This will be the one I've waited for . . .
I'm so glad you found me in time
And I'm so glad that you rectified my mind . . .
Loving you is some kind of wonderful
Because you showed me just how much you care . . .
This will be an everlasting love
Oh, yes it will now!
Jeremiah 2 begins: [1] Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, [2] Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
"When He talks about 'the love of thine espousals,' He's saying, 'I remember back in the early days.' Do you ever do that? He says, 'You remember when you fell in love with me in the wilderness and I courted you?'
"You ought to read sometime Ezekiel 16 about the wonderful story of the birth of Israel and how they were betrothed to one another," says Jordan. "This is the passage in Revelation 2, at the church in Ephesus, when he says, 'You've forgotten your first love.'
"God set His love on Israel because He had a purpose He was going to accomplish in them. They were weak and insignificant; they weren't the issue. It was His purpose with them that was the issue.
"The love that He loved them with, Jeremiah 31 is the chapter in which the New Covenant is delineated: [31] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
[32] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:"That's a reference back to chapter 2. God says, 'Even though I loved them and was devoted to them as a loving spouse and we entered into a covenant of companionship, a marriage relationship, yet they broke the covenant.'
"Now, in that context He's already said to them verses 1-3: [1] At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
[2] Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.[3] The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
"When He says, 'The people which were left of the sword,' those are the people talked about in I John who found grace in the wilderness. They learn the lesson that the Old Covenant, the Law, was designed to teach them. There's a schoolmaster who showed them they couldn't do for themselves; they needed Jehovah to do it for them.
"In Joshua, the people from Ai just beat the britches off of Israel and they said, 'Well, what's going on?!' God says, 'There's sin in the camp and it's got to be dealt with. You've got to purge out the rebel from your midst.' They go to the valley of Achor and judge sin in their midst and separate out the true from the false.
"By the way, in the latter part of Hosea 2, He said, 'After I purge out the rebel, I'm going to allure you and draw you back in and I'm going to marry you again.' 'Wow, we going to get married again! And we're going to be RESTORED back to our first love relationship!' They find grace in the wilderness.
"That issue of that everlasting love and finding grace in the wilderness, that's what the New Covenant is all about for the nation Israel.
"On the night before our Lord dies, He goes into the Upper Room. John 13:1: [1] Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
"What was in the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary? Hebrews says, 'Who for the joy that was set before Him.' For the joy of that kingdom out there, for that everlasting love that He loved them with so that He could give them grace in the wilderness and bring them into that kingdom. For the joy that was set before Him He endured the Cross, despising the shame.
"So, when John comes along in I John he's reminding them, 'You want to see God's love for you? You want to see this everlasting love God has for you to get you through that wilderness and carry you into the kingdom? Are you wondering over there about whether He really loves you or not, or whether He's just?'
"We've already learned in James and Peter all about how they need to trust Him, they ought to trust Him, they should trust Him, they can trust Him, and now John says, 'Here, let me remind you of why you trust Him. Because He loves you. You're the object of His love. The very day He gave birth to the nation, He gave birth to you so He could love you and marry you and have you as His own. It's been an everlasting love and God's manifested it and made it real in that He sent His Son into the world so we might live.' "
(another article later today)
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