236. God will Watch to Build and Plant
Jeremiah 31:28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and plant, saith the Lord.
God watches! He is everywhere and He knows everything. He sees all and knows all, and He is watching. This truth is both a threat and a promise. Watching is a threat in that the Lord sees the sin and rebellion and selfishness of people and His Justice makes certain that every sin will be punished accordingly. God’s Law is actually “Draconian.” The original Draco was a lawgiver in ancient Sparta. His laws were not unusual or severe, but his punishments were: every crime, small or large, was punishable by only one thing, Death. God is Draconian in that sense. He knows only one punishment for any sin: Death. And He is watching for any infraction in thought, word and deed. He says He watches with the result that He plucks up, breaks down, throws down, destroys, and afflicts. There is one penalty for every sin: He kills.
God has done this through the Babylonian Exile. He has seen the One Sin, idolatry, or having other gods besides Yahweh alone. Therefore, the punishment is Exile, which is death as a separation from His Kingdom. For us the same First Commandment, and all the Commandments, still apply. In Adam we all sinned, and death is the result.
But the Lord God still has a way: He sent His Son to bear the penalty of our sin upon Himself (He died on the cross.). Jesus took on Himself our deserved exile. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection the other result of God’s watching over comes into effect: the promise that He will build and plant. Jesus has taken away and destroyed death, once and for all, In place of death He has given life. God’s life in us builds life and love and goodness. His life plants new growth and beauty and fruitfulness. And this is a result of God’s “watching over.” Because of Christ God is watching over us for good and for blessing. He knows His own; He knows who believes; He knows who repents; He knows the needs, hopes and prayers of His Redeemed. He will tenderly care for them and build and plant.