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to overthrow and destroy and bring disaster." The temple and city had been destroyed, the people had been taken captive to a foreign land because of their great sins. God can bring judgment on any nation that rebels against Him, even our own. But this time the Lord would plant them and build them up.

Matthew Henry writes that "The people of God shall become both numerous and prosperous. Israel and Judah shall be replenished both with men and cattle as if they were sown with the seed of both. They shall increase and multiply like a field sown with corn, and this is the product of God's blessing, for whom God blessed. To them He said, 'Be fruitful.' This should be a type of the wonderful increase of the Gospel Church. God will build them and plant them."

Keil and Delitzsch write, "Whereas hitherto, whereas before He has watched for the purpose of destroying and annihilating this people because of their apostasy, this time He will come to watch for the purpose of planting and building them up." They would return to prepare for the coming of the Messiah in the future. The Lord would bring them back to put them in place to prepare for the Messiah who would come to Israel. It would not be immediately, but in time He would come. The prophets foretold His coming over and over again.

One example is in Amos 9:11-12, where it says, "In that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom in all the nations that bear My name." Or it also can be translated, "or which are called by My name," declares the Lord who will do these things. And then we go to the New Testament, and we read this passage is quoted in the assembly in Jerusalem in Acts 15:12-18. It says, "The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. And when they finished, James spoke up: 'Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for Himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild and I will restore it that the remnant of men may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who bear My name.'" Or it also can be translated, "or upon whom My name is called," says the Lord who does these things that have been known for ages.

Acts 2:39 says, "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Acts 4:12 says, "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Matthew Henry writes, "The spiritual glory of the family of Christ far exceeded the temporal glory of the family of David when it was at its height. In Him also God's covenant with Israel had its accomplishment. And in the Gospel Church, the tabernacle of God was set up among men again and raised up out of the ruins of the Jewish state. This is quoted in the First Council at Jerusalem as referring to the calling of the Gentiles, God's taking out of them a people for His name. That that kingdom shall be enlarged, and the territories of it shall extend far by the accession of many countries to it, that the house of David may possess the remnant of Edom and of all the heathen, of the unreached, that is, that Christ may have them given for his inheritance, even the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession."

And then he goes on to write, "Christ died to gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." Here said to be those that were called by His name. The promise is to all that are afar off, even as many of them as the Lord our God shall call. James expounds this as a promise that the residue of men should seek after the Lord, even all the Gentiles upon whom, upon whom My name is called.

And then verse 13 of Amos 9 says, "The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman, and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from the hills." There'll be a great harvest. Matthew Henry writes, "In Gospel times the mountains and hills of the Gentile world shall be enriched with these privileges by the Gospel of Christ preached and professed and received in the power of it. When great multitudes were or will be converted to the faith of Christ, and nations were or will be born at once. When the preachers of the Gospel were or will always be always caused to triumph in the success of their preaching. Then the plowman will overtake the reaper. And when the Gentile churches were or will will be enriched in all utterance and in all knowledge, in all manner of spiritual gifts. And then the mountains will drop sweet wine."

It was for these days that God brought the Israelites back to their homeland. They came back to be there when the Messiah came. Though many did not receive Him when He came, many others did, and the New Testament Church was planted, and the times of the Gospel were inaugurated.

And then let us see in the third place there would be no more judgment for their father's sins. Verse 29 says, "In those days people will no longer say, 'The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' Instead, everyone will die for their own sin. And whoever eats sour grapes, their own teeth will be set on edge." There would be a time of peace.

Matthew Henry writes that "They shall be reckoned with no further for the sins of their fathers. They shall say no more, they shall have no more occasion to say that God visits the iniquity of their parents upon the children, which God had done in the captivity. For the sins of their ancestors came into the account against them, particularly those of Manasseh. This they had complained of as a hardship. But it is here promised that this severe dispensation with them should now be brought to an end, that God would proceed no further in His controversy with them for their father's sins, but remember for them His covenant with their fathers and do them good according to that covenant." There would be no further judgment on them for their father's sins. This applied to the generation that would return from the exile and their children.

