Old Testament # 42
“I Will Write It in Their Hearts”
Jeremiah 16; 23; 29; 31
Introduction
I am leaving the additional material up from last week, since it applies to the book of Jeremiah as a whole.
This week’s reading is an example of the Lord’s justice and mercy. There was no repentance in Judah and therefore justice, in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian captivity, was a necessity. But then the Lord promises to gather them back, to find them even in the cracks of rocks, to re-establish His covenant, and restore His ordinances. That’s the macro view, but the micro view applies to each one of us, as illustrated by this quote from the manual:
President Joseph F. Smith taught: “The man with accumulated and unforgiven wrong behind him may find all retreat cut off and his condition in the world hopeless; and he who recklessly cuts off every opportunity of retreat by the neglected evils of the past is most unfortunate. The daily practice, then, of seeking divine mercy and forgiveness as we go along, gives us power to escape evils” (Gospel Doctrine,5th ed. [1939], 374).
Jeremiah is imprisoned in the first year of the reign of Babylon’s puppet king Zedekiah which is when the Book of Mormon narrative starts. There is a good chance that Lehi and his family would have heard Jeremiah’s words and might have known him since Jerusalem was not that inhabited. An interesting point is that Jeremiah actually gives dates which is very rare. He also tells the exact time when God spoke to him (Jeremiah 1:3). As prophets do today, he was speaking language that they understood. Given how bad things were, Jeremiah says the best way forward is to submit to the Babylonians, which was a very unpopular view.
One of the first projects I worked on at the Maxwell Institute at BYU (formerly FARMS) was with John W. Welch on double sealed documents. Jeremiah mentions one of these in Jeremiah 32: 11–14. I am including a link to the article in the additional material, but it is an added witness for the Book of Mormon plates, containing, as they do, a sealed portion.
Jeremiah 23:4 says: “And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.” In the last General Conference, Sister Bonnie H. Cordon said:
As we strive to follow the Savior’s example, we must first know and number His sheep. We have been assigned specific individuals and families to tend so we are certain that all of the Lord’s flock are accounted for and no one is forgotten. Numbering, however, is not really about numbers; it is about making certain eachperson feels the love of the Savior through someone who serves forHim. In that way, all can recognize that they are known by a loving Father in Heaven. . . . The Lord invites us to feed His sheep, to tend His flocks as He would. He invites us to be shepherds to every nation, every country. . . . When the day comes that we will kneel at the feet of our beloved Savior, having nourished His flock, I pray we can answer as did Peter: “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” These, Thy sheep, are loved,they are safe,and they are home.[1]
I mentioned a new covenant promised by the Lord with the House of Israel, in Jeremiah 31:33 we read:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
There is a lot of imagery regarding writing things in our hearts (Mosiah 5:12), minds, palms of the hands (Isaiah 49:16), receiving His image in our countenances (Alma 5:14). Put them all together and I believe it represents both an inward and outward demonstration of our commitment to the Lord and His Gospel. And the two admonishments from President Nelson—to minister as a higher, holier way of caring for those around us, and to regard the keeping the Sabbath holy as a delight are probably the main ways we can do that. Because they embody both the new commandments the Lord gave us in Matthew 22:37–39 (see also John 13:34; D&C 88:123).
Additional Material
Double, sealed documents
1. Short version (search for “double”
2. Full Version
Babylonia and the Conquest of Judah
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