Stand by the Roads
"Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is."
Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ – Jeremiah 6:16 (ESV)
Introduction
This week, we’re taking a look at Jeremiah 6:16, which is an important verse for this substack site, for it is from this verse that we get our site’s name.
Jeremiah was an Old Testament prophet that ministered to the people of Judah during turbulent times. God’s people had been consistently unfaithful and were experiencing unpleasant discipline at the hand of other nations. The northern tribes of Israel had already experienced exile and this was coming soon for the southern tribes of Judah. It is in this harsh and hard environment that Jeremiah toiled for the Lord.
Let’s take a closer look at Jeremiah 6:16 and how it influenced the naming of this site.
Thus Says the Lord
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand by the roads’…”
While all Scripture is “breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16), this verse begins with the special phrase, “thus says the Lord,” that lets us know that God Himself spoke to the prophet and effectively said, “quote Me on this.” All Scripture is God’s word, but not every word of Scripture is quoted from God, so obviously we tend to have a different reaction to these words. If we don’t we should.
Five Commands
In this passage, God gives five commands, but these aren’t commands in the sense of a “do not lie”-type command. These commands are given to people that have continually lost their way and wandered from him. These are commands given to a people that is about to be exiled, to a people that are about to experience His hand of discipline.
In these commands, God is pointing His disobedient people back to Him. These commands read like something that would be found in Psalms or Proverbs because of their poetic meter and because of the wisdom they contain. The message is so gospel-focused that it sounds like something from the New Testament.
“Stand by the roads…”
The first command is to “stand by the roads.”
If we do that today, it’s most like to catch a bus or a cab, or it’s something we do if our car breaks down. Because of the way we travel now and the way life is conducted, it’s not something we really do or think about often. But in the context of Jeremiah’s time on earth, there was a much different perspective.
In the Old Testament times in which Jeremiah was written, there were indeed roads, but the travel methods and speed of life was much different. There were common routes used to get from one place to the next, but there was no mail service, overnight express or, of course, all the various ways we communicate via technology. People not only traveled along the roads, but the messages of life traveled along these roads as well. News and information from any place else – near or far – traveled along the roads carried by the people as they journeyed.
God is giving a specific command here and it is for a purpose. He is saying go to the place where the information is carried along. And there is a reason for this.
“…and look…”
Standing by the roads, getting to the place where information is shared and conducted is important, but it is just the first step. The next command is to “look.”
When we get to the roads, we need to be aware of what is happening. Our senses need to be activated. Our eyes need to see and our ears need to hear.
On the roads there are people going to and fro. They are coming and going from here to there. Some of these people are carrying information that can help us. We cannot “see” what this information is unless we “look.”
“…and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is…”
Once we are standing by the roads and once we are looking…for what are we looking? We are told in the next command given. Jeremiah quotes God as saying,
“ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is.”
Oh man. Doesn’t that sound good? Doesn’t that call to the deepest parts of our souls? “Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is.” Above, it was mentioned that this Old Testament verse has the feel of the New Testament gospel message and we begin to see that here.
“Ancient Paths”
The phrase “ancient paths” has a cool vibe to it, but what is this exactly? Well, it’s not going to live in a monastery or taking a vow of poverty or anything like that. Or even going to some expensive camp to get alone with God. It’s simply living a life by faith in God. Hebrews 11:1–2 helps us to understand this:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.” – Hebrews 11:1-2 (ESV)
Hebrews 11 is known as the “Hall of Faith” chapter and beginning in verse 3 of that chapter, the writer goes on to cite many examples of how those who walked before us walked along the ancient paths of faith.
This is what we are encouraged to seek. The ancient paths. The life of faith in Christ.
“Where the Good Way Is”
We are told that life along this ancient path is the “good way” and this is a great reminder that should be considered carefully.
The implication here is that since there is a “good way,” there is also a bad way. There’s a way to pursue that leads to good and that will be good for us, and there’s a way that will be bad and produce bad.
Jesus also reminds us of this in Matthew 7 where He describes the wide and narrow gates:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” – Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)
“…and walk in it…”
We are presented with a “good way” and a bad way, with a narrow gate and a wide gate and we have a choice to make.
God wants us to take the “good way.” How do we know this? Well, here He tells us directly, “walk in it.” After we obey God and stand by the roads, look and ask about the ancient paths, then He wants us to walk in this path. Ultimately, choosing the “good way” and the narrow path means choosing to follow Jesus as He tells us in John 14:6:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 (ESV)
There’s only one path to follow that leads to God and that way is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Thus, this command to “walk in it” is incredibly important. We can follow all the steps to obey God as listed in Jeremiah 6:16, yet get to the end and not follow God. That would equate to following the bad way, the way that leads to eternal damnation.
[As an aside, I am not advocating in any way that by following the steps in Jeremiah 6:16 that we are “earning our salvation.]
But the ancient path doesn’t stop once we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. No, the journey along the “ancient paths” is just beginning. We are commanded in Colossians 2:6, “therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.”
This walk along the ancient paths of faith is designed for all of our days.
“and find rest for your souls.”
As I mentioned above in the aside, Jeremiah 6:16 is not teaching us how to earn our faith. This is not supposed to be used as a step-by-step guide to “do this to get saved.” No, this verse is using the metaphor of “stand by the roads,” and the steps that follow, to point us to God.
When reading this verse it is very easy to see the gospel call that is presented. God wanted His first audience – those in Judah who would hear Jeremiah’s message – to return to Him. He wanted them to consider all that was happening and to choose to follow him along the “ancient paths…the good way.” He beckons to the audience to come to God “and find rest for your souls.”
God wants this for us as well. We are told in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is “patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Jesus Christ Himself echoes this gospel call presented in Jeremiah 6:16 in Matthew 11:28-30 where he says,
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)
Rest for our souls. That is what we have in Jesus Christ. We have rest for our souls.
Our trials and struggles in this life and in these bodies are many. We are running down with each day and the pains and struggles of life seem to accumulate with each passing day. In these struggles, we will never do enough to please God by ourselves and on our own. But because of Jesus, we don’t have to work toward something that we could never attain.
In Christ, those who “labor and are heavy laden” find rest.
In Christ, there is a promise for those that follow Him – the “gentle and lowly in heart” Savior. Those in Christ “will find rest for your souls.”
In Christ, the words of 2 Corinthians 4:17 find their meaning: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
The Rejection
“But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.'”
Despite the promise found in Jeremiah 6:16, the unfortunate reality is that many will not choose to follow the good way. Many will not choose to follow the ancient paths of faith. Many will ultimately not find rest for their souls and will spend eternity separated from God.
As we noted above in 2 Peter 3:9, this is not what God desires, but it is what many will choose.
Stand by the Roads
In this verse, we find not only the name, but also the purpose for this website.
We want to point people to God through all that we do. We want to passionately pursue people to go and “stand by the roads.” We want to push and prod and plead with people to obey the command found in Jeremiah 6:16. We want people to go “stand by the roads” and gather the information they need that will point them to God.
As people are standing by the road, we want to be part of the information they hear and see that points them to Christ. Whether a Bible study, or a dissection of part of the culture war, or a football hot take, we want them to see Christ. We want to warn people so that they do not make the disastrous choice of saying, “we will not walk in it.”
And, for those who are already in Christ, we want to be part of the journey of continually pointing each other, as we stand by the road, to continual repentance and obedience.