Jeremiah 30 | The Time of Jacob's Trouble | 4.2.1997

We're going to be looking today at a time that is called the time of Jacob's trouble. And so, let's begin reading together here in the book of Jeremiah. We'll begin at verse 1 in chapter 30. And we'll read verses 1 through3. and we'll get into our study as we're continuing our verse by verse study through the book of Jeremiah in chapter 30 beginning at verse one. Jeremiah writes these words. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, "Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying, "Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will bring back from captivity 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. As a brief introduction, let me say to you that chapters 30 through39 basically are dealing with the future of the nation of Israel. And the message comes to Jeremiah. this message that we see in chapter 30 uh during the darkest days that Judah has ever seen. We know the time that he's speaking in because in chapter 32:es 1 and 2, he tells us when these uh events are taking place in terms of how the Lord was speaking to him and all. And we see that in Jeremiah 32:es 1 and 2. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the 10th year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, which was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem. And Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah. So the time is 587 before Christ. Now we need to remember that a false prophet by the name of Haniah had said that the power of Babylon would be broken quickly. He'd even set a limit. We saw that when we were studying chapter 28. Haniah had said in chapter 28:3. Thus speaks the Lord of hosts. Within 2 years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, removed from here and took to Babylon. So he had set a two-year time limit. The fact of the matter is is several years have transpired since Haniah first prophesying that. As a matter of fact, seven years have transpired and it proved already that Haniah was a false prophet. Now the Lord had said that the children of Israel would be in Babylon for 70 years. And one of the scriptures that we remember is found in chapter 29 in verse 10 when it said, "Thus says the Lord, after 70 years are completed at Babylon, I'll visit you and perform my good word toward you and cause you to return to this place." So the Lord had said, "You're going to be in captivity for 70 years." The false prophet had been preaching peace and prosperity and it even had set a time limit of 2 years. And the Lord was saying, "That's not true. You're going to be there for 70." Now, during the time of this particular writing, the the life of Judah had gone down the tubes. Because Judah had refused to listen to the word of the Lord as God was speaking to them through the mouth of Jeremiah. And at this point, it seems that it can get no worse. It seems at this point because they're being besieged by Nebuchadnezzar that nothing could be worse than this. And yet, we're going to see at this point that Jeremiah actually starts preaching words of encouragement rather than words of discouragement. Because up to this point, Jeremiah's prophecies had been depressing, but now he's going to be giving them a word of encouragement. The psalmist in Psalm 30:5 says, "For his anger endures but a moment. In his favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Sometimes when we think it can't get any worse, it's when the Lord begins begins to show us his encouragement and his blessings. Sometimes when we think that it's as bad as it's ever going to get, we're right because God is going to begin at that point to pour out his blessings and his goodness. And this is what's going to take place here. Now, Jeremiah for all of these chapters has been speaking a word of of destruction, but now he's going to be speaking a word to them of encouragement. We'll look at that now as we begin our study. Verses 1 through3. begins by saying, "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying, write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you, for behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will bring back from captivity 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." Now, Jerusalem is under siege by Babylon. And Jeremiah is at this point writing from a prison cell. And under these conditions, under a siege that's taking place, and while he's in prison, he actually writes words of encouragement. It reminds me of another man by the name of the Apostle Paul in in the book of Philippians, how that Paul was saying in Philippians chapter 4 when he was writing from a jail cell, he had said in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice." He says to us,"I have learned in whatever state I find myself to be in therewith to be content or therein to be content." And the secret that he had was he knew that no matter where he was, the Lord was with him also. And he was never alone. And so wherever he was, Jesus was there with him. And so if he's in a prison cell or whether he's walking on the street, he had a knowledge that the Lord was with him. And this is something that's really important, I think, for all of us to begin to realize that as we walk today, as we go out and do whatever it is that we do, we need to know that the Lord is with us and he never leaves us nor forsakes us. No matter where we're at, no matter how gloomy it may be, no matter how much struggling we may be doing at that moment or how defeated we may be feeling, the Lord is with us. Now, I'm not saying it's easy. God knows it can be very hard. There are times when I've just about given up. As a matter of fact, many times where I've actually in my own heart said, "Lord, I can't take another step. I've had it. I don't want any more of this pressure. I'm tired. It hurts." And the Lord is just there comforting me. I don't know how to put it. I don't know how to put it in a way to those who've never experienced it. If you've never experienced that, you will. If you have experienced that, you can say amen to that. The Lord is with you. God is with you every step of the way, no matter what. And I believe that what the Lord does is he removes all of our props, all the things that support us in order that he might be our support. And so here we have Jeremiah. Jeremiah's in a prison cell. And yet, while he's in a prison cell, he's