The Weeping Reunion Text: Jeremiah 50:4-5
Introduction: The Logic of Exile and Return
The book of Jeremiah is a book of covenant lawsuits. God, through His prophet, lays out the charges against a faithless and adulterous people. The sentence for breaking covenant is exile, a divorce, a scattering. And this is not arbitrary divine petulance. It is the necessary consequence of turning away from the Fountain of Living Waters to hew out for yourselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. When you abandon the God who is your life, the result is death and disintegration. When you reject the God who brought you into the land, the land itself vomits you out. This is simple cause and effect.
But our God is not simply a God of righteous judgment. He is a God of tenacious, stubborn, covenant-keeping grace. The same covenant that promises curses for disobedience also promises restoration upon repentance. And so, woven throughout the fabric of Jeremiah's dire warnings is this golden thread of promised return. Here in chapter 50, in the midst of a thunderous oracle against Babylon, the great oppressor, the instrument of God's judgment, we find this gem. God is not just going to judge the jailer; He is going to bring His people home. And the nature of this homecoming is what we must pay close attention to, for it is a picture of every true conversion, and it is a prophecy that finds its ultimate fulfillment not in a dusty return to Palestine, but in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
This passage describes a future reunion, a heartfelt repentance, and a binding covenant. It is a roadmap out of exile, and because we are all born in the spiritual Babylon, exiles from the garden, it is a roadmap for us. We must understand that God's prophecies have layers of fulfillment. There was a real, historical return from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah. But that return was just a shadow, a type, a down payment on the great eschatological return that God had in mind. The ultimate fulfillment is not ethnic, but covenantal. It is not about geography, but about Christology.
The Text
"In those days and at that time," declares Yahweh, "the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be Yahweh their God they will seek. They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction and saying, ‘Come!’, in order that they may join themselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten."
(Jeremiah 50:4-5 LSB)
A People Reunited (v. 4a)
We begin with the subjects of this great return.
"In those days and at that time," declares Yahweh, "the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well..." (Jeremiah 50:4a)
The first thing to notice is the timing: "in those days and at that time." This is prophetic language that points to a significant, God-ordained moment of redemptive history. It is connected directly to the judgment of Babylon. When the power of the world that holds God's people captive is broken, then the return can begin. This is true of the historical Babylon, and it is true of the spiritual Babylon, that great world system arrayed against Christ.
But who is coming? "The sons of Israel... and the sons of Judah as well." This is a flat-out miracle. For centuries, these two houses had been divided. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. They were rivals, often at war with one another, and they fell into idolatry and judgment at different times. Israel was carried off by Assyria, and Judah was later carried off by Babylon. They were scattered and estranged.
But in this great return, God promises to heal the schism. The old tribal, political, and sinful divisions are erased. What brings them together? Their shared misery in exile and their shared hope in Yahweh. Their sin divided them, but their repentance unites them. This is a crucial principle. True unity among God's people is never found in sentimentalism, or institutional mergers, or lowest-common-denominator theology. True unity is found at the foot of the cross, in shared repentance for shared sin, and in a shared seeking of the one true God. The ground is level at the foot of the cross, and all our petty rivalries are shown for the vanities they are.
This prophecy demolishes the fanciful notions of some that there are "lost tribes" of Israel that God has to go round up somewhere before the end of the world. The New Testament is clear that the apostles knew exactly who Israel and Judah were, and saw them as one people. Paul speaks of the "twelve tribes" (Acts 26:7). James writes to the "twelve tribes in the Dispersion" (James 1:1). The promise of God here is to bring His people, all of His people, together. And this finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, who breaks down the dividing wall of hostility, not just between Israel and Judah, but between Jew and Gentile, making of the two one new man in Himself (Eph. 2:14-15).
The Nature of True Repentance (v. 4b)
Next, Jeremiah describes the manner of their coming. It is not a triumphal march; it is a tearful pilgrimage.
"...they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be Yahweh their God they will seek." (Jeremiah 50:4b LSB)
This is the heart of the matter. Why are they weeping? These are not the tears of frustration or the worldly sorrow of being caught. This is not the sorrow of Esau who wept because he lost the blessing. This is godly sorrow, the kind that produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret (2 Cor. 7:10). They are weeping for their sin. They are weeping because they finally understand the gravity of their cosmic treason against their covenant Lord. They see their idolatry, their rebellion, their spiritual adultery for what it is, and it breaks their hearts.
