The Prophet's Promise Keepers (Jeremiah 34-35)

Well, this week we'll be looking at “The Prophet’s Promise Keepers” from Jeremiah 34-35.  If you remember, the exile is almost upon them, the enemy is camped at the door, everything looks hopeless, and so now God tells Jeremiah that it’s time to teach the people about the importance of keeping the promises they’ve made before Him.  But it’s not just a passage about making promises, but more specifically, it’s a passage about the consequences God’s people face when they fail to keep those promises.  Furthermore, these aren’t just any promises, but a sacred covenant made with God to free His people from slavery.

So does this passage even apply to us today?  Absolutely!  For two reasons — one, we still make promises before God today, marriage vows being one example, and as we’ll see in a few weeks, ordination vows being another example.  But the second reason is even more important.  You see, we live with covenants.  We talk about marriage covenants, and we refer to our children as covenant children, and the Scriptures often refer to us as God’s Covenant people.  And from Genesis 3 until now, we live under the Covenant of Grace.  In the Bible, Covenant is a big deal.  And so breaking it is also a big deal. 

And this Sunday, Jeremiah is going to show us the difference between covenant breakers and covenant keepers.  And He’s going to do it by contrasting a well-known king – Zedekiah – with an unknown people group – the Rechabites (I know, they sound like insects, but they’re actually the good guys).  So, which one are we?  And if we don’t keep our promises, how do we get out of it?  You’ll have to come on Sunday to find out.  Should be interesting.  See you then, Dr. Dave