If you're anything like me, you love a good story. Stories captivate the human heart. They give us a sense of belonging. And everyone has a story, a narrative that they cling to, that gives them a sense of who they are and how they fit in our world. The story that we believe usually shapes how we live, how we view our place within God's creation. It's no accident that God made us this way. You know, you think of it, it's why nearly every superhero movie usually ends with the triumph of good over evil. These are major motion pictures watched by millions, and these movies appeal to millions. because they appeal to human nature. We long for the hero to win, to defeat the enemy. And this phenomenon is even described in biblical terms. God has ordered his world in this way. The book of nature reads of the glory of God, right? Think of Romans chapter 1. It's no coincidence that unbelievers love a good Marvel movie where the victory is won by the good guys. I'm telling you about stories tonight because our text this evening is a retelling of the divine story. The cosmic battle between the seed of the woman and of the seed of the serpent. This dramatic story ends with Christ as the victor. And tonight I'd like for us to see how Jeremiah 31 verses 15 through 17 displays both the problem of human sin and the solution of a divine savior. Firstly, we'll look at the curse of sin and the effects of sin in verse 15. And secondly, we will see the hope of glory promised in verses 16 and 17. Now before we dive into these verses, I want to say a brief word about the story of Scripture, the drama of Scripture. I think the way that we understand Scripture as a whole shapes the way that we'll understand these three verses tonight. Theologians often refer to the story of Scripture as redemptive history. Now what they mean by that is that the stories revealed from Genesis to Revelation point to the unfolding plan of God's salvation. There's a basic paradigm that I find extremely helpful to unpack this overarching narrative of scripture. Creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. If we think about the Bible through this lens, we find the basic pillars of redemptive history. In the first stage, God creates all that is, and the Trinity dwells in perfect harmony, holiness, and glory from all eternity before the creation of all things. Adam and Eve inhabit the Garden of Eden in a state of sinlessness. The second movement of redemptive history is ushered in by the sin of mankind. The serpent tempts Eve, and she and Adam partake, and they die a spiritual death. This is the fall of humanity, the reality of the human condition. Things are broken. Creation has been tainted by human sin. And all of Adam and Eve's posterity is affected by this sin. The curse of sin and the sting of death now taint and touch every facet of human history. Then we move to the third act, redemption. Redemption is first revealed in Genesis chapter three, verse 15. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the rest of the Bible is a footnote to Genesis 3.15. This is the promise of the gospel. The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. And while the seed of the serpent will bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, God promises an ultimate victory. Genesis 3.15 foretells of the coming Messiah, the head crusher, the one who will vanquish sin and death. This is what we remember in this season of Advent, in this season of anticipation. The first coming of Christ, the hope of glory, the Son of God who takes our sin upon himself, the Lamb of God who wipes away every stain. And then finally we have the fourth stage of redemptive history, the consummation. We live in the already not yet kingdom and the consummation is the final act. This is the second advent for which we as believers now wait. The consummation will occur when Christ returns again in glory to judge the living and the dead. When he returns, he will vanquish sin and death with ultimate finality. There will be no more tears and no more suffering. For those who are in Christ, they will be raised with incorruptible bodies. And for those who are outside of Christ, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This paradigm, creation, fall, redemption, consummation, it orients us as we consider where we are in redemptive history as we look at this text tonight. So let's firstly consider then how we see the curse of sin. Look with me at verse 15 of Jeremiah chapter 31. Thus says the Lord, a voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children because they are no more. There's no doubt about it, this is a profoundly sad verse. This is a harrowing verse. And many of us are familiar with this verse because of its use in Matthew's gospel. I'm sure some of you maybe have heard this passage quoted by Matthew in Advent sermons before. In Matthew chapter two, Jesus is born and the wise men are employed by Herod to locate the Christ. And after discovering that this is indeed the promised Messiah, they are warned in a dream not to return to Pharaoh. Pharaoh is angered by this, he's incensed, and he declares an edict that all the Hebrew males, two and under, are to be slaughtered. After this, we read in Matthew chapter two, verses 17 and 18, that