Hope For the Blind and Lame
Watch, I will bring them from a land in the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. The blind and the lame will be there, the pregnant woman together with the woman in labor. They will return as a huge community. (Jeremiah 31:8)
Jeremiah’s ministry was a hard ministry. He saw and served during the last of the kings of Judah. He warned the people of Judah that God was angry with them for their idolatry. He battled against false prophets who told the people that everything was just fine. He lamented as the city of Jerusalem was destroyed at the hands of the Babylonian army. And nothing seems to go well for Jeremiah.
But God gave Jeremiah hope. God told Jeremiah that the exile in Babylon would not be permanent. God would gather his people back to Israel and they would be a huge community. Even the blind and the lame, and the pregnant women would return. And as they did so, they would praise and worship God.
God’s people are no longer confined to Israel. They extend to the ends of the earth but are not in exile. His gospel has spread that far. There are people in every nation who have heard the gospel and believed it. By this gospel, we have been transformed from spiritually blind and lame. God has brought us to himself and given us eyes to see his grace and mercy. And one day, Jesus will return and gather his people from every nation and bring them to be with him in eternity. Amen.
The song for today is “Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy” by Fernando Ortega