CHAPTER 30

(606 B.C.)

THE PROMISED RETURN OF THE CAPTIVES; REGATHERING OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL TO PALESTINE

¹The Word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying (Chapters 30 and 31 are as an oasis in the midst of a swamp. They shine out among all Jeremiahs Prophecies. This Chapter proclaims the drawing together of both Israel and Judah into one. God is One, so His People are one. As well, this Chapter proclaims the restoration of Judah to her Land, which will demand a new heart, which will demand a New Covenant),

²Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write you all the words that I have spoken unto you in a Book. (The Book spoken of is the part of the Bible we now have in our possession, the Book of Jeremiah.)

³For, lo, the days come, says the LORD, that I will bring again 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 shall possess it. (While Israel would partially fulfill this after the dispersion into Babylon, still, its total fulfillment awaits the coming Kingdom Age.)

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

⁴And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. (Again, the Holy Spirit speaks of both Israel and Judah as being one. In other words, all the Promises that concern one concern both!)

⁵For thus says the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. (Verses 4 through 7 refer to the coming Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon; consequently, they leap over the soon-to-come destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and go into the future, even beyond our present day.)

⁶Ask y ou now, and see whether a man does travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? (And all faces are turned into paleness, refers to Israels shock when she realizes that she has been played for a fool! The Antichrist is really not the Messiah, but an imposter! Israel has been deceived! Consequently, there seems to be no way out of their dilemma and they face what looks like certain annihilation.)

⁷Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacobs Trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (The glory of Israels restoration, as is proclaimed in the previous Verses, will be preceded by the horror of the time of Jacobs Trouble. It will be the last three and a half years of the Great Tribulation.

Jesus addressed this when He said it would be the worst that has ever been, so bad that it would never happen again [Mat. 24:21].)

REGATHERING OF ISRAEL UNDER THE MESSIAH

⁸For it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of Hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him (I will break his yoke, refers to the last king of Babylon the Antichrist. This will be done during the Battle of Armageddon, when Jesus Christ comes back):

⁹But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. (The LORD their God is the Lord Jesus Christ. And David their king, whom I will raise up unto them, refers to David being resurrected, along with all the Saints, and given a glorified body. He will then serve, and we speak of the coming Kingdom Age, as the king of Israel, and do so under Christ.)

¹⁰Therefore fear you not, O My servant Jacob, says the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. (This speaks of Israels restoration at the beginning of the Kingdom Age. In fact, the phrase, And Jacob shall return, began to be fulfilled in 1948, when a part of the original Promised Land was declared by the United Nations as the recognized State of Israel; however, it will not be completely fulfilled until the Second Coming of Christ, when all Jews will return from all over the world.)

¹¹For I am with you, says the LORD, to save you: though I make a full end of all nations whither 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. (Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered you, refers to nations and empires such as Babylon, Medo-Persia, the Grecian Empire, and the Roman Empire. These nations and empires, despite their might and power, are no more; yet, Israel remains!

Yet will I not make a full end of you, means that the Lord will not destroy them completely, as He has destroyed mighty nations and empires in the past; however, they have suffered and they will yet suffer greatly, fulfilling the phrase, And will not leave you altogether unpunished.)

¹²For thus says the LORD, Your bruise is incurable, and your wound is grievous. (The sense of this Verse is that the bruise which Israel has is incurable, i.e., cannot be cured by the world, but only by the Lord, which will be done at the Second Coming. The only cure for this wound is the Cross of Christ, as this is the only cure for any such wound [Zech. 13:1].)

¹³There is none to plead your cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines. (Upon Israels abandonment of Christ, there is none to plead your cause. Consequently, the only healing medicines are those which come from the Lord, and not from the system of the world.)

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you; they seek you not; 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. (The cruel one is the Antichrist. When he turns on them, breaking his covenant in the middle of the week [seven years], they will then see that all your lovers have forgotten you. Every nation will then turn against Israel [Dan. 9:27; Zech. 12:3].

The Lord will bring this to pass for the multitude of your iniquity. This concerns their rejection of Christ! [Jn. 5:43].)

¹⁵Why 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 unto you. (The question, Why do you cry for your affliction?, refers to them mourning for Him when they realize that the One they crucified was actually their Messiah, the Lord of Glory [Zech. 12:10-11].

I have done these things unto you, expresses the Lords total control. Why? Because your sins were increased, which states the reasons for the chastisement.)

¹⁶Therefore all they who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they who spoil you shall be a spoil, and all who prey upon you will I give for a prey. (This refers to every nation in the world which has opposed Israel, which is opposing Israel at the present, and which will oppose Israel under the Antichrist in the future. They should read these words very carefully!)

¹⁷For I will restore health unto you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the LORD; because they called you an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeks after. (In this Passage, as well as so many others, the restoration to health is promised here! Even though no one else in the world could heal the grievous wound of Israel, nevertheless, the Lord says, I will heal you of your wounds.)

REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM

¹⁸Thus says the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacobs tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be built upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. (The palace refers to the Temple, which will be built in Jerusalem upon the Second Coming of Christ. It shall be inhabited and have a style befitting its glory [Ezek., Chpts. 40-48].)

BLESSINGS ON ISRAEL

¹⁹And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them who make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. (I will multiply them, and they shall not be few, refers to their smallness now, but their greatness then. Israel will then grow into a great nation, with David as their king and Christ as their Messiah. As such, they will be the premier nation of the world, which will bring untold blessings to the entirety of the world.)

²⁰Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all who oppress them. (And I will punish all who oppress them, is the same as the original Abrahamic Covenant [Gen. 12:1-3]. And their congregation shall be established before Me, refers to all being in Christ. It can only be established in Him, and not otherwise! To be sure, they tried to establish it without Him, but to no avail!)

²¹And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto Me: for who is this who engaged his heart to approach unto Me? says the LORD. (And their nobles shall be of themselves, refers to the Gentiles no longer lording it over Israel as they have done for centuries, for the times of the Gentiles will be ended [Lk. 21:24; Rom. 11:25-29].

And their governors shall proceed from the midst of them, signifies the Gentile world looking to Israel for leadership instead of the opposite.

And I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto Me, refers to Christ finally being accepted as Jacobs Priest. As such, He pledged His life at Calvary in order to put away sin, opened the way to God, and so enabled His People, in fellowship with Himself, to approach the Throne of Grace, not with timidity, but with boldness [Heb. 4:16].)

²²And you shall be My People, and I will be your God. (All of this will have been made possible by the Cross [Zech. 13:1].)

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

²³Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goes forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. (The whirlwind pictures Divine Judgment on the nations of the world that have set themselves to foil the Plan of God. The purpose will be to fall with pain upon the head of the wicked, which specifically points to the Antichrist [II Thess. 2:8].)

²⁴The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until He have done it, and until He have performed the intents of His heart: in the latter days you shall consider it. (The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until He have done it, refers to the fact that evil will be dealt with in the Great Tribulation and at the Second Coming. This is a guarantee!)