Yet we know that in the future another generation would arise that would be judged, and that would be in 70 AD after the Jewish people as a whole had rejected the Messiah. Yet even then a remnant would be there who would accept the Messiah. God's mercy would be upon this people when they came back as they returned. Keil and Delitzsch wrote, "After the re-establishment of Israel, the Lord will make known to His people His grace in so glorious a manner that the favored ones will fully perceive the righteousness of His judgments. The experience of the unmerited love and compassion of the Lord softens the heart so much that the favored no longer doubts the righteousness of the divine punishment. Such knowledge of true blessedness cannot be called elementary. Rather it implies a deep experience of divine grace and a great advance in the life of faith, nor does the verse contain a judgment expressed by the prophet in opposition to that of his contemporaries. But it simply declares that the opinion contained in the that current proverb shall no longer in that current proverb shall no longer be accepted then, but the favored people will recognize in the death of the sinner the punishment due to them for their own sins. And viewed in this manner, these verses prepare the way for the following announcement concerning the nature of the New Covenant."

This return from exile will be a move of God's mercy and grace upon the people of Israel. The Lord loved His people, and this generation that would return would experience that love in a special way. The Lord would bring His people back and position them to receive the coming Messiah in the distant future. Each of us is also responsible for his own sins.

Verse 30 again says, "Instead, everyone will die for their own sin. Whoever eats sour grapes, their own teeth will be set on edge." There's an application here for us today. We are responsible for our own actions. If we sin, we are responsible before God for those sins. In Ezekiel 18:1-4 it says, "The word of the Lord came to me. 'What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: "The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge"? As surely as I live," declares the Sovereign Lord, "you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to Me. The father as well as the son, both alike belong to Me. The soul who sins is the one who will die." The soul who sins is the one who will die. If we sin, there's a penalty to be paid, and we are responsible for our own sin. The soul that sinneth shall die. Your sins will find you out. You may think you are getting away with them, but one day they will come to light. There's a great judgment day coming when no sin will be hidden.

In Hebrews 9:27 it says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Judgment awaits us for our sins. No man escapes. We will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Your sins will find you out. You cannot escape. Once you die, then comes the judgment. You may get away with your sins here, but not there. There is a judgment day coming, and you need to be ready.

What have you done about your sins? Will you stand at the judgment with all your sins? No, you will not. You will be found guilty and go to an eternal punishment for them. Yet, now you can do something about your sins, and you can be forgiven. But then you will then you will be able to stand at the judgment. Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And He will save you if you will come to Him today. In Luke 5:32, Jesus said, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Jesus came into the world to offer Himself a sacrifice for our sins, that we might have eternal life. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 it says, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." We are not righteous on our own. We have fallen short of the glory of God. But God out of His mercy has provided a righteousness for us. When we when we receive Jesus Christ, God accepts us as righteous in His sight.

In Romans 1:16-17 it says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew and then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, 'The righteous will live by faith.'" When you believe in Jesus, you are accepted as righteous in the sight of God. You will be able to stand at the judgment because you're accepted in Christ. You will be clothed in His righteousness. Therefore you need not fear the judgment because you will be in Christ who died for your sins.

Today we issue you the invitation to come to Christ. Come as you are, sins and all, and He will forgive you. Come now to the Savior of the world. There is no other. In Isaiah 45:22 it says, "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other." In Acts 4:12 it says, "Salvation is found in no one else. For there's no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved."

John 14:6 says, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" And so we invite you to come now to God through Jesus Christ. It makes no difference who you are. You may be old or you may be young. You may be male, you may be female. You may be rich, you may be poor. Jesus died on the cross for all, and no one will be excluded who comes to Him. In John 6:37 it says, "All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." If you come to Jesus, He will not turn you away. Come now. Now is the time. Tomorrow may be too late. Come today. Come now to Christ.

Our Father in heaven, we pray that those out there who do not know Christ would come him come to Him today. That they would put their faith in Christ and receive Him as their Lord and Savior. In His name we pray. Amen.

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