writing words of encouragement to a nation that's actually gone down the tubes, has been in rebellion against God, have ignored their prophets, and said, and yet he's saying, "No, the Lord has a work that he's begun, and he's going to continue it." In the book of Romans in chapter 5 in verses 1 and two, Paul wrote these words. Paul said, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." And he said, "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. If there's anything that you have or anything that you ought to have, it's joy. It's joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm not saying happiness because those are two different things. Happiness really is derived from happening. And a person is happy if their happenings or their circumstances encourage that. You're happy if you have a job. You're happy if you have a good paying job. You're happy if you're married and you're happy if you've got a good marriage. You're happy if you're a parent. If you got good kids. If you don't have good kids, then you're unhappy. You're happy if everything's going fine with you. Circumstances surrounding you are great. You can be happy because those are your happenings. Those are the things that are surrounding you. I remember a man I used to work for years ago and uh he used to hire guys from Biola College. He liked to hire Christians because Christians were the best workers and they were honest. And so he would go to Biola and he would put up on the board, you know, job openings and then he would, you know, have Biola students come and they would work for him. And I was one of those students who got a job with him. And I can still remember speaking to him on one occasion and he told me, you know, it was after work, we were in his office and he told me that he didn't need a relationship with the Lord because he was very happy. In other words, only unhappy people need God. Happy people don't. And so I said, "You're very happy now because your wife is faithful to you. And you're happy now because your children are young and they're good. you're happy right now because your business is producing income for you and everything seems to be going fine. I said to him, "What are you going to have if you lose those things? Will you still be happy?" Because I told him, I said, "Your circumstances are dictating your your happiness." But Christians have something beyond happiness. We have joy. We have the joy of the Holy Ghost. And even though there are times when perhaps things should just be pushing us totally to the point like Job's wife saying to Job, just curse God and die, it's to the point where you're saying, "I've had it. I don't want any more of this. You know, it was easier following the enemy than it is following the Lord." Have you discovered that sometimes that may seem true? I remember a guy who told me at work one day, he said, "Oh, you chose the easy way out. You became a Christian. You're crazy, man. You think it's easy to keep your temper. It isn't. You think it's easy to refrain from tellingbody, somebody what's on your mind. Really, it isn't. You think it's easy to be self-controlled. It's not. It's dying to yourself. It's a lot easier to get mad and fleshed out, isn't it? You know it is. You're standing in line, somebody's in front of you, you're in the 10 items or less, and they've got 20 items. And they walk up to the counter and they say, you know, the lady starts counting says, "You got too many items." And they said, "Now, wait a minute. And I've got tomatoes and I've got pickles and I've got mayonnaise and I've got bread and I've got bologn and I've got some salami. That makes one sandwich. Doesn't it count? No, it doesn't. And you're there watching this take place and you're thinking, man, how come people do this so easily? Why is this world the way that it is? And if you allow your circumstances to dictate your responses, you'll be miserable. Absolutely. Because it seems all the time that those who refuse to obey the Lord seem to get over and get away with things. You're honest, you get fired. Somebody else lies and they get a raise. And you see that and people that you're working with, they say, "Hey, you know what, man? Don't work so fast cuz if you work too fast, we're going to, you know, get all this job done and we're not going to get overtime. So, take your time." But you're a hardworking person. How do you deal with that? Or your boss says to you, you know, when the phone rings, the boss says, "Tell them I'm not here." He puts you in the position of lying. And so you say, "Man, is this job worth this?" Because I've got some integrity. I can remember doing that. I can remember there when the boss would say, "Uh, you know, tell them I'm not here." And I'd say, "No, no, you tell them you're not here." You know, this job isn't worth lying for you. But, you know, it's true. And there are times that you can just see your circumstances and you can say, "Man, this is tough. This is hard." Well, in the darkest hour, the Lord is going to shine the brightest. And that's what the Lord is saying here. He's saying to them, look at I'm going to do a work. I'm going to bring them back. And even though they're going into captivity, I want you to let them know that I'm bringing them back. Now I have to develop something with you here because in verse three when he says behold the days are coming says the Lord that I will bring back from captivity my people we need to understand this and I'm going to develop this with you at this point that this passage is a passage that is not dealing primarily with the Babylonian captivity though the Lord is going to bring the people back and we know historically we know scripturally that Indeed, after 70 years were fulfilled, the Lord did bring uh some of the people back to the nation of Israel out of Babylon. God fulfilled his promise. But the word here is escatological. Now, I know you're not going to use that every day, but that's the word. It's a last days thing. Esquetology is the study of the last events or the last days. This is what is called an esqueological passage. He's dealing with events of the last days. And he's especially dealing with what is called the day of the Lord. And to refine that a bit further, he's speaking about a period of time that is called the tribulation. And that's what we're going to be looking at today a little bit, the time of Jacob's trouble. Because when he says, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will bring back from captivity 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." He's speaking about something that will occur not in the near but in the distant future. Ezekiel in chapter 39 gives us some insight into this verses 25- 29. Ezekiel 39 25- 29. Couple books to your right. Chapter 39, right after chapter 38 verse 25. Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. And then they will know that I am the Lord their God. For though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind, I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord God. What we're looking at in Jeremiah is the Lord prophesying that he was going to bring them back after they have been spread throughout the lands. Not just the Babylonian captivity, but beyond that. And so, as we look at this passage today, it's really something that deals with the last days. Not just the near events that will take place within 70 years or so, but in the last days. So beginning at verse 4, reading verses 4-7, let's look at this in some detail. Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. For thus says the Lord, we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask now and see whether a man is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor and all faces turned pale? Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it. And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Now, two phrases there that I want to point out. One in verse 7 when he said, "Alas, for that day is great," or also can be translated for that great day. And secondly, the time of Jacob's trouble. The time of Jacob's trouble is another way of speaking to what we New Testament believers call the tribulation period. The time of Jacob's trouble is also referred to in scripture as the tribulation. This is another way of speaking about that the day of God's judgment. Now, there are a lot of references in scripture concerning this time. If you're taking notes, I'm going to give you several scriptures at this point because I want to develop this with you today. I'm going to give you several scriptures. You don't have to try and turn to everyone because I've got too many for you to do that. But if you're taking notes, I'll give you the reference and I'll read the scripture to you. But we're referring now to the day of Jacob's trouble. In Ezekiel 30:3, the scripture says, "The day is near. The day of the Lord is near. A day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. Isaiah 2:12, the Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted, and they will be humbled. In verses 17 and 18 of the same chapter, the arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear. Isaiah 13:6, "Wail for the day of the Lord is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty." Joel 2:1-2, "Blow the trumpet in Zion. Sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand. A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, like dawn spreading across the mountains. A large and mighty army comes such as never was of old, nor ever will be in ages to come. Amos 5:18-20. Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord. Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light, pitch dark, without a ray of brightness? Daniel 12, verse one. At that time, Michael, the great prince, who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of trouble, such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time, your people, everyone whose name is found written in the book, will be delivered. Jesus in Matthew chap 24 21, for then there will be great tribulation unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. And if you want to look at it very closely, Revelation chapter 6 all the way to chapter 19 give you the day of the Lord. It gives you a description especially of the aspect of what is called the day of the lord which incidentally the day of the lord is a period of time and not a single day starting with the rapture of the church and concluding with the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. And for those of you who are really interested in that I'll be teaching that in some detail Sunday night in our second Peter study. But this particular portion of time is called the tribulation. The tribulation period is also called Daniel's 70th week. And the tribulation period is going to occur after the rapture of the church. It will be a period of seven years of God pouring out his wrath on the unbelieving nations and bringing judgment. And this is what is also referred to here in the book of Jeremiah as being a time of Jacob's trouble. It is a time that is unequaled. It will never ever be as bad again as it was during those seven years. And when you read through the book of Revelation, and we're going to be doing a study in the book of Revelation um on Sunday nights pretty soon. And we'll look at this. We'll look at chapter 6 all the way to chapter 19. We'll look through the whole book and we'll see how it's going to unfold with the various judgments that God is going to be pouring. the progressive increasing judgments, the wrath of the lamb being poured out, poured out, poured out on unbelieving people. And you're going to see that the Lord here is giving in Jeremiah chapter 30, he's giving a picture, just a snapshot of what's going to take place. And that's why he says again, these are the words of the Lord in verse four, the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel. Thus says the Lord, we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Now remember remember that Jeremiah had been saying to the the Jewish people when Babylon comes just give up and voluntarily go into exile. And God had even said I want you to buy some houses or build some houses and I want you to have children and get married. Settle down. You're going to be there for 70 years. So, the Lord had said, "I'll be with you in your exile in Babylon." That's how we know that the events that we're looking at here in chapter 30 are not events that are going to take place in that 70-year period. Cuz God had already said to them that they're to have houses. They're to have wives and husbands and children. They're to settle down. God said, "I'll be with you." And he said, "Pray for the nation there." He said, "When you pray for peace and the nation is under peace, then you'll