“Thus says the Lord, ‘Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for thy work shall be rewarded,’ saith the Lord, ‘…and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.'” Jeremiah 31:16
Dear Ones:
It was a terrible day when wicked Herod discovered that his plot had failed to kill the “King of the Jews.” His reaction was that he sent soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all children two years of age, and under. Matthew tells us, as Jeremiah had prophesied many years before: “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” (Jer. 31:15) Why does Matthew in his gospel refer to this prophecy of Jeremiah, referring to this event.
When Israel was being besieged by the Babylonians, long before Jesus’ birth, there was great sorrow and suffering. The capturing of Jerusalem, and consequent captivity, were events of immeasurable personal loss, and sorrow, because of so many who died, both young and old. That same loss was known and felt when the soldiers of Herod made their appearance to accomplish their decadent deed. In the midst of the pain, and terrible blow to the hearts and souls of those who experienced so great loss, God revealed HOPE. He tells those in Jerusalem, “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes form tears.” God KNOWS their sorrows, and ours, but He also KNOWS that there is a time for sorrow, and a time, for looking beyond that sorrow to an eternal expectation, and certain hope. Our sorrow is not the end, but often, the beginning of that which God desires and wills to do. It is for this reason that He tells those who are sorrowing to stop weeping. He then declares to them: “…for thy work shall be rewarded.” Not only does the eternal God KNOW the sorrow of the heart of a mother for her child, and the depths to which that sorrow can cripple and destroy, but He knows also that with the seed of HOPE, life can not only continue, but there can be again joy and rejoicing. Is Christ not the One who “heals the brokenhearted?” How does He do so? He first attracts the attention of the sorrowful individuals, instructing them to stop weeping. He then proceeds to speak to them the TRUTH, concerning that which is eternal. The eternal truth will set the sorrowful free, and it will be by believing God according to the truth, that HE will give joy in the place of sorrow, joy in the morning.
What then is this “truth” that can deliver from sorrow? He speaks first of a “work…that shall be rewarded.” In both the reference to the circumstances of Jeremiah’s day, and to those of Jesus’ day, he addresses primarily the mothers of the children. What is this “work” of which He speaks? It is that of having the child, raising the child, holding on to the hope of what that child will become and be, by the grace of God. Though the life of the child has been cut short by tragedy, yet, from an eternal perspective, the child has entered once for all into the blissful, joyful, presence of God, where there is no suffering. The love of the child’s mother does not compare with that of God. The comfort of God to the mother, is the knowledge of the blessedness of the child, the sheer joy of being in the presence of God.
There is a second aspect to this “truth” which is very important. In Jeremiah, we find a phrase that is not mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew: “…and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.” For Israel who was being carried away into captivity, the knowledge that there would come a day when they would be delivered, and freed, from their enemies, gave them great hope. For the believer, the knowledge of the truth of being delivered from this world, and his enemy, to be forever with Christ, is hope and comfort indeed.
Dear Father, Open our eyes to see, even through our tears, our eternal hope in Thee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad