That’s a promise! That’s something that you can believe, that you can claim, that you can stand on. Notice, however, that He says, “your God”. Only 1 God. Not one of your gods, idols, things to worship, venerate, pray to. No, He will be YOUR GOD. That also means You will be HIS people. HIS only! Friend, that is a RELATIONSHIP. Religion is not a relationship. Rituals and rites are not a relationship. Sacraments are not a relationship.
This next chapter of Jeremiah foretells of the NEW COVENANT. That’s Jesus’ covenant with HIS PEOPLE, HIS BELIEVERS. With You and Me when we become BORN AGAIN. How do you become part of the New Covenant? Let’s dig in…
Jeremiah 30 – Promises of Deliverance
The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Write down for the record everything I have said to you, Jeremiah. 3 For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it again. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
4 This is the message the Lord gave concerning Israel and Judah. 5 This is what the Lord says:
“I hear cries of fear;
there is terror and no peace.
6 Now let me ask you a question:
Do men give birth to babies?
Then why do they stand there, ashen-faced,
hands pressed against their sides
like a woman in labor?
7 In all history there has never been such a time of terror.
It will be a time of trouble for my people Israel (the time of Jacob’s trouble).
Yet in the end they will be saved!
8 For in that day,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
“I will break the yoke from their necks
and snap their chains.
Foreigners will no longer be their masters.
9 For my people will serve the Lord their God
and their king descended from David—
the king I will raise up for them.10 “So do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant;
do not be dismayed, Israel,”
says the Lord.
“For I will bring you home again from distant lands,
and your children will return from their exile.
Israel will return to a life of peace and quiet,
and no one will terrorize them.
11 For I am with you and will save you,”
says the Lord.
“I will completely destroy the nations where I have scattered you,
but I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you, but with justice;
I cannot let you go unpunished.”12 This is what the Lord says:
“Your injury is incurable—
a terrible wound.
13 There is no one to help you
or to bind up your injury.
No medicine can heal you.
14 All your lovers—your allies—have left you
and do not care about you anymore.
I have wounded you cruelly,
as though I were your enemy.
For your sins are many,
and your guilt is great.
15 Why do you protest your punishment—
this wound that has no cure?
I have had to punish you
because your sins are many
and your guilt is great.16 “But all who devour you will be devoured,
and all your enemies will be sent into exile.
All who plunder you will be plundered,
and all who attack you will be attacked.
17 I will give you back your health
and heal your wounds,” says the Lord.
“For you are called an outcast—
‘Jerusalem for whom no one cares.’”18 This is what the Lord says:
“When I bring Israel home again from captivity
and restore their fortunes,
Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ruins,
and the palace reconstructed as before.
19 There will be joy and songs of thanksgiving,
and I will multiply my people, not diminish them;
I will honor them, not despise them.
20 Their children will prosper as they did long ago.
I will establish them as a nation before me,
and I will punish anyone who hurts them.
21 They will have their own ruler again,
and he will come from their own people.
I will invite him to approach me,” says the Lord,
“for who would dare to come unless invited?
22 You will be my people,
and I will be your God.”23 Look! The Lord’s anger bursts out like a storm,
Jeremiah 30 NLT
a driving wind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not diminish
until it has finished all he has planned.
In the days to come
you will understand all this.
Points to Ponder
- God opens with a promise of restoration. Verse 3 is actually in the process of happening now! The people of Jeremiah’s day needed something to look forward to. They needed something to hold on to as they spent 70 years — a whole generation — in captivity. Nevertheless, it was never completed. We’ll see in the Book of Daniel the other “superpower” nations that invaded and controlled Israel before Christ. Sure, they are seeing some freedom and prosperity now, but their enemy nations are primed to attack. There will be a lot more war before there is peace.
- Verse 7 talks about the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Check out the video at the bottom from Amir Tsarfati of Behold Israel that explains what this is. Hint: it has to do with the End Times and Last Days.
- Pastor Sandy Adams said something interesting, “The more you study scripture, the more sensitized you become to certain phrases.” That is so true! Here, phrases like, “woman in labor”, “yoke”, “the king I will raise up for them”, “heal your wounds”, and “the days to come”, sound familiar because Jesus spoke them or they were spoken about Jesus. Let’s take a look at them…
- “Woman in labor” or “labor/brith pains” – Matthew 24
- “Yoke” – Matthew 11 – They bore a heavy yoke in captivity, but Jesus says that His yoke is easy!
- “King” – Revelation 17 – King of Kings and Lord of lords!
- “Heal your wounds” – sin is a sickness that has no cure. Therefore, we NEED Jesus! Isaiah told us, “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” Peter confirmed it when he wrote, “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.” (1 Peter 2:24 NLT)
- “The days to come” – Pastor Sandy Adams explains… ‘Expressions like “the days are coming,” or “in the latter days,” or “the day of the Lord” are all signposts pointing to the end of time – a day still in the future. A lot of the promises in these chapters have yet to be fulfilled. At the time, Judah was about to be taken captive, but their exile would last a generation, 70 years, before God moved to regather Israel and Judah to the land.’
- The New Covenant consists of…
- Regathering — when the Jews will return to the Promised Land. That’s happening now as Jews from all over the world are moving to Israel.
- Regeneration — this occurs in people’s hearts. It’s when a person wholeheartedly repents of their sins and accepts the healing and renewal that Jesus offers.
- Re-establishment — The Kingdom— a New Heaven, a New Earth and a New Jerusalem! This was promised to David in 2 Samuel 7.
Pastor Sandy Adams comments…
Remember when the rabbi and Jewish leader, Nicodemus, paid a nighttime visit to Jesus. It was the first Nick-At-Night. Jesus told him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus saw that Judah had been regathered to the land. Now he wants to know when God will rid them of Romans, and restore the kingdom. Nicodemus was either overlooking the middle promise of the new covenant or he was mistaking the religious zeal of Judaism for spiritual life. But Jesus presses rewind.
Go back to the second promise. The regeneration the New Covenant promises is more than outward deeds and religious, zeal – you have to be born again. God wants to birth spiritual life in us. Jesus says to Nicodemus, before God births His Kingdom, He’ll birth new life in the hearts of the Jews. This is why the purpose of the Great Tribulation is not only to judge the world, but it purifies the Jews. The time of Jacob’s trouble is the period God gets their attention, and humbles the Jews, and brings them to repentance, and shows them their need for a Savior. When the Jews bow to Jesus, God will restore His Kingdom. For the first time since 586 BC, a Jewish king will rule in Israel.
Sandy Adams
That’s King Jesus! The whole point of the New Covenant is that Jesus wants a relationship with YOU. “You Will Be My People and I will Be Your God.”
The Days to Come
The worst is yet to come. Jeremiah ends promising what God so nicely outlines in the Book of Revelation. It starts with the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse! If you think it’s bad now, it’s going to get way worse!
You have a Choice!
Heaven or hell when you die, or get Raptured or be Left Behind to face the Great Tribulation. It’s a decision you have to make while you’re still alive and coherent. Think about this…
Jesus didn’t suffer torture and die so we could have religion! He died so He could have a Relationship with YOU!
How do you start? It’s simple!
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
