“Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. (Jeremiah 30:10 ESV)
“But fear not, O Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, O Israel, for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. (Jeremiah 46:27 ESV)
When Jeremiah says (twice!) that God would save His people from far away, he obviously must be referring to the miles between Jerusalem and Babylon. And that would have been astonishing enough.
But God was promising a salvation from a bigger difference than was measurable on a map.
Many years ago, I was attempting to put my broken life back together. I had slipped, slid, and fallen into sin. I had been caught, disciplined, taught, and loved. And now, from the inside out, God was rebuilding me, my relationships, and my life.
One voice that God had brought into my life was a man who seemed like he was from a different world. Born in Belize. Hardly any education. He was as far from me as two men could be from each other in temperament, experience, and ability. But God used David to continue to save me. His words challenged me daily. His eyes encouraged me at 4:00 am when we started work. His loving heart enriched me as we spoke, listened, laughed, and cried.
I never would have sought David’s counsel. He was too different. He was too far away, even when our feet nearly touched. He was off there somewhere in every way that might have mattered.
Jeremiah makes the ‘from far away’ promise twice. Because the promise is surprising.
The chasm between a Holy God and broken people is immeasurable. He is other. He is as different from us as could possibly be.
But that makes no difference to God.
He doesn’t save us due to our similarity to Him. He saves us because we are different.
(In fact, this is one of the reasons that the infinite, holy God became the finite present Christ. It is how God drew near.)
God knows we are not like Him. He knows our unholiness. He knows that we not only are in Babylon but are distressingly comfortable there.
But He will save us, even from far away.
Fear not, because He comes near.