A New Identity
14 “However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.
Jeremiah 16:14-15
Over and over throughout the Hebrew Bible, the Lord is identified as the one who brought the people of Israel out of Egypt (like the beginning of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:2). It’s their defining moment as a nation and their relationship to God. We just celebrated Passover, which commemorates this event. The people knew God by what he had done in the past.
However, this was going to change. They were about to sent into exile. However, that wouldn’t be the end. He would bring them back. Despite feeling like a hopeless situation, the Lord was going to do something greater than the past. He would bring his scattered people from across the globe back to the land. This partially happened a couple generations after the destruction of Jerusalem. However, they didn’t all come back. Israel has been living in exile ever since. In the last century they’ve been returning in large numbers. The modern state of Israel was established in 1948. But this isn’t the end. I believe he will continue to bring them home.
Fishermen
“But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.
Jeremiah 16:16
The passage turns back to the impending exile. “Fishermen” is not a term used frequently in the Bible. The only places this word is used in Hebrew are in Ezekiel 47:10 and Isaiah 19:8.
What grabs my attention isn’t the word itself but rather that the New Testament talks about fishermen. Four of Jesus’ original disciples were fishermen. In this verse, the Lord says he will send for fishermen. That’s what Jesus did! Was Jesus connecting with this verse?
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:18-20
I’ve always interpreted their mission in a positive light, catching people to bring them to Jesus. However, when I think of it in light of this verse (and fishing in general), how beneficial is it for fish to be caught? Similarly, think about those being hunted in the next part of the verse. It sounds like a statement of judgement!
To Ponder…
- What event(s) in your life do you think back on in how God has worked?
- Do you believe the God who was faithful in the past will continue to be faithful in the future? Perhaps in even greater ways?
- What do you think it mean be “fishers of men”?