be having peace also." He said, "Settle down." But when we're looking at this passage here, he's saying these people are in fear. These people are are have no peace. And he says in verse six again, ask now and see whether a man is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor and all faces turned pale? Because he says, "That day is great. There's none like it. It's the time of Jacob's trouble. You shall be saved out of it." One of the brothers in the fellowship gave me some information he downloaded concerning this heaven's gate uh tragedy that just recently occurred and I just started reading it. I'm going to be doing some reading and looking at and probably referring to some of the things that these people believe because I'm certain that quite a number of people are wondering what they were all about. I can tell you this. I can tell you that it fits right into the prophetic picture that Jesus gave to us when he said that many would be deceived in the last days. I can tell you also that the man who was the leader, a man who referred to himself as D and his fellow helper had convinced a group of people that they were actually extraterrestrials who had incarnated in human bodies. And they also believed that they were sent as a as team leaders over several others who were also here and that these bodies that we have are simply containers. And what they did is they took Christian terminology, terminology that refers to things like regeneration, transformation and all and they changed all that terminology and added science fiction kinds of terminology to it and then went after people who are into into fiction and science fiction especially into computers and those kinds of things and ultimately were able to deceive uh so many people that 39 of them felt that it was better to go into a transition through suicide so that they could be ready to uh be taken up into what was called by them heaven's gate or entering into the kingdom of God. There are a lot of false prophets. Somebody was saying to me today, "Boy, how unusual." I said, "No, no, there are a lot of false prophets, not just heaven's gates. There are thousands and thousands of splinter groups that are very similar to that who are out right now preaching from scripture." You know the koreshases of the world and the raj nishes and all. We only see them once in a while but there are many more many more who are out there right now. These are all leading us to the very end when the antichrist actually will be accepted as being the one instead of Jesus Christ. It's all occurring. It's all happening. It's all beginning to unfold right in front of us after the rapture of the church. an event where we're waiting for it because on the prophetic calendar, it seems to be the next event when the Lord takes out his bride to be with him. After the rapture of the church, there's going to be an event that's called the tribulation. Seven years of God pouring out his wrath on the face of the earth. The nation of Israel has been scattered. And we'll look at this. I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself in my notes here, but the nation of Israel has been scattered at our day in our day throughout the world. Not just to Babylon, not just to Assyria, but throughout the world. And I've met, as some of you perhaps have, I've met Jewish people who come from Mexico, from Argentina, from Brazil, from France, from Germany, uh from Russia. I've met Jewish people from from Ethiopia. I mean from all over the world because the Jews were scattered throughout the world. So what we're seeing here is an event that takes place in the last days. It's not an event that is only the 70-year period of the Babylonian captivity, but rather is something that is referring to the very end time. As a matter of fact, in verse 24, in the last few words of that of verse 24 in chapter 30, we see that because he said in the latter days, you will consider it. It's a last days thing that we're looking at. Now in verses 8 and 9 of chapter 30, he says, "It shall come to pass in that day says the Lord of hosts that I will break his yoke from your neck and will burst your bonds. Foreigners shall no more enslave them, but they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king whom I will raise up for them." Now, when he's saying here in verse 6, it'll come to pass in that day, says the Lord, that I will break his yoke from their neck. He's not speaking of the Babylonian yoke. He's got to speak of something that's deeper than that. Especially when you notice in verse 9, he says, "They shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them." That did not occur after 70 years. So what we're looking at here is that the Lord is saying that he's going to set them free not just from Babylon, but it's a promise of total liberation from foreign oppressors. And it's also a promise that they're going to be ruled by and apparently is David who he's going to raise up during the millennial kingdom to have authority in the nation of Israel. Because Ezekiel seems to indicate that Ezekiel in chapter 34:23 I will set up one shepherd over them. He shall feed them. Even my servant David, he shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd. In the Old Testament book of Hosea, don't even try to find that one. Chapter 3:5. Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord in his goodness in the latter days. So, it seems that David is going to have authority over the nation of Israel during what is called the kingdom age or what is also called the millennial age. Now, some of you may be new Christians and this term millennial age or kingdom age may be a foreign term to you. Let me share briefly what that is. The Bible states that there's going to be a time when Jesus Christ is going to rule the earth for a thousand years. They call that the millennial reign of Christ because millennium speaks of a thousand. And so during the millennial reign of Christ where Jesus is ruling on the face of the earth and the scripture teaches that in the book of revelation. It would seem that God is going to allow David, King David, who is a believer in God who is resurrected to have authority over the nation of Israel. It seems that the Old Testament prophesies that Jesus Christ is going to have full reign and full control, but David is going to have a place of leadership over the nation of Israel. And that's what it