“the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” (Jeremiah 31:3, ESV)
The prophet Jeremiah gives the people of God a keen insight into the everlasting love of their Father for them. The astute observer of this verse will quickly recognize that the object of God’s affection is Israel. In one sense Israel could be understood to be none other than Jacob whose name was changed to Israel. A brief survey of Jacob’s life would certainly affirm God’s divine activity brought about by God’s eternal knowledge of Jacob. On a broader and more compelling level, Jacob can then stand as a type of the nation of Israel itself. Here again, God’s divine activity in the life of the nation is brought about by God’s eternal knowledge of the nation just as it was in the life of Jacob individually. Whether this text is taken as Jacob the individual or as Jacob standing as the representative of the nation of Israel, several key points need to be highlighted. Perhaps the most important of these points is found within three specific words: “appeared,” “love” and “continued.” All three of these words are found within the perfect tense in verse three. This occurrence simply would indicate not only a completed action but an action that is completed as a matter of intentionality on the part of the bestower of these actions. More directly, as God says He “appeared” to Jacob, this appearing is not only complete (that is there is nothing lacking in the appearance itself; God accomplishes the thing which He intends to accomplish by appearing to Jacob) it is also intentional. In a sense as God appears to Jacob he does so in a way to reveal Himself to Jacob. This is seen as an important point in light of the fact that the second word that is used in verse three that also appears in the perfect tense is the word “loved.” This phrase in verse three gives us the indication of why it is that God has revealed Himself to Jacob in his appearing; it is not just a matter of simple logistics, it is a matter that God loved Jacob. This line of thought is further continued in the last phrase of verse three as God says “therefore I have continued.” It seems that God is indicating to Jacob in a summary fashion why the triune God has remained faithful to Jacob (whether Jacob be an individual or the nation of Israel) in spite of great infidelity on the part of Jacob. A secondary tier of points needs to be highlighted here. In reference to God’s appearing, God says he appeared to Jacob “from far away.” It does not seem to be clear whether this term “from far away” would indicate a geographical distance or a chronological one. It seems a bit out of place to consider God being far from anyone in light of God’s incommunicable transcendence and imminence. It seems to be more in keeping with God’s character that He is near. accepting this premise would lead one to understand the term as being far away chronologically; that simply, God’s intention was to reveal Himself to Jacob perhaps prior to Jacob even being born. The actual act of appearing certainly would have occurred during Jacob’s physical life time however; God’s purpose is to reveal Himself to Jacob must be found within the administration of the eternal covenant. Simply put, God knew and purposed to reveal Himself to Jacob as part of His eternal plan of salvation prior to the creation of the world. Taking the phrase “from far away” in this manner shows the eternal quality of God’s love for His people. Again, both Jacob the individual and his posterity within the nation of Israel were habitually unfaithful to the covenant promises the Godhead established with them. By the straightforward administration of this divine covenant the commensurate blessings should have been withdrawn by God for continued and willful disobedience. However, God’s eternal purpose to reveal Himself to His beloved people, a people typified by both Jacob and the nation of Israel, precipitate a continued relationship between God and His people though His people have rebelled in an ongoing manner and have in fact broken His covenant. Jeremiah 31: 3 illustrates this point as God declares that He had seen Jacob and appeared to him from far away. God goes on to further illustrate this point by telling Jacob that the love that He has loved Jacob with is an everlasting love. This perhaps stands in greatest proof of the aforementioned assertion that God had purposed to reveal Himself to His people from eternity past. God’s continued forgiveness of their sins is in conjunction with the eternal purposes of His covenant with His Son and Holy Spirit and is in fact fueled by God’s eternal love for His people. Simply put, God’s eternal love for His people is the primary motivating factor in God’s revelation of Himself through His covenantal commitment to be the God of His people. This continued fidelity to His covenant commitment is expressed in the final phrase of verse three when God says “therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” This expression of divine fidelity emphasizes not simply that God has arbitrarily forgiven His people of their transgressions but rather God has made possible every required provision to bring about the forensic justification of those whom He loves. In stark contrast to the modern view of God’s faithfulness verse three indicates that God’s Revelation of Himself which is in fact fueled by His eternal love does not necessarily ensure the health, wealth or prosperity of His beloved people. Rather, God ensures that He will provide all that is necessary not for the expressed temporal or tangible comfort of the believer but that His eternal love ensures that the atoning sacrifice which is necessary for forensic justification will be accomplished. As the balance of chapter 31 unfolds from this point all that God begins to enumerate through the prophet falls in line with the premise set forth in verse three; namely, that God will bring to a final completion the fullest expression of His faithfulness to His people. This faithfulness does not ensure a life free from difficulty or affliction. It does not ensure that the life of the believer will be marked by any degree of comfort. It does however ensure that the believer will be granted the divine grace necessary to see God’s eternal love at work. The believer will have full disclosure of God unto Himself in that God’s appearing to His children will be a revelation of His nature and character to them. Specifically this revelation will indicate God’s eternal love for the believer and His continued faithfulness in all things. Much of modern day faith life is painfully ignorant of this truth. Much of mainstream Protestant faith seems to focuses on the health, wealth and prosperity of the believer either expressedly or practically and completely overlooks God’s promises to love His people with an everlasting love that does not ensure they will have the best that this temporal life has to offer. As one truly meditates upon the thoughts of God it should be clear that God’s love is much deeper than the temporal necessities of physical life. This in no way denies that God does provide physically and temporally to those who trust Him as well as those who run counter to His purposes when His ordained plan permits it. However, the promises of God in no way ensure that obedience will directly translate to temporal blessing. Rather, obedience is promised to bring God’s blessing temporally if He should so choose while also ensuring God’s grace in areas were temporal blessing is withheld. In this way, understanding that God has seen His people “from far away” serves to illustrate that God’s love for His people is much, much deeper than any human expression of love may illustrate or any human description of love could fully conceive.
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