The Faith of God’s Remnant

MEMORY VERSE: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” —Lamentations 3:22,23

LAMENTATIONS 3:19-33

THE nation of Israel from its inception was prone to be wayward and sinful. Time and again the people drifted into idolatry and other forms of sin. God sent his prophets to them and in some instances these succeeded in bringing about temporary reforms, but on many occasions God’s prophets were rejected. Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee.”—Matt. 23:37

However, there was always a remnant of the nation which maintained faith in Israel’s God, and who faithfully endeavored to observe his righteous ways. Take the case of the Prophet Elijah, for example. Through his contact with the people he concluded that he alone in the whole nation was faithful to God, but the Lord said to him, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”—I Kings 19:18; Rom. 11:3,4

So when the people of the kingdom of Judah were taken into captivity in Babylon because of their sins there were some among them who had been faithful to God, and who continued their fidelity even while captives in Babylon. Among these were Daniel and his three young friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These proved true to the Lord in the face of threatened death—Daniel being thrown into a den of lions, and his three friends into a fiery furnace.

Jeremiah was one of the Lord’s faithful servants, and as a prophet had foretold the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem. He had pointed out in no uncertain terms that this would be as a judgment from the Lord on account of the sin of the people. Jeremiah himself was not taken to Babylon, but he felt very keenly the suffering which had come to his people, and realized that many of the Israelites would deride him because he had foretold it. The Book of Lamentations sets forth his sorrow for what had occurred.

But Jeremiah did not lose his faith, neither his courage. He saw, even in the judgments of the Lord, a display of his mercy and faithfulness toward his professed people. He wrote, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” (vs. 22) According to the strict requirements of the Law Covenant the nation should have been destroyed or, as Jeremiah states it, “consumed.” But because of God’s mercy and compassion the people had been taken into exile instead, and even this was not to be permanent, but merely for a period of seventy years.—Jer. 25:11

“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.” Jeremiah had indeed maintained his faith and hope, and regardless of the trials through which he was passing he could still rejoice in the God of Israel, and could affirm that the Lord was his portion. The Prophet Habakkuk expressed similar sentiments when he was confronted with great trials which were due largely to the sins of God’s professed people. When it seemed possible that he might lose all the natural comforts and needs of life, he wrote, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”—Hab. 3:17,18

Jeremiah continued, “The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” (vss. 25,26) The wicked and idolatrous people of Judah would not be moved by these words, but how much they would mean to Daniel and his three friends, as well as to the remainder of the faithful.

“It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth,” wrote Jeremiah. This may have been especially for the young of Judah, encouraging them with the thought that they could benefit from their experience and be ready to serve when released from captivity. It would be only the young who would live through the seventy years of captivity, and these could be the tried servants of the Lord when their exile ended. “For the Lord will not cast off forever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.” (vss. 31-33) What a blessed assurance!

QUESTIONS

Who are the remnant referred to in the caption of the lesson?

How is God’s mercy shown in Judah’s exile?

How long was the captivity to last?

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