Jeremiah 50:17-32: a reflection

17“Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.” 18Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan. His soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 20In those days, and in that time,” says the LORD, “the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none, also the sins of Judah, and they won’t be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant. 21“Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and utterly destroy after them,” says the LORD, “and do according to all that I have commanded you. 22A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! 24I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren’t aware. You are found, and also caught, because you have fought against the LORD. 25The LORD has opened his armory, and has brought out the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, GOD of Armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. 26Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses. Cast her up as heaps. Destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left. 27Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation. 28Listen to those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. 29“Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it escape. Pay her back according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. 30Therefore her young men will fall in her streets. All her men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” says the LORD. 31“Behold, I am against you, you proud one,” says the Lord, GOD of Armies; “for your day has come, the time that I will visit you. 32The proud one will stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up. I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all who are around him.”

In the midst of a long word about the fall of Babylon, God gives a tender promise to his own scattered and battered people: he will restore them, and their sins, though sought for, will not be found. I will bring Israel again to his pasture, God says; and in those days the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none, also the sins of Judah, and they won't be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant. This is a picture of forgiveness so complete that when the sins of God's people are searched for, they are not there; God has pardoned them so fully that they cannot be found. Not merely covered or lessened, but sought and not found, gone. God's pardon of his people is so complete that their sins, looked for, are no longer there to be found; his forgiveness leaves nothing to accuse them.

Notice the completeness of the pardon: the sins sought for, and not found. God does not say he will merely overlook the sins of his people, or reduce them; he says that when they are sought for, they will not be found, for he will pardon his remnant. This is forgiveness so complete that the sins are gone, not there to be found when searched for. God's pardon does not leave the sins lingering, half-forgiven, still available to accuse; it removes them so fully that they cannot be found. To be pardoned by God is not to have our sins merely covered over while they remain; it is to have them so fully removed that, sought for, they are not there. This is the completeness of God's forgiveness of his people: their sins pardoned so thoroughly that they cannot be found. What God forgives, he does not leave lying around to be discovered later; it is gone.

That is worth resting in, for God's pardon of his people is so complete that their sins, sought for, are not found. We can carry the weight of sins we fear are still there, still able to accuse us, only half-forgiven; but God's promise is a pardon so complete that when the sins of his people are sought for, they are not found, for he has pardoned them fully. Our forgiven sins are not merely covered while they linger; they are removed, gone, not there to be found. When you fear your forgiven sins still linger to accuse you, remember that God pardons so completely that, sought for, they are not found. Rest in the completeness of God's pardon, so full that the sins of his people, sought for, are not found, as God promised that the iniquity of Israel would be sought and there would be none, for he would pardon his remnant; for God does not merely cover our forgiven sins while they linger, but removes them so fully that, searched for, they are no longer there, and to be pardoned by him is to have our sins gone, not lingering to accuse us.

Lord, in the midst of a long word about the fall of Babylon, you give a tender promise to your own scattered and battered people: you will restore them, and their sins, though sought for, will not be found. I will bring Israel again to his pasture, you say; and in those days the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none, also the sins of Judah, and they won't be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant. This is a picture of forgiveness so complete that when the sins of your people are searched for, they are not there; you have pardoned them so fully that they cannot be found. Not merely covered or lessened, but sought and not found, gone. Show me the completeness of the pardon: the sins sought for, and not found. You do not say you will merely overlook the sins of your people, or reduce them; you say that when they are sought for, they will not be found, for you will pardon your remnant. This is forgiveness so complete that the sins are gone, not there to be found when searched for. Your pardon does not leave the sins lingering, half-forgiven, still available to accuse; it removes them so fully that they cannot be found. To be pardoned by you is to have our sins so fully removed that, sought for, they are not there. Let me rest in that, for your pardon of your people is so complete that their sins, sought for, are not found. I can carry the weight of sins I fear are still there, still able to accuse me, only half-forgiven; but your promise is a pardon so complete that when the sins of your people are sought for, they are not found. When I fear my forgiven sins still linger to accuse me, help me remember that you pardon so completely that, sought for, they are not found, Lord, as you promised that the iniquity of Israel would be sought and there would be none.