This weeping is the sign that the stony heart has been removed and the heart of flesh has been given (Ezek. 36:26). It is the thawing of a soul long frozen in rebellion. You cannot come to God without tears, whether they run down your face or down your soul. There must be a recognition of your bankruptcy, your guilt, your utter helplessness. The way to Zion is a wet road.
And notice the direct connection: "weeping as they go, and it will be Yahweh their God they will seek." The weeping and the seeking are two sides of the same coin. The tears of repentance clear the eyes to see the God they have offended. True repentance is not just turning from sin; it is turning to God. They are not merely seeking escape from Babylon; they are seeking fellowship with Yahweh. Their great discovery in exile was that the judgment they suffered was not as bad as the sin that caused it. The absence of the Babylonians would be nice, but the absence of God was intolerable.
This is the central diagnostic question for any professed repentance. What are you seeking? Are you seeking relief from consequences, or are you seeking the face of God Himself? The prodigal son came to his senses in the pigsty, but his repentance was demonstrated when he set his face toward his father's house.
The Gospel Compass (v. 5a)
Their seeking is not aimless. It has a specific direction and a definite object.
"They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction and saying, ‘Come!’..." (Jeremiah 50:5a LSB)
They are asking the way to Zion. Zion, in the Old Testament, is the place where God has chosen to place His name. It is the location of the temple, the center of worship, the place of covenant renewal. To seek Zion is to seek the manifest presence of God according to His own terms. They are not trying to invent a new religion in the wilderness. They are not saying, "Well, we can worship God anywhere." They are asking for the old paths, the right way, the way God Himself prescribed.
And their faces are turned toward it. This is a picture of fixed resolve. They are oriented toward God. Their internal disposition matches their external quest. This is integrity. This is repentance that has legs. It is one thing to feel sorrow for sin; it is another to set your face like flint toward obedience.
But who is the true Zion? The writer to the Hebrews tells us plainly. We have not come to the physical mountain in Palestine, but "to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem... and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant" (Heb. 12:22-24). Jesus Christ is the true temple, the true meeting place between God and man. To set your face toward Zion is to set your face toward Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.
And notice the evangelistic impulse: "...saying, 'Come!'" True repentance is never a private, individualistic affair. Those whose hearts have been broken and healed cannot help but call others to join them on the pilgrimage. The joy of finding the way home is a joy that must be shared. When you have found the cure for the plague, you do not keep it to yourself. You run through the streets shouting, "Come! Join us! Let us go to Zion together!"
The Unforgettable Covenant (v. 5b)
Finally, we see the goal of their pilgrimage. It is not just about arriving at a place, but about entering into a relationship.
"...in order that they may join themselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten." (Genesis 50:5b LSB)
They want to "join themselves to Yahweh." The language is intimate, like a marriage. This is the essence of covenant. It is a bonded relationship, a solemn oath. They understand that their previous covenant relationship was broken by them. They forgot its terms. They forgot its blessings. They forgot its Lord. The entire reason for the exile was a covenant forgotten.
So now, their desire is for an "everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten." They long for a security and a permanence that they could not achieve on their own. They want a covenant that is not dependent on their fickle memories and treacherous hearts. And this is precisely what God promises just a few chapters later, in what is perhaps the high-water mark of the Old Testament: "Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah... I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts" (Jer. 31:31, 33).
The everlasting covenant is the New Covenant in Jesus' blood. It is a covenant that cannot be forgotten because its terms are not written on tablets of stone, but on the fleshy tablets of the heart by the Holy Spirit. It is a covenant that cannot fail because its mediator is not a flawed priest, but the flawless Son of God. It is a unilateral covenant of grace, where God provides not only the terms but also the ability to keep them. He gives us what He commands from us. This is the glory of the gospel. Our hope is not in our ability to remember God, but in His promise to never forget us, because He sees us in His Son, the head of this everlasting covenant.
Conclusion: Coming Home to Christ
This passage, then, is our story. We are all born sons of Israel and Judah in the sense that we are all covenant breakers, scattered in the Babylon of our sin. But God, in His mercy, sends His word to break the power of that Babylon and call us home.
The way home begins with weeping. It begins with a godly sorrow for our rebellion. That sorrow turns our hearts to seek the Lord. It sets our faces toward Zion, toward Jesus Christ. We ask the way, and the gospel answers, "He is the way." And as we come, we call to others, "Come with us!"
And the end of the journey is to be joined to the Lord. Not in a flimsy arrangement that we might break tomorrow, but in the everlasting covenant, sealed with the blood of the Son, and secured by the indwelling Spirit. This is a covenant that cannot be forgotten, because our names are engraved on the palms of His hands. He has bound Himself to us, and in that bond, we find our true and everlasting freedom.