God’s Love Story for Israel

by Cate Vaughan

The unconditional love of God never gives up!

What does unconditional love do about broken

wedding vows, when the marriage is between

Israel and God? He starts by acknowledging

what the marriage vows include.

Jeremiah 11; “The Message that came to

Jeremiah from God: Preach to the people of

Judah and citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them this:

Anyone who does not keep the terms of this

covenant is cursed. The terms are clear. I made

them plain to your ancestors when I delivered

them from Egypt, out of the iron furnace of

suffering. Obey what I tell you. Do exactly

what I command you. Your obedience will

close the deal. You’ll be mine and I’ll be yours.

This will provide the conditions in which I will

be able to do what I promised your ancestors:

to give them a fertile and lush land. And, as

you know, that’s what I did.’”

The OT/Covenant with Israel is based upon

obedience to God’s commands. Keep in mind

our NT/Covenant, ratified by Jesus’ blood has

different terms and conditions. There are

however, similarities in God’s pattern of

interacting with both His wife, Israel and His

Son’s Bride, the Church. The short hand

version of the similarities is God establishes

His expectations, His wife ignores them. God

lets her get by with this but not without

warnings, encouragements, and giving more

time. Eventually, God gets fed up and brings

calamity. Then, the people turn in repentance

and God again blesses them.

Jeremiah reminds them of this pattern, also:

‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and carry

them out! I warned your ancestors when I

delivered them from Egypt and I’ve kept up the

warnings. I haven’t quit warning them for a

moment. I warned them from morning to night:

“Obey me or else!” But they didn’t obey. They

paid no attention to me. They did whatever

they wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do

it, until finally I stepped in and ordered the

punishments set out in the covenant, which,

despite all my warnings, they had ignored.”

However, with each warning and judgment,

Jeremiah reminds God’s wife of His plan to

redeem her from her unholy lovers. “Regarding

all the bad neighbors who abused the land I

gave to Israel as their inheritance: I’m going to

pluck them out of their lands, and then pluck

Judah out from among them. Once I’ve pulled

the bad neighbors out, I will relent and take

them tenderly to my heart and put them back

where they belong, put each of them back in

their home country, on their family farms.

Then if they will get serious about living my

way and pray to me as well as they taught my

people to pray to that god Baal, everything will

go well for them. But if they won’t listen, then

I’ll pull them out of their land by the roots and

cart them off to the dump. Total

destruction! God’s Decree.”

To give the people a picture of what God can

and does do: God told Jeremiah, “Up on your

feet! Go to the potter’s house. So I went to the

potter’s house, and sure enough, the potter was

there, working away at his wheel. Whenever

the pot the potter was working on turned out

badly, as sometimes happens when you are

working with clay, the potter would simply

start over and use the same clay to make

another pot. Then God’s Message came to me:

‘Can’t I do just as this potter does, people of

Israel?’ God’s Decree! In the same way that

this potter works his clay, I work on you,

people of Israel. At any moment I may decide

to pull up a people or a country by the roots

and get rid of them.”

Using this picture of the potter and the clay, do

you think the potter has pulled up Israel by the

roots to get rid of her? Who do you think the

new pots represent made out of the old clay?

What do you think clay represents?

Next, God uses Jeremiah to remind the people

what is required of them: “Attend to matters of

justice. Set things right between people. Rescue

victims from their exploiters. Don’t take

advantage of the homeless, the orphans, the

widows. Stop the murdering!”

Along with directions, a promise to rule and

reign with victory and splendor is attached: “‘If

you obey these commands, then kings who

follow in the line of David will continue to go

in and out of these palace gates mounted on

horses and riding in chariots. But if you don’t

obey these commands, then I swear—God’s

Decree!—this palace will end up a heap of

rubble.’”

Like a Husband reminding His wife why He

married her, God encourages Israel with a

reminder of His love attraction: “I number you

among my favorite places—like the lovely hills

of Gilead, like the soaring peaks of Lebanon.”

Like a deeply disappointed Husband, God

decides to discipline Israel: “Yet I swear I’ll

turn you into a wasteland, as empty as a ghost

town. I’ll hire a demolition crew, well-

equipped with sledgehammers and wrecking

bars, Pound the country to a pulp and burn it all

up. Travelers from all over will come through

here and say to one another, ‘Why

would God do such a thing to this wonderful

city?’ They’ll be told, ‘Because they walked

out on the covenant of their God, took up with

other gods and worshiped them.’”

Even though she acts like a prostitute, God

loves His wife, even after He separates from

her, He wants her back. “As soon as Babylon’s

seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll

show up and take care of you as I promised and

bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I

have it all planned out—plans to take care of

you, not abandon you, plans to give you the

future you hope for.

Even during her incarceration, He intends to

provide for her: “When you call on me, when

you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. “When

you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes,

when you get serious about finding me and

want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure

you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

What does Divine Husband want to do for His

returning wife? Build her a place to live of

course, so they can co-habitat. “I’ll

compassionately come in and rebuild homes.

The town will be rebuilt on its old foundations;

the mansions will be splendid again.”

What kind of marital happiness does He intend

for His wife? “Thanksgivings will pour out of

the windows; laughter will spill through the

doors. Things will get better and

better. Depression days are over. They’ll

thrive, they’ll flourish.”

Naturally the couple will want to reproduce!

Jeremiah prophesies “They’ll look forward to

having children again, to being a community in

which I take pride.”

Every good Husband and Father protects His

family: “I’ll punish anyone who hurts them,”

And of course, what Husband and Father

doesn’t want His family to be with him? “I’ll

grant her free and easy access to me. You’ll be

my very own people, I’ll be your very own

God.’”

Do you hear the heart of God, wooing His wife

into intimate contentment? This is the

unbelievable love of God who crafted a new

and better covenant for the Bride of His Son.

Knowing we are incapable of doing our side of

the OT/covenantal agreement: obedience, His

Son came, satisfied all legal requirements,

became the sacrificial requirement for sin, and

imputes His sinlessness to us. The only

requirement to enter into His covenantal love

is: Just believe in His Son. Believe that we are

the righteousness of Christ, believe that He

abides in us, believe that we rule and reign with

Him, especially believe in His unconditional

love. Only one thing can break the New

Covenant: unbelief. The whole of the new and

better covenant is based on only one

criteria…..we must believe it.

God always hopes, always believes, and always

loves. His love doesn’t give up. His love is

irresistible. Have you experienced His wooing

you from behind your protective wall so He

can capture you with His love? I just takes a

nano-second of unguarded response to His

personal whisper: “You have always been my

pick.”