Read: Jeremiah 50:17-20
In those days and in that time . . . iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none. (v. 20)
At the conclusion of Jeremiah, God declared that once the exile was completed, God’s condemnation would be spent. Once God’s judgment was complete, his instrument, Babylon, would be undone. God told his guilty people that his judgment would be final but not total. After the exile, there would still be a people. After God’s condemnation, there would still be life.
There was life in the aftermath of condemnation because God made a covenant. In the ancient world, binding agreements were sealed not with ink but blood. God promised Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). He then sealed the promise in blood and swore on his life to keep it. He would shed his own Son’s blood to secure eternal life for anyone who claimed a place in his covenant.
God ratified his covenant at the cross. There he spent his condemnation once and for all. The instrument of God’s judgment—death—was undone. There was now a way to be set free from the guilt of sin and the fear of death. The apostle Peter, quoting the prophet Joel, declared, “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21; see Joel 2:32).
We know him by the name Jesus, which means, “The Lord saves.” Call on his name, and enter God’s covenant of grace. —Ben Van Arragon
As you pray, call on the name of Jesus and claim your place in God’s covenant.
About the Author
Ben Van Arragon is the Minister of Worship and Leadership at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He preaches and teaches the Bible in church, online, and anywhere else he has the opportunity.
