Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Jeremiah 32-34
Jeremiah 32:38-39
And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Sometimes it is the little, innocuous, things that speak volumes. Such is the case with verse 39 of Jeremiah 32. Israel, namely Judah, is being conquered and carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Chaldeans. But, though for 70 years they would be captive, God promised that they would be restored to their homeland. That is what the purchase of the piece of land by Jeremiah from Hanameel was all about. He, Jeremiah, was in prison at the time, yet God led him to buy the land and safeguard its “title” (if you will) as a testimony that God would, seventy years later, restore the Jews. In prison God gave the prophet, and by extension all of Judah, two promises: one was their restoration, and the other promise was their power and privilege of prayer given in Jeremiah 33:3.
Back to a practical point to ponder. As part of the promise of restoration the Lord God looked past the immediate restoration (the restoration under the approval of Cyrus in 536 BC) to an end time restoration of the Jews. Through Jeremiah God states clearly that He will give His people one heart, and “one way.” Think about those two little words “one way.” They are easy to overlook, but they speak infinite, eternal, volumes.
Jesus said to Thomas in John 14:6, …I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. In a sense the Lord is speaking about a restoration when He uttered these words. For in John 14:1-3 the Messiah is relating the truth that He would go away to prepare a place for His people that one day we may return to Him there. We came from God at birth (God breathed upon the man He created out of the dust, and he became a living soul, Genesis 2:7) and will return to Him through the new birth. Without getting into the weeds of unanswerable questions we know this: Jesus is the Way.
Three times in the book of Acts, the term “that way” is used. Luke used the term “that way” in Acts as a way of life, a way of behavior, a way that was recognized as “that way.”
In Acts 19:9 they spoke evil of “that way.”
In Acts 19:23 there arose a big stir about “that way.”
In Acts 24:22 Felix was said to have perfect knowledge of “that way.”
“That Way” is Jesus Christ and His teachings. In Matthew 7:14 we are told that narrow is the way that leads to life. It’s as narrow as one man, the Lord Jesus. In Mark 10:52, Blind Bartimaeus received his sight and then followed Jesus in “the way.” In Luke 1:79 it is recorded: To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. In John 14:4 Thomas asked Jesus, …how can we know the way? And the Lord replied in verse 6, …I am the way... In Acts 18:26 Aquila and Priscilla expounded to Apollos “the way” of God more perfectly. Romans 3:17 speaks of “the way” of peace that they have not known. II Peter 2:2 proclaims that “the way” of truth shall have evil spoken of it.
Back to Jeremiah, in 33:15 the “Branch of righteousness” is mentioned. In the next verse He is called “The Lord our righteousness.” In the next verse it is stated: …David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; In Jeremiah 34:17 the Lord promises: …behold, I proclaim liberty for you, saith the Lord… Compare that to Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4:18-20. Is this none other than Jesus?
He is the Way! To the Jew first and, and also the Greek. (Romans 1:16) Two little innocuous words that speak volumes.
Dr. William T. Howe
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