Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank the Father for the day, time together, and his understandable Word, asking him to help us comprehend, digest, and live it.
Read
Scripture Passage
The Remnant of Israel Saved
31 “At the same time,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when I went to give him rest.”
3 The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
You shall again be adorned with your tambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
5 You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;
The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food.
6 For there shall be a day
When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim,
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’ ”
7 For thus says the Lord:
“Sing with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O Lord, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country,
And gather them from the ends of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child
And the one who labors with child, together;
A great throng shall return there.
9 They shall come with weeping,
And with supplications I will lead them.
I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters,
In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;
For I am a Father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My firstborn.
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare it in the isles afar off, and say,
‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’
11 For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion,
Streaming to the goodness of the Lord—
For wheat and new wine and oil,
For the young of the flock and the herd;
Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden,
And they shall sorrow no more at all.
13 “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together;
For I will turn their mourning to joy,
Will comfort them,
And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.
14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jeremiah 31:1-14.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
God promises to gather Israel's scattered families, remain their loving Father and shepherd, ransom them from stronger captors, rebuild their land, and turn mourning into joyful worship. The blind, lame, expectant, young, old, priests, and remnant will share his abundant goodness.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Jeremiah 31:11
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and ransomed for him the hand of one strong and ransomed from him the hand of one stronger than he
Bryan explicitly says verse 11 is underlined as his best summary, while also considering verses 13–14 and loving verse 3. Verse 11 states the redemptive act underlying the promised return and rejoicing.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Rejoice in the Lord and follow him through chastisement and hardship, trusting the Father who never abandons his people but loves them with everlasting love and leads them to Christ.
Additional Notes
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
I hate something. Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're going to be at Jeremiah chapter 31, one through 14. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word. But before we do that, we are leaving for a couple weeks for vacation, so just wanted you to know that. I have things that we'll be back in a couple weeks, so pray that it goes well for you. Please pray for us, travel, and that we'll be able to spend good time together as a family. So let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word.
Are we going to do makeup days? Huh? Are we going to do extra days of recording? Nope. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank You so much for this day. Thank You for the blessing it is to get to read Your Word, to spend time with You. It is a great blessing to spend time together and to have Your Word in a language we can understand. So, Father, please help us to comprehend it, to digest it, and to live it. In Jesus' name, amen. Here we go, Jeremiah chapter 31, the first 14 verses. So we'll go paragraph by paragraph, back and forth, okay?
At the same time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people, says the Lord. The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness. Israel, when I went to give him rest, The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness, I have drawn you. Again, I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt. O Virgin of Israel, you shall again be adored with your tamarins. Adorned with your tamarins.
And shall go forth in their dances, those who rejoice. You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria. Samaria. Samaria the planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food For there shall be a day when the watchman will cry on Mount Ephraim Arise, let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God So what's he saying in those parts?
So God's gonna bring all the families to himself, right? He's cared for them as they've been scattered. And what's he saying now? that they're gonna come together. Yeah, has God ever stopped loving them? No. No. I'm glad we just gave you that allergy pill and your eyes are getting a blood shot. All right. For thus says the Lord, sing with gladness for Jacob and shout among the chieftains of the nations, proclaim, give praise and say, oh Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and the one who labors with child together. A great throng shall return there. They shall come with weeping. and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, and in a straight way in which they shall not stumble.
For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn." Alright, so here, I think he's talking about gathering together the exiles, even from the north, from like Ephraim and Manasseh, Asher and Dan, right? Can I read the next section? Number 13 we're at 10 to 12 up 10 here the word of the Lord our nations and declare it in the as Isles are far off say he who scattered Israel who gathered him and Kate and keep and That's what it would gather as a shepherd him does this flock for the Lord has redeemed Jacob and ransomed for him the hand of one strong and ransomed from him the hand of one stronger than he I'm gonna go ahead and read I'm watching your eyes get all watery like you got literally tears coming out of your eyes So for the Lord has ransomed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion streaming with the goodness of the Lord For we to new wine and oil for the young of the flock in the herd Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all All right, so what do you think he's saying there?
I'm just not doing it now. You have an allergy attack right now, huh? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So here he's talking about, let's not wipe it on your shirt. Okay. Okay. I don't think that's going to work. All right. So he's going to gather his people. He's going to care for them. He's going to bring them beside the waters. Okay. And this very last two verses, can you hold on with me? Yep. All right.
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together. For I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priest with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord." He's telling them there's going to come back a time for dancing, a time to rejoice.
So what's this section about? Even though there's a whole bunch of trials and hardships, there's war, there's bad stuff happening, right? He says, you're going to come back. I'm going to love you. I'm going to care for you. You're going to get to dance and rejoice again. Yep. So best verse to summarize this, I have verse 11 underlined. I would also maybe underline verses 13 and 14. Yep. But I love verse 3. Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness, I have drawn you.
So, what do you think? How's this impact you? What are you called to do? Rejoice in the Lord. Yeah. Good. Let's go ahead and pray. God, we thank you so much for the joy of the salvation you've given us. Father, we pray that we follow after you and love you all the days of our lives. Lord, we thank you that you do not leave us nor forsake us. You will not abandon us, but you have loved us with an everlasting love. Though you chastise us as children when we sin, you love us as a heavenly Father, always ready and able to help. Care for us, Lord. Lead us to Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. May God bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus. And I'll see you next time. Bye.