Jeremiah

Jeremiah 16: The LORD gathers His people home

Begin in prayer

Before we read about a silent house in a time of judgment, let us kneel before the LORD. Ask Him to make us sober in heart, to bring our family home to Him, and to show us Christ, the Gatherer of His people.

Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.

Psalms 62:8

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You judge sin and bring Your scattered people home, and help us to turn from our sin and trust Jesus. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The LORD tells Jeremiah not to marry, and to stay away from mourning and feasting, as a sign of coming judgment (verses 1 to 9). The people will die by sickness, sword and famine (verses 3 and 4). Joy and gladness will be taken from the land, so the voice of the bride and bridegroom will be silent (verse 9). The LORD answers that their fathers forsook Him, and they have done more evil (verses 10 to 12). Yet He promises to bring Israel back from the north land, as He once brought them out of Egypt (verses 14 and 15). He will send fishers and hunters to gather them from every mountain and hill (verses 16 to 18). Jeremiah then prays, and says that the nations will come to the LORD from the ends of the earth (verses 19 to 21).

As you read Jeremiah 16, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD judges sin, and He brings His scattered people home.

Jeremiah’s silence at feasts was a sign that joy would be taken from the land (verses 1 to 9). The LORD says His people walked after their own stubborn hearts, so they would be cast out (verses 11 to 13). The Exodus shows God’s saving power, since He brought Israel out of Egypt (verses 14 and 15). Fishers and hunters are sent to gather the people from every place where they have been scattered (verses 16 to 18). Jeremiah confesses that the LORD is his strength and refuge, and that the nations will come to Him (verses 19 to 21). They will confess that their fathers inherited nothing but lies (verses 19 and 20). Jesus is the Shepherd who gathers the scattered flock.

How does Jeremiah 16 show us that the LORD judges sin, and brings His scattered people home?

The LORD judges the sin of His people.

Jeremiah was to avoid mourning and feasting, because the land would be judged (verses 5 to 9). The people had forsaken the LORD and done evil more than their fathers (verses 11 and 12). Jeremiah was told not to marry or have children there, so his own life became a warning (verses 2 to 4).

The LORD brings His people back.

He will bring Israel back from the north, as He brought them out of Egypt (verses 14 and 15). He will send fishers and hunters to gather them from every hill (verses 16 and 18). The same LORD who scattered them would be the One to gather them (verses 14 to 16).

The nations will come to the LORD.

Jeremiah says, “Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction” (verse 19). The nations will confess that their fathers inherited only lies (verses 19 and 20). Jesus calls people from every nation to come to Him, and He gives rest to all who trust Him.

Memorize

I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.

Jeremiah 16:15

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what lie keeps me from coming home to Jesus?

The LORD had said, “you have done evil more than your fathers.” They had forsaken the living God for lies, so He would cast them out of the land. But the same LORD promised to bring His people home from the north, as He had once brought them out of Egypt.

Jesus is the Son whom the Father sent, and He came to gather the scattered children of God. He bore the judgment for sin at the cross, and He laid down His life for His sheep. His death paid for sin completely, and He rose again on the third day. His work is enough, and He gathers all who trust Him.

Turn from the lies you have trusted, and come home to the LORD through Jesus. Repent of the idols that kept you away from Him, and trust Christ to bring you home. Every person who comes to Him this way is made clean, and He does not refuse them.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the LORD judges sin, and that He brings His scattered people home. Parents, you may want to explain Jeremiah’s silence in verses 5 to 9 in your own words. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He brings His people home, and bring the heart question to Him. Let each child who wants to pray speak a short prayer to the Lord.

Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

Psalms 107:2-3

Lord, thank You that You judge sin and gather Your people home. Forgive the lies we have trusted, and the idols that kept us from You. Bring each of us to Jesus, and help us to walk with You this week. Amen.