True Love

Jer 31:3 Yhwh appeared of old to me,

[saying], Yes, I have loved you with an

everlasting love: therefore with

lovingkindness have I drawn you.

In context, this verse provides reassurance
to those surviving the Assyrian and then
the Babylonian conquest, that the plan of
G-d was not changed by these events. There
was and still is a covenant between G-d and
Israel. Nothing will ever change that.
That's what a covenant means. This passage
is a prophetic message of the restoration
of Israel. Notice that Israel is still
around to this day. These prophetic
messages are being fullfilled in our day.
It's one of the signs that the plan has
never changed, and never will until the end
of time. The record is here. It's just
that we are reluctant to believe it. It's
still a matter of faith.

Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge

them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of

Man comes, will he find faith on the

earth?"

Here's a comment from Easton's Bible Dict.

Jeremiah 31:3
Perseverance of the saints
their certain continuance in a state of
grace. Once justified and regenerated, the
believer can neither totally nor finally
fall away from grace, but will certainly
persevere therein and attain everlasting
life.


But the story begins with a love story all
the way back in the book of Genesis.

Gen 29:11 Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted

up his voice, and wept.

12 Jacob told Rachel that he was her

father`s brother, and that he was Rebekah`s

son. She ran and told her father.

13 It happened, when Laban heard the news

of Jacob, his sister`s son, that he ran to

meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed

him, and brought him to his house. Jacob

told Laban all these things.

14 Laban said to him, Surely you are my

bone and my flesh. He lived with him for a

month.

15 Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my

brother, should you therefore serve me for

nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?"

16 Laban had two daughters. The name of the

elder was Leah, and the name of the younger

was Rachel.

17 Leah`s eyes were weak, but Rachel was

beautiful and well favored.

18 Jacob loved Rachel. He said, "I will

serve you seven years for Rachel, your

younger daughter."

19 Laban said, "It is better that I give

her to you, than that I should give her to

another man. Stay with me."

20 Jacob served seven years for Rachel.

They seemed to him but a few days, for the

love he had for her.

In order for there to be a nation, there
has to be a line of inheritance that
follows the prophetic covenant. If you
look at the text, it was fairly specific.
Jacob, of course, is of the prophetic
lineage. Yet, at times, he had a turbulent
life. That's not unusual. There is
something to be said for routine and boring
life. But Jacob, in this passage, finds
his true love.


Jacob also found out about employers. They
still have a remarkable tendency to offer
employees one thing and deliver another.
Of course, it was all a misunderstanding.
Hence, the rise of the labor union. Some
things never change.

In the end, Jacob came out well. He saw it
as the Lord's favor.

Gen 31:41 These twenty years have I been in

your house. I served you fourteen years for

your two daughters, and six years for your

flock, and you have changed my wages ten

times.

42 Unless the G-d of my father, the G-d of

Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been

with me, surely now you would have sent me

away empty...

So Jacob gathered up his belongings and his
beloved and went his way. It took him
twenty years.


There's alot more to look at here, but I'll
close today with a quote from Henry:

Genesis 31
Jacob was a very honest good man, a man of
great devotion and integrity, yet he had
more trouble and vexation than any of the
patriarchs. He left his father’s house in a
fright, went to his uncle’s in distress,
very hard usage he met with there, and now
is going back surrounded with fears.

He's also going back with something that
many, maybe most, never find -- the true
love that he has found in Rachel.