Hurricane

For I will restore health to you,
    and your wounds I will heal,
declares the Lord,
because they have called you an outcast:
    ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

“Thus says the Lord:
Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
    and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt on its mound,
    and the palace shall stand where it used to be.
Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
    and the voices of those who celebrate.
I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
    I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.
Their children shall be as they were of old,
    and their congregation shall be established before me,
    and I will punish all who oppress them.
Their prince shall be one of themselves;
    their ruler shall come out from their midst;
I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,
    for who would dare of himself to approach me?
declares the Lord.

And you shall be my people,
    and I will be your God.”

 

Behold the storm of the Lord!
    Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he has executed and accomplished
    the intentions of his mind.
In the latter days you will understand this.

 

Jeremiah 30:17-24

 

Resurrection Day. Is there any other day that has brought such hope and joy? Impossible. Because without new life, hope and joy cannot exist for us.

 

On Resurrection Day, the Father brought about the ultimate fulfillment of his words which came through Jeremiah to a people in exile. Battered, bruised, broken. Suffering from a wound that could not be healed in and of themselves. They were a people desperate for hope. They had been given a terminal diagnosis and no doctor could help them. Life seemed to be over.

 

And then such a wonderful promise came to them from the very man who had been foretelling their destruction for decades. From the same lips which issued judgment on their sin came words of healing and hope.

 

I will restore. I will have compassion. I will multiply. You will be my people. I will be your God.

 

Have more beautiful words ever been spoken? Words of forgiveness pouring forth from a Holy God who had been wronged more times than anyone could count. Words of compassion for a people who had turned their backs on him time and time again.

 

But before the promise could be fulfilled: WRATH.

 

Not just a sudden, short burst of anger, but a whirling tempest. A fierce storm. A deserved judgment that brings utter destruction. It's what happens when a pure, sinless God turns his eyes toward wickedness. A raging hurricane.

 

But this wrath has a purpose. A point. An intention.

 

The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he has executed and accomplished
    the intentions of his mind.
 

It is not just blind rage. An outburst of uncontrollable emotion. No, God has a point. A target, if you will. His wrath is sent out to do something that the people of Jeremiah's day could not understand. Understanding was promised, but not until later.

 

Not until after the cross.

 

Because the thing about this wrath was that it was not going to be targeted at a helpless people anymore. Healing had been promised to them. Restoration was coming. Because God was going to provide the target for this unbearable wrath so that the people could be spared. No wonder they didn't understand. Before the cross, who would have thought that the God who had been so terribly offended would step in on behalf of the offenders? Who would come up with a plan that would have God's Son plopped down straight in the middle of that terrifying hurricane, sheltering us from its destruction?

 

They couldn't understand, because it defies human logic. But we have been granted understanding. We know what he did. We have been spared the whirling tempest because the wrath was sent out and found its target. It accomplished its purpose when Jesus was crushed on our behalf. And we are left with the promise. The hope. Life.

 

But do I understand? I think so many days I don't. I can't comprehend what I've been spared from. As we look to the cross...as Good Friday looms before us, let's take a moment to contemplate the hurricane. The terrifying wrath of a righteous God. Not so that we can tremble and cower and plead with a distant, angry God.

 

So that we can realize what a gift we've been given. We are the ones...

 

Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
    and the voices of those who celebrate.
 

...the ones who shout and celebrate and give thanks. We are the ones who can say...

 

He is mine and I am his.

 

“‘So fear no more, Jacob, dear servant.
    Don’t despair, Israel.
Look up! I’ll save you out of faraway places,
    I’ll bring your children back from exile.
Jacob will come back and find life good,
    safe and secure.
I’ll be with you. I’ll save you...'"