then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they are no more. This act of infanticide is commonly referred to as the massacre of the innocents. Some medieval scholars have suggested that there were as many as 144,000 Hebrew males that were slaughtered. More recent scholarship has argued that the 144,000 is a symbolic number and that there could have only been as many as 20 male boys that were in fact murdered. But regardless of the specific number, the fact is what we see in Matthew's gospel is that a tragedy has occurred. Matthew links the prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 15 with the massacre of the innocents. Matthew writes in chapter two, verse 17, then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. But going back to the prophecy, who is Rachel and who are her children? Rachel was a matriarch born a few millennia prior to Christ. So how is it that Rachel could be weeping for her children? And what is the significance of Ramah? Well, in order to understand this prophecy in Jeremiah and how it is fulfilled in Matthew's gospel, we need to take a long stroll down the memory lane of redemptive history. Rachel was the wife of Jacob, the mother of Joseph and of Benjamin. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin and her grave was actually located near Ramah. Ramah would eventually be the place where Rachel's descendants were gathered for exile by the Babylonians. So what we have going on here is a word association of sorts. Rachel wasn't actually weeping in Ramah. The prophetic word to Jeremiah from the Lord marks the tragedy of the curse of sin. As G.K. Beale notes in his commentary of the New Testament use of the Old Testament, Rama is to be seen as the supreme example of the place of utter sadness. It is the place where Rachel figuratively weeps, because it embodies the place of ultimate tragedy. It is the place where her descendants are gathered for exile as a result of their sin. But there's more to it than that. In Genesis chapter 32, verse 28, we read that Jacob, Rachel's husband, is given a new name after wrestling with God. He is called Israel. So we might even say, then, that Rachel is the mother of Israel's offspring. And in Matthew chapter 2, when we read the genealogy of Jesus Christ, we see Jacob actually listed in the line of the seed of the woman. Rachel is a typological mother here in Jeremiah 31 verse 15 for Israel. Rachel is weeping for her children, both for her descendants gathered in Ramah for exile and for her descendants slaughtered by Herod. Rachel is the typological mother who mourns and weeps at the state of the world. She weeps because of the curse of sin. She eagerly awaits the coming Messiah. Her anguish and sorrow are over the brokenness of this world. Our biblical theology helps us to understand how it is that Rachel's weeping for her children is heard in Ramah. So what we see here in Jeremiah 31 verse 15 is the seed of the serpent bruising the heel of the seed of the woman. If we think back to the four-stage paradigm of redemptive history. Verse 15 of Jeremiah 31, it goes all the way back to the fall. The curse was given as a result of sin. The world is broken. Human nature is corrupted. All successive pain, sorrow, and evil are a result of our sin. Israel's exile to Babylon is the result of human sin. Herod's massacre of the male boys is the result of human sin. This is the cosmic battle, the warfare between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. We know the end of the story, that Christ has already defeated sin and death, and that he will finally vanquish all evil in his second advent. Yet we still weep at the effects of sin. And apart from Christ, like Rachel in verse 15, we find no comfort, we find no solace. Without looking to the cross and resting in Christ, we weep at the tragedy of our fallen world and we cannot be consoled. I think in some ways, Rachel's weeping models how we as human beings go through suffering. Rachel's sorrow in childbirth and her typological sorrow over Israel and the Hebrew babies give us insight into human grief. Imagine being a Hebrew mother whose child was senselessly murdered by Herod. The grief these mothers undoubtedly experienced is embodied in Rachel's weeping. She refuses to be comforted for her children because they are no more. Verse 15. Suffering is inescapable. We all experience it to some degree or another. And for many of us, like Job, we can say, I am acquainted with grief. Or like the psalmist, darkness is my closest friend. We intimately feel the pain of a grieving mother here. A mother who grieves for a dead child experiences unimaginable sorrow. You think of Rachel refusing to be comforted. In times of grief, there are often no words. Like Rachel, we refuse to be comforted in our sorrow. And this is part of the human predicament. Sin has entered the world, and no earthly-minded comfort restores the brokenhearted. In the midst of profound tragedy, in fact, human niceties often do more harm than good. And this is why the season of Advent is so precious. We recognize that our world needs a Savior. The first advent reminds us that Christ comes into the world to restore the brokenhearted, to give life to those who put their trust in him. And while we await the