God’s Perfect Order – Jeremiah 31:36

Growing with God: A daily devotional with Tonia Slimm.

Jeremiah 31:36 (NIV)

“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.”

Jeremiah 31:36 (MSG)

“If this ordered cosmos ever fell to pieces, fell into chaos before me”—God’s Decree—“Then and only then might Israel fall apart and disappear as a nation before me.”

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“If this fixed order departs from before Me,” says the Lord, “Then the descendants of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever.” -AMPLIFIED

“Future Israel would no more cease from being a special nation in God’s sight than the fixed order of nature would cease.” ~Thomas Constable

We have been reminded that Adonai holds all authority and power, yes, ALL. God’s Message:

“This is what the Lord says: “The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar—the Lord of Armies is his name…” -Jeremiah 31:35 (CSB)

And to put some muscle behind that statement, the Lord reminds Israel, and us, that He is behind every “ordinance”. He has established a perfect order of doing things, His Laws of nature, and they work exactly the way that He intends them to work.

“If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.” -(KJV)

““Ordinance,” and “ordinances,” would perhaps be the best words. The word means a fixed order of things, sometimes rendered in our version ”statute,” and sometimes “ordinance,”” ~John Calvin

Eternal One: “Only if the natural order disintegrates before Me will the people of Israel cease to be a nation in covenant with Me.” -(VOICE)

Depending on what translation you look at, the wording may be different, but the idea stays the same, we are reminded that God, who created all things, and put in place the ordinances, or the natural order of things, otherwise known as the laws of nature, has instituted a plan for how things would work on a continual basis, a natural order. He is in control of everything, and this verse once again supports God’s total authority over all things.

“There are ordinances of worship, which are God’s laws relating to his worship; and ordinances of justice, which are God’s laws for the executing civil justice; and ordinances of nature, which are God’s establishments for the working of natural causes in their order; these are those here spoken of, which shall hold and continue to the dissolution of the world, the continuance of which God pawneth as a pledge of the continuance of Israel as a nation all the days, (so it is in the Hebrew,) that is, many days, or all the days they shall keep close with him, or which he hath appointed.” ~Matthew Poole

And the Lord tells Israel, and us, that just as He would never forget His ordinances, so too, He would never forget the nation of Israel. Just as it is impossible for Him to forget the fixed order, the process of the sun coming up each day, and the moon and stars at night, so too He could never forget His people.

“I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to do away with these laws of nature!” -(TLB)

“The message from God is both powerful and plain. God will stop thinking of and dealing with Israel as a nation when the sun, moon, and stars stop giving light and when the sea stops roaring. As long as those things continue, God will regard Israel as a nation before Him forever.” ~David Guzik

In the book of Job, we find these ordinances called the Law or Rules of Heaven. We find the Eternal One speaking about them when He was addressing Job personally.

“Can you bind together a cluster of twinkling stars—the seven sisters of Pleiades who keep company in the night sky? Can you loosen the cords of Orion’s bow? Can you lead the stars of the Zodiac out in their proper seasons and guide the Bear with her cubs? Do you know the rules of the heavens, or apportion their influence on the seasons of the earth?” -Job 38:31-33 (VOICE)

The author of Psalm 119 reminds us that everything in nature follows the Laws or ordinances that the Lord has set in place.

“Your faithfulness endures to every generation; You founded the earth, and it remains. Everything remains today in keeping with Your laws, for all things exist to serve You.” -Psalm 119:90-91 (VOICE)

The writer of Psalm 148 alludes to these Laws of Heaven or ordinances, writing:

“Let all things join together in a concert of praise to the name of the Eternal, for He gave the command and they were created. He put them in their places to stay forever—He declared it so, and it is final.” -Psalm 148:5-6 (VOICE)

I am reminded that God has a purpose and a plan for every part of His creation, and that includes you and I. Consider something that David wrote:

“I will cry to God Most High, Who performs on my behalf and rewards me [Who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]!” -Psalm 57:2 (AMPC)

And our God is a God of order, not confusion:

“God isn’t a God of disorder but of peace.” -1 Corinthians 14:33a (CEB)

“Since God is sovereign, and this world is his, then every moment, in a sense, is a moment of providence. Wherever you find yourself right now has come by the process of events he ordained. Every past moment of your life has led to your now. The same will be true tonight, and tomorrow, and ten years in the future. Our experience of providence is our experience of the present, which we know has been wondrously woven together by God. And because God is behind it all, we, as those united to Christ by faith, are assured of this: God’s providence neither gets it wrong nor lets us go, ever.” ~Jonathan Parnell

My friend, we serve a God of order, not confusion. He has put into place a natural order of how things will work, ordinances. And He reminded Israel, and us as well, that He would be more likely to forget that order of things, than He would be to forget them, or us. That is how much He loves you and me. Never forget that truth.

“Our God is a God of order, and so his creation reflects that same reality.” ~Steven Wedgeworth

My Prayer:

Adonai Elohim, my Great Lord, I am reminded that you are a God of order. When you created this world, you put in place rules, or ordinances, that everything had to follow. The sun comes up in the day, and the moon and stars at night. This is how you ordained it to be, and nature follows the rules and boundaries that you have set into place. I am reminded that when you finished each part of creation, you said, “It is good.” What you had accomplished, by your own authority and power, was good, it was what you intended and wanted. And you, the God of order, not chaos, has a plan for my life. Help me to remember that you are in charge, and I am not. I choose to submit and give you control of every part of my life, so that your perfect plan for my life will come to pass fully. Thank you for loving me so much, Lord. You are so good to me. ❤