And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, 'As the LORD lives,' even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.
Jeremiah 12:16
The remedy for the many sins of Judah and Israel was repentance, renewal, and a recommitment to the covenant. God knew that His people were sinners. They obeyed imperfectly, but He wanted them to commit to that relationship again. They had totally given up on God. He wanted their hearts and wills back. It would take 70 years of national exile for Him to get that.
It would begin with the diligent commitment to learn the ways God had shown them. It was not hard to find that information. It was the content of the Law. The main thrust of it was commitment and trust in the living God. He wanted His people to swear allegiance to Him again, rather than be torn by oaths to false gods.
God wants our love and our deepest commitment from the heart. He cannot help but have it when we have been moved by His grace. We see His amazing love at work for us in Christ. Who cannot help but be drawn to learn and love more? And it will draw out our deepest allegiance. It will transform broken, self-centered thinking. It will make us carriers of that grace into a world that God wants to transform through us. And then shall His people be built up into the work He wants to make of us.
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