The LORD once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. 17 The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”
Love is blind. When we fall in love with another person, we see only the beauty and are unable to see the flaws that others can plainly see. That “blindness” can stretch even into the marriage, when all the flaws are on display. Still, the covenant is intact. Until it isn’t. Nothing destroys a marriage covenant like adultery. Then the flaws suddenly take center stage and the illusion is over. Jeremiah told Judah that they were once a green olive tree, a symbol of vitality and fruitfulness. Then they committed adultery with other gods. Now they were ugly.
The annihilation of a marriage covenant can also be like a great storm or a wildfire, destroying everything in its path, bringing innocent children into despair. The same thing is promised for Jerusalem and in short order, because they loved the high places with altars to Baal, they were consumed by the horrors of a breakup like no one had yet seen in the City of David. They needed a Savior to reunite them with God. The Messiah, Jesus Christ, has not only renewed the covenant, he has made a new covenant. We can be green olive trees again!
Dear Lord, thank you for the shoot from Jesse that makes us a green olive tree. Help us to bear the fruit of the gospel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church