(Jeremiah 30:1-24)
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’”
4 Now these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:5 “For this is what the Lord says:
‘I have heard a sound of terror,
Of fear, and there is no peace.
6 Ask now, and see
If a male can give birth.
Why do I see every man
With his hands on his waist, as a woman in childbirth?
And why have all faces turned pale?
7 Woe, for that day is great,
There is none like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s distress,
Yet he will be saved from it.
8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘that I will break his yoke from their necks and will tear to pieces their restraints; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 And do not fear, Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord,
‘And do not be dismayed, Israel;
For behold, I am going to save you from far away,
And your descendants from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob will return and be at peace, without anxiety,
And no one will make him afraid.
11 For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you;
For I will completely destroy all the nations where I have scattered you,
Only I will not destroy you completely.
But I will discipline you fairly
And will by no means leave you unpunished.’
12 “For this is what the Lord says:
‘Your broken limb is irreparable,
And your wound is incurable.
13 There is no one to plead your cause;
No healing for your sore,
No recovery for you.
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 punishment of a cruel one,
Because your wrongdoing is great,
And your sins are numerous.
15 Why do you cry out over your injury?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your wrongdoing is great
And your sins are numerous,
I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity;
And those who plunder you will become plunder,
And all who plunder you I will turn into plunder.
17 For I will restore you to health
And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the Lord,
‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying:
“It is Zion; no one cares for her.”’
18 “This is what the Lord says:
‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
And have compassion on his dwellings;
And the city will be rebuilt on its ruins,
And the palace will stand on its rightful place.
19 From them will come a song of thanksgiving
And the voices of those who celebrate;
And I will multiply them and they will not decrease;
I will honor them and they will not be insignificant.
20 Their children also will be as before,
And their congregation will be established before Me;
And I will punish all their oppressors.
21 Their leader shall be one of them,
And their ruler will come out from their midst;
And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me;
For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the Lord.
22 ‘You shall be My people,
And I will be your God.’”
23 Behold, the tempest of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
A sweeping tempest;
It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has performed and accomplished
The intent of His heart.
In the latter days you will understand this.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
As a parent, it is critical to train up and equip our children so that they know right from wrong, and know how to live independently from us, but continue being whole-heartedly dependent on the Lord. We cannot force our children to believe in Jesus, so our job is to pray for them, teach them, and most importantly live what we teach, as an example for them to follow!
Waiting for our children to become believers, or for them as believers who have gone astray to return to the Lord, can be heart-wrenching. Also difficult, is trying to be fair in delivering both rewards and discipline. Especially because we do not have visibility for a lot of the things that happen. And when they explain to us what did happened... we cannot always (completely) trust what they are saying, because kids will lie. Even the most "well-behaved" kids will lie. Let's not delude ourselves!
I will say, while parenting our children, there were a LOT of prayers asking the Lord for immediate wisdom and insight!!! As a parent, I knew it was important to apologize when I made a mistake, or when I had done something that wasn't fair. But I knew not to apologize for the times I had to discipline them, because it was something they deserved, and needed, so that they would learn that there are consequences in life. I also knew that the discipline needed to fit "the crime", so that their sinful will would turn and change, without crushing their spirit.
God is the same way with us. We can see in verse 11 that God will not destroy Israel completely. God does punish those who deserve punishing. And God does discipline His children, because He cares about us and wants the best for us. And everything that God does, He does with fairness, justice and purpose.
"That day" - "the time of Jacob's distress" - is the Tribulation. Because Israel has walked away from God, God will allow them to go through seven years of judgments, which are their signs of Jesus' second coming. Then they as a nation will see and believe, and they will be saved. Jesus will come to have victory at the battle of Armageddon, then bring Israel and all those who become believers during the Tribulation, into the Millennium.
Then "in that day" - the good part of that day - Jesus will set up the Millennial kingdom where He will fulfill all of the covenants with Israel. They will have their land, seed and blessings, as per the Abrahamic covenant. Verse 9 promises and prophesies that Jesus (already "having been raised up") will fulfill the Davidic covenant. As the perfect King sitting on the throne of David, there will be justice and peace to the land. And being right there to govern and guide all the people in obedience to the Law will fulfill the Mosaic covenant.
The main thought in all of this is to realize and know that God means what He says. And what He says He will do - will be done. If we have gone to Him to be saved, and to be healed spiritually, we can actually have absolute confidence in His faithfulness, justice and fairness. And it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ, because as verse 21 says, no one can go near the Lord and not die - unless - He brings us to Him. And the only way He can have a personal relationship with us is if we go to Him to be forgiven of our sins, healed and restored!
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