#DailyDevotion The Lord Is More Patient, Kind, And Merciful Than Me
5th Sunday in Lent
Jer. 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.
Really? I must say despite the bad rap the Lord gets for being a wrathful God, have you ever seen someone so merciful and patient with people who really want nothing to do with him? Seriously.
Let’s just recount Israel’s past. First there was the whole golden calf incident. The Lord had already given the Ten Commandments and what’s the first thing they do, break the commandment against making graven images and worshipping them. The Lord was ready to start over with Moses but Moses interceded with the Lord despite Israel already breaking the covenant he had made with them.
Then there was the constant grumbling against the Lord by the Israelites in the wilderness against the Lord and his providing for them. They never really trusted the Lord to provide for them. They were never grateful for his provisions. Finally they didn’t trust his promise when he told them to take the Promised Land. Yet, he had mercy on the Israelites by letting their children to take the Promised Land.
Once they were there, they broke the covenant with the Lord and worshipped other gods. He had to send Judges to save them because he handed them over to the people who worshipped the gods they decided to worship instead of him. Once we get to the kings of Israel and Judah, it’s just wholesale rebellion against the Lord. They worship not the Lord or not just the Lord but gods neither they nor their fathers knew. You think that would be enough. Well the Lord did send the northern tribes into exile and oblivion. Who knows where they are now? But we have Judah still.
So it is through Judah, the Lord promises to mercifully fulfill his promises to Abraham. The Lord is going to make a new covenant with Israel. Though the Lord was a faithful husband to Israel she played the whore. But the Lord isn’t willing to let the children of Abraham go. So he promises to make a new covenant. This covenant will be a rather one sided one. It’s all on the Lord. He will come and become one of them. He will be the sacrifice of the covenant. His blood will be the sign of the covenant. Jesus is the Lord who makes this covenant with his body and his blood. But Israel is too small a prize. In this covenant the Lord Jesus Christ claims the world, the whole cosmos as his own. Jesus makes a covenant with you. He’s going to be your God and you are going to be his people.
Heavenly Father, though we do not deserve your grace and mercy, in your Son Jesus Christ you have cut a covenant so we may be your people and you our God. Grant us such faith that we partake of this covenant and enjoy eternally your bountiful goodness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.