Jeremiah 46:28

‘“Do not fear, O Jacob My servant," says the LORD,
"For I am with you;
For I will make a complete end of all the nations
To which I have driven you,
But I will not make a complete end of you.
I will rightly correct you,
For I will not leave you wholly unpunished."’ (Jeremiah 46:28)

Chapter 46 is a judgment against Egypt, land of the river Nile, who was almost unimaginably strong in the Israelite’s minds, and from where they had once escaped. Now they were back there, due to their fear of Nebuchadnezzar and his army, completely against God’s command. They supposed that Egypt would be an impregnable defence behind which they could shelter. However, God makes it clear that Egypt herself would be conquered by the large Babylonian army in this chapter.

Now, after this sin (piled on top of the rest – for which they were originally taken captive) you might expect God to finally give them up and treat them like the rest of the nations. However, He is still unfathomably gracious towards them. He says that He will make a complete end of all the nations that He drives them to (notice this doesn’t mean Egypt, since He didn’t drive them there, but it does mean Babylon), but He will not make a complete end of them. Is this because they are less sinful? I can hardly imagine it to be so: as we have just discussed, there were many sins which led them into captivity, and even more atrocities and rebellions after captivity. No, I don’t think they sinned any less than the other nations.

You see, here we find something almost incomprehensible to our human minds, and definitely incomprehensible in its entirety. We see God’s elective love. He sovereignly chooses to bestow His grace on the nation of Israel, to fulfil His purposes for the world (ie. So a Saviour may one day be born). There is nought else that it could be: He directly says that He will make a complete end of all the nations to which they are driven, but never make a complete end of them. We can only ask ‘why?’ There is no logical answer but to invoke God’s elective love. He loves His people Israel for no other reason than He chose to.

Hard to fathom: yes. But easy to receive. For it is this same love that He has bestowed upon us, and that we benefit from daily. And yet also He loved the whole world with an unconditional love, so that He sent His own son Jesus to die a brutal death to ransom us from eternal torment.

As we look at the character of Israel, let’s not forget that she is somewhat like ourselves as individuals. Let us take joy in her triumphs and the Lord’s blessing upon her, and learn from her mistakes.

Today, let us revisit the subject of God’s love anew, and appreciate all that He has done for us: not only in His unconditional love expressed as the ultimate sacrifice, but also in His elective love – He chose me!