Jeremiah 30

 

God can undo the worst mess we can make

 

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 The Lord God of Israel says this, Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will return the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it. 4 And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 For the Lord says this; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask now, and see whether a man travails with child? Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor, and all faces are turned into paleness? 7 Woe! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is the time of Jacob's trouble; but he will be saved out of it.

 

  • God promised to save them out of this unparalleled time of trouble.
  • God’s similar promise to His church is found in Revelation 3:10.
  • Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept the word of my patience I will keep you from that hour of testing that will come on all the world to test those that dwell on the earth.
  • Revelation 3:21 to him that overcomes I will give to sit with me on my throne.

 

8 For in that day, says the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds, and foreigners will no more serve themselves of him: 9 But they will serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them. 10 So do not fear, O my servant Jacob, says the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob will return, and will be in rest, and be quiet, and none will make him afraid.

 

  • The nation Israel will rule the nations rather than be ruled by and exploited by the nations.
  • God wants to break every yoke that binds us.
  • David was dead at this time.
  • Christ is the David whom God will raise up to rule finally and forever.
  • What a wonderful blessing for all fear to be conquered completely and forever.
  • Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
  • Daniel 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.14.And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed.

 

He is with us

 

11 For I am with you, says the LORD, to save you: though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a full end of you: but I will correct you in measure, and will not leave you altogether unpunished. 12 For the Lord says this, Your bruise is incurable, and your wound is grievous. 13 There is none to plead your cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines.14 All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquity; because your sins were increased. 15 Why do you cry for your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable for the multitude of your iniquity: because your sins were increased, I have done these things to you.16 Therefore all those that devour you will be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity; and they that plunder you will be plundered, and all that prey on you I will give for a prey.

 

  • Micah 7:13 And the earth will be desolate because of them that dwell in it, for the fruit of their doings.
  • Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 

God will restore health to us; He will heal our wounds

 

17 For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the LORD; because they called you an outcast, saying, This is Zion, who no man seeks after. 18 The Lord says this; Behold, I will return the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city will be built on her own hill, and the palace will remain on its own place. 19 And out of them will proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also glorify them, and they will not be small. 20 Their children also will be as before, and their congregation will be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. 21 And their leaders will be of themselves, and their governor will come from among them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he will approach me: for who is this that pledged his heart to come near me, asks the LORD? 22 And you will be my people, and I will be your God. 23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goes forth with fury, a cutting whirlwind: it will fall/remain with pain on the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not return, until he has done it, and until he has performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days you will consider it.

 

  • God spoke to Job from inside the whirlwind—Job 38:1. After 6,000 years of man ruling earth God will place Jesus Christ as ruler of earth on a throne in Jerusalem.
  • Isaiah 40:11-12 He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those that are with young. 12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and measured out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

 

 

                                            Jeremiah 31

 

The Lord of all loves us with an everlasting love

 

1 At the same time the Lord said, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people. 2 The LORD says this, The people who were left from the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. 3 The LORD has appeared of old/from afar to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with love I have drawn you (to myself).

 

  • The word ‘Lord’ is one of God’s many titles that describes something about Him. This word means controller. He controls all things.
  • Hosea 11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.

 

4  I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel: you will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those that make merry. 5 You will your plant vines on the mountains of Samaria: the planters will plant and will eat them as common things. 6 For there will be a day that the watchmen on mount Ephraim will cry, Rise up and let us go up to Zion to the LORD our God. 7 For the Lord says this; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish, praise, and say, O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel. 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that labors with child together: a great company will return there. 9 They will come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way where they will not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, O you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and guard him, as a shepherd does his flock.

 

  • John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
  • Ezekiel 34:11-15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.

 

11 For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. 12 Therefore they will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul will be like a watered garden; and they will not sorrow any more at all.

 

  • Imagine no sorrow.
  • The greatest price ever paid for anything was paid by God for our deliverance from sin.
  • He purchased us to Himself.
  • 1 Peter 1:18-19 you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your empty way of living received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

 

God turns mourning into joy

 

13 Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness, says the LORD. 15 The Lord says this; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. 16 The Lord says this; Restrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears: for your work will be rewarded, declares the LORD; and they will come again from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope in your end, says the LORD, that your children will come again to their own border. 18 I have surely heard Ephraim grieving like this; You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bull unaccustomed to the yoke: turn me, and I will be turned; for you are the LORD my God.

 

  • God hears our weeping.
  • Hebrews 12:6 those the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son he receives.

 

He satisfies like no other

 

19 Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth. 20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD. 21 Set up road marks, make yourself guideposts: set your heart toward the highway, even the way that you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities. 22 How long will you go about, O backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth, A woman will encompass a man. 23 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says this; As yet they will use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I turn their captivity; The LORD bless you, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. 24 And there will dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, husbandmen, and those that go out with flocks. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have filled every sorrowful soul.

 

  • The book of Job illustrates the principle of this captivity.
  • The word ‘fill’ means to glut to saturation.
  • John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me will never hunger; and he that believes on me will never thirst.
  • John 7:38 He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.

 

26 At this I woke and looked; and my sleep was sweet to me. 27 Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Jacob with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. 28 And as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so I will watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the LORD. 29 In those days they will no longer say, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. 30 But every one will die for his own iniquity: every man that eats the sour grape, his teeth will be set on edge.

 

  • This is a great principal of God—each person is responsible for himself.
  • No one dies for another’s sins, except Christ.

 

The Lord takes us by the hand as a husband

 

31 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this will be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will no more teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for all of the will know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

 

  • John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

 

35 The Lord says this, who gives the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who divides the sea when its waves roar, the LORD of hosts is His name. 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever. 37 The Lord says this, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth can be searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD. 38 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the city will be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner. 39 And the measuring line will yet to forth over against it on the hill Gareb and will turn to Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook of Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, will be holy to the LORD; it will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.

 

  • John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet he will live.

 

 

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SUMMARY: Jeremiah 30-31

 

  • He is with us
  • God can undo the worst mess we can make
  • God will restore health to us; He will heal our wounds
  • The Lord of all loves us with an everlasting love
  • God turns mourning into joy
  • The Lord takes us by the hand as a husband