Jeremiah 31:15-17 (Rachel Weeping)

Apologetics
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This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

**16 **This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
“They will return from the land of the enemy.
**17 **So there is hope for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
“Your children will return to their own land.

I have heard from many Protestants that saints in Heaven are unaware of what goes on in the affairs of those still on Earth. And yet Jeremiah writes of Rachel (a woman that has been dead for centuries at this point) weeping for her descendants in exile.

Just thought that was kind of mind blowing when I read it. I’m sure there are many more passages that alludes to this idea, but this one seems the most obvious.

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I discussed this with a Protestant friend last week. She said she’d been taught that there is no pain in heaven, so people there must not be able to see what’s going on on earth.

I told her I didn’t have a strong opinion about it but that some things in the Bible at least suggest that saints in heaven can see what’s happening here. I didn’t think of Rachel, but I mentioned that Revelation talks about the glassy seat, which I have heard compared to a glass floor through which God, the saints, and the angels can watch us on earth (not a literal glass floor, but a symbol), and Revelation also mentions saints in heaven crying out to God not to delay judgment, so they must know that the earth is ripe for judgment. Also, when Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus on the mountain, I think they must have had some knowledge of Jesus’s life on earth.

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I could be wrong, but I think the reference to “no pain or tears” is referring to the New Jerusalem and the New Heavens & New Earth that takes place at the end of time in Revelations, once everyone has been Resurrected. While the Heaven that saints experience after death (but before the Resurrection) is possibly different.

What Heaven is ultimately like is obviously quite speculative on our part … but as to awareness and concern for those on Earth seems fairly reasonable from what I read in Scripture.

Consider the parable of the lost sheep. It says, “There is more joy in heaven over one that repents than 99 righteous that have no need of repentance.” … how would those in heaven know?

The parable of Lazarus where he goes into hell and is concerned for his brothers on earth … if someone in Hell is concerned for those on earth, how much more so as are those in Heaven?

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I think of the “cloud of witnesses” cheering us on (and I’m sur Praying for us) in this race of perseverance (Hebrews 12).

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That’s a very powerful passage as well!

Thanks for sharing.