For a full description of the (Y3) reading plan, see the “About” page.
- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Jer. 4
Paul did not come up with the idea of a circumcised heart on his own. We see it here in Jeremiah. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts” (Jer. 4:4a). God did not wait until Jesus came to start revealing the true, spiritual application of all the physical laws He gave. This is just one example. God commanded circumcision for His people as a sign and seal of the covenant they had with Him. It marked them as His. However, a changed heart – emptied of self and filled with God’s Holy Spirit – is the true sign and seal that we belong to Him. It shows that we are part of God’s true and lasting covenant; the covenant that cannot be broken because it is founded on Jesus Christ and does not depend on us.
Jer. 5
God told Jeremiah to search Jerusalem for even one righteous person. If he could find even one, God said that He would forgive the whole city. Yes, this was a lead-in to the pending destruction God brought from Babylon. However, I believe that Jerusalem is often used as a representation of the entire body of believers. That’s part of why Jesus’ sacrifice took place there. He was the one “who acts justly, who pursues faithfulness” that God was looking for. Thus, it was because of Him that any who believe in Him receive God’s promised forgiveness.
Jer. 6
One of the many confusing things about the Bible is that some of the symbolic representations seem to shift. Take Jerusalem, for example. I just said that I believe it is often a representation of Christ’s body of believers. However that representation certainly doesn’t fit the prophecies and declarations in this chapter. In thinking about that, an explanation for the seeming contradiction came to me.
Jerusalem was the city God established for His presence among His chosen people. Before Christ, those people were the descendants of Israel; the nations of Israel and Judah. We know, though, that God’s plan is to make everything new. He started with a new covenant in Jesus. Through that new covenant, God made a new nation of chosen people – those who surrender themselves to Christ. Thus, He has promised to make a New Jerusalem. His presence with His people is no longer defined by a specific, physical city and a specific, physical lineage. So part of why God destroyed Old Testament Jerusalem is to show that the old will pass away and God will make everything new.