second advent, we live in the already not yet. We await the final consummation of the new heavens and the new earth, when he will once and for all wipe away every tear, and sin, death, and sorrow shall be vanquished. As Paul writes in Romans 8, verse 22, creation groans as a result of sin. Like the pains of childbirth, to use the language of Paul, the earth and its fullness yearn for the consummation, the second coming of our Lord. When we weep at the injustices in this world, whether it be abortion, malice, corruption, racism, murder, genocide. Our only cry is come Lord Jesus. We weep for the brokenness of our world and only the eternal hope of glory anchors us during the storm. This indeed is our great comfort. Secondly, we see the hope of glory revealed in the promises of God in verses 16 and 17. Look with me in your Bibles there, if you have them handy. Verse 16, thus says the Lord, keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord. And they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the Lord. and your children shall come back to their own country." Here we see Jeremiah move from the curse of sin to the hope of glory. In verse 15, Jeremiah is addressing the effects of sin. And in verses 16 and 17, he recounts the promise of the gospel first declared in Genesis 3.15. There are three layers of reality promised in verses 16 and 17. Firstly, for Israel, that her captivity shall come to an end. Secondly, for the hope of glory revealed in the new covenant inaugurated in the first advent, the birth of Christ. And thirdly, the eschatological hope of glory that awaits all who trust in Jesus, fulfilled in the second advent of Christ when he returns at the sound of the last trumpet. So how is the hope of glory here revealed to Israel? Well, the context of Jeremiah, I think, helps us to make sense of this. The book of Jeremiah was written as an oracle of judgment. Israel's infidelity to Yahweh results in her destruction, and Jeremiah prophesies her exile and the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet as we see in verses 16 and 17, God will not leave Israel in her exile. God is faithful to his promises to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and he promises to deliver Israel. There is a reward for Israel, and there is hope. Verse 16, they shall come back from the land of the enemy. And verse 17, your children shall come back to their own country. As we see in scripture, God is faithful to his promises here in verse 16 and verse 17. We know that Babylon is eventually conquered by Persia and that Cyrus of Persia eventually allows Israel to return and rebuild the temple. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are case studies of God's faithfulness to his people. But the hope of glory revealed here in verse 16 and 17 contain an additional, a second layer of promise. In verse 16, Yahweh declares, keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears. And he says this because of the hope of glory declared later in chapter 31. In Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 31 through 34, God promises a new covenant. And this covenant looks to Christ, the Lamb of God, who will take away the sin of the world. Of this covenant, the Lord says, verse 34, I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. This is the second layer of promise revealed here in verse 16 and 17. God will forgive the iniquities of his people because of Christ's salvific work on the cross. This is the first advent. Jeremiah is prophesying in a post-fall world. The promise of the gospel given first in seed form in Genesis 3.15 is beginning to blossom. The flower has not yet fully bloomed, but history looks forward to the redemption of Jesus Christ. There still remains a third layer of promise here in verses 16 and 17. and that is the triumphal defeat of sin and death. This is the second advent, the final stage of redemptive history, the fourth act, the consummation. The reward and the hope of verses 16 and 17 look ahead not only to Israel and to the cross, but to the final cosmic battle. the Lion of Judah, the Head Crusher, the Alpha and Omega, he will return like a thief in the night, and the dragon shall be slain. And all who are hid in Christ Jesus, all who put their trust in him, shall be raised up and rule and reign with him eternally. The language of the Apostle John in Revelation chapter 21 echoes that of Jeremiah in verse 16. Revelation chapter 21 verses 1 through 4. Turn with me there if you have your Bibles open. Chapter 21, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. for the former things have passed away. This is the eschatological hope of glory. The comfort offered to Rachel in Jeremiah is this hope of glory. This is why in verse 16 of Jeremiah 31 we read that the Lord commands no more weeping or tears because Christ Jesus himself will wipe away every tear. There will be no more mourning There will be no more crying or pain. The promise of the head crusher in Genesis 3.15 will be ultimately fulfilled. And we will dwell with God in worship and in holiness. This is the beatific vision, the new heavens and the new earth, God with man. There's a further element to the hope of glory, particularly highlighted in verse 