Good Morning.
Jeremiah 16 reminds me of Adam and Eve after the fall. Remember they were created to have closeness with God without any barriers. They were both deceived, ate of the forbidden fruit and sin entered the world. They hid, they blamed and they thought of themselves first. They were quickly kicked out of the garden, why? I believe God was protecting them from something worse, eternal separation. There was another tree in the garden, the tree of Life. God placed a mighty angel at the entrance of the garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of life while separated from God. I see a reminder in this chapter that God protected me and my wife from living a life eternally separated from Him. Jeremiah begins by quoting God, “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place”. What place? Israel just before Babylonian captivity. “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground… become food for the birds and the wild animals”. That is a tough way to begin a marriage and family! Understand that God was protecting Jeremiah. God describes the coming days, “I have withdrawn My blessing, My love and My pity from this people… No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead”. Before I met my wife, we were both living our separate lives apart from God. Yes we know of Him, but neither of us worshipped Him. I’m convinced that is why He kept us both unmarried.
Marriage and raising a family is difficult enough, how much more difficult without God at its center. Jeremiah continues quoting God, “Do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink… I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness”. How many marriages resemble this description today? The people will ask, “Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done?” Tell them “your ancestors forsook Me… followed other gods… did not keep My law… you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying Me”. Do not blame your parents; we each have the choice today. Is there division and separation in your marriage? Maybe it has been tossed out completely. Please read on.
God gives Jeremiah this hope, “However, the days are coming… I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors”. There is no counseling that will erase the pain, but every sin does not have to be displayed. Understand that God sees all, “they are not hidden from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My eyes… they have defiled My land… and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols”. Can we rebuild? I believe restoration begins with the individual. 1 Corinthians 7 says, “If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her”. And the same goes for her. “How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?” The apostle adds, “But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace”. I believe the hope expressed here is for the person, the marriage, the family and the nation. Jeremiah lays the foundation, “Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to You the nations will come”. Are you ready to let go of the past and start new? “Therefore I will teach them— this time I will teach them My power and might. Then they will know that My Name”. Jesus Christ is the way back to the closeness you were created to know.