seems to be saying here in the book of Ezekiel as well as the book of Hosea as well as Jeremiah 30:9 because he says they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king whom I will raise up for them. Therefore, verse 10, do not fear, oh my servant Jacob, says the Lord, nor be dismayed, O Israel, for behold, I will save you from afar and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest, and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid. For I'm 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 complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice and will not let you go altogether unpunished. And the point is, and it's obvious, that when you read your Bible, you read about a lot of nations and tribes that no longer exist. I just remembered something. I was going to say you you read of the Philistines and I have something that I'm probably going to read to you this Sunday so I don't want to give you give give it all away but I thought this was funny. There was a biblical literacy test given to some people and they were asking him questions and one of the answers is they believed that King David um King David fought against the Finkelestein. It's not the Finkelesteins, it's the Philistines. But anyway, there are no more Philistines. There are no more Hittites, Jebusites, and the rest of them, but there still are Jews. Now, that is a miracle. And I don't know if we really appreciate that. I don't know if we can appreciate that. You know, in the United States, if something's 200 years old, it's old to us. Something's 200 years old in the United States, it's old, isn't it? I mean, the United States really isn't that old as a nation. And so if you go someplace, if you go to Boston or you go to St. Augustine, Florida, whatever, and you see something 300 years old in the United States, you think, man, that's ancient. And a lot of Americans never have the opportunity to travel anywhere to see anything much older than that. But once you get out of the United States and you go into some of the sections of Mexico or South America or you go into Europe or into China and you see bridges that are 2,000 years old, now you're beginning to see something pretty old. But Americans normally, most of us don't really have an idea of what age is. And because we really don't understand that, you know, there are things 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 years old. When you go to Israel, for example, we go to Abraham's gate. There's a gate that Abraham actually walked through that they have been able to preserve. They actually discovered it through archaeological research. They also found Jeroboam's altar. And these are things that are thousands of years old. And we in the United States really don't understand that. So, it's difficult to communicate what a miracle it is that there's a people called the Jew even to this day. But God said, "I will preserve you." God made a promise to them. He didn't make that promise to the Philistines. He didn't make it to the Amalachites and they're gone. But God made that promise to the nation of Israel. And it's a miracle nation. And in 1948 when it once again became a nation and within you know 50 years a little over 50 years or so 49 50 years it's become one of the most powerful nations in the world the center of all activity and attention in the world in just 50 years. It blows your mind if you watch this and see what the Lord has done. He's fulfilling his promises right now. We're seeing it in our day that he's already put in the heart of Jews to return to the nation. And now they're coming and thousands and thousands are coming back to the nation. They're coming back to the city of Jerusalem. They're coming back. You know, if you go up into northern Israel, there's a valley up there where the first Hawaiians came from. It's called the Hoola Valley. I'm just kidding. But there is a valley up there called the Hoola Valley. And the Hoola Valley was all swamp just 50 years ago. is all swamp. Mosquitoes and malaria were were problems there. But the Jews who came and began to restore the nation drained all the swamps. And now when you go up into the northern portion of Israel there in that particular valley, it's just lush. It's filled with trees and agriculture. And they have taken this wilderness and they've made it into a beautiful country. It's an absolutely beautiful country. Israel is a beautiful place to go. They're the fruit basket of the world. They actually send oranges and various other fruit that they grow and they ship it into Europe and and they and they basically supply uh Europe with their with their fruit. And this has taken place with within just 50 years. It is beyond me. This is not something that is just a natural thing that could just happen. You're not going to see a resurrection of a Philistine nation. But you did see it in in our lifetimes. We did see God restore the nation of Israel. And God promises here in the book of Jeremiah thousands of years before the fact that he's going to do this. And it just demonstrates to us how wonderful our God is. So he said in verse 11, 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 complete end of you, but I will correct you in justice and I will not let you go altogether unpunished. Lord, your affliction is incurable. In other words, your affliction is incurable without me. Your wound is severe. There is no one to plead your cause that you may be bound up. You have no healing medicines. 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 iniquities, because your sins have increased. Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable because of the multitude of your iniquities. Because your sins have increased, I've done these things to you. So, he's saying, I am the one who have wounded you. I'm the one who is punishing you. When he says in verse 12, your affliction is incurable. Well, you're going to see in just a few moments in verses 16 and 17 that God makes a promise about a restoration. The point he's making in its context is you are incurable. Your wound is incurable without me. Now, that's absolute truth, isn't it? Without the Lord, you can do nothing. Without God forgiving you and giving you grace and restoring you to a right relationship with him, without God doing something on your behalf, you and I, we are completely helpless. We can't save ourselves. We cling to the wrong