17. There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country. Notice the covenantal language used here by Jeremiah. The hope for your future is not just for you, but it is also for your children. This language goes back to Genesis chapter 17, when God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham. And as we're told in the text, it's not just to Abraham, but it's to all of his offspring after him. You see, God's promises are not just for you, but for your children after you. This is why at Pentecost, Peter exclaims in Acts chapter two, verse 39, for the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. Jeremiah has in view God's covenantal promises, both to Abraham and to his children after him. This is why we bring our children to the baptismal font, because in the sacrament of baptism, our children receive the sign and the seal of God's covenant. This sacrament doesn't confer salvation, There are those who are baptized who fall away. But what we proclaim in baptism is what Jeremiah prophesies regarding the promises of God. God's covenantal love and his steadfast faithfulness are for you and for your children. We raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, humbly relying upon God to do a good work in them and to bring it to completion. I'd like to draw your attention to one final aspect of the hope of glory promised in verse 17. Jeremiah declares that your children shall come back to their own country. We just saw earlier how this promise was fulfilled in the first layer of prophecy, right? Israel would not remain in exile forever. She would return home and she would rebuild the temple. But the third layer of God's promise here reveals something quite extraordinary. There's another dimension to returning back to their own country. Verse 17. In order to see that, we'll have to turn in our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11, verses 13 through 16. The author of Hebrews here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says, these And here he's speaking of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country. That is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. This passage, I think, illustrates the sheer greatness of our God. Here we read that these Old Testament heroes of the faith were exiles, strangers in a foreign land seeking a place to call home. And the author of Hebrews notes something I think quite striking. These saints were seeking a better country. They knew that their earthly homes were temporary. The curse as a result of sin made them look forward to the future. And what is that better country that they looked toward? Well, as we see in scripture, it is a heavenly one. Their eternal home. The new heavens and the new earth. And God has prepared for them this city. For those of you who trust in Christ, this is the final stop of our earthly pilgrimage. This is where the road ends. If you don't know the Lord, I'd urge you to seek Him now. This world is wasting away even now. Sin promises us everything but gives us nothing. God promises that if we place our trust in Him, we will receive that eternal reward when Christ returns in His second advent, the consummation at the end of the age. One of the world's beloved poets once wrote a sonnet entitled, The World Is Too Much With Us. William Wordsworth wrote this poem against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution. And in this poem, he laments the fact that the world indeed is too much with us. It's a lament at the way that human society has bowed to the idol of materialism. It's a mourning at the way that we've become obsessed with stuff and things in the pursuit of ultimacy and transcendence. And I think in many ways, our society is in a similar place today. The spirit of our age is stuff and things. More is better. Happiness is found in making this our eternal home. We want eternity now. And yet, as we see in Jeremiah, the home to which we return, it's not our earthly home. The home, the country that we seek as Christians, is our heavenly home. the home prepared for us in that new Jerusalem. We are exiles here. The world should not be too much with us. I challenge us all to consider our own hearts. Are we seeking the better country, like our forefathers in the faith? Are we pursuing that heavenly city, that golden city, where the river of life flows, shining like crystal. May we remember our heavenly citizenship, and may we fix our eyes on Christ, the hope of glory. Let's pray together. Father God, we pray and we ask that the comforts of this world would not capture our hearts and our desires. Would you teach us, O Lord, that we are exiles and strangers in a foreign land? Father, would you give us eyes to see that in this season of Advent, we look to the coming of your Son? And we know that he is the victor, that in his death, he accomplished and secured for us our salvation. And Lord, as we await his second Advent, may we yearn for that heavenly city. a place where there can be neither mourning nor weeping, for he will wipe away every tear. We thank you that you are the God who comforts his people, and we rejoice knowing that at the end of the age, death will be swallowed up in victory, and sin and death shall be no more. These things we pray in the precious name of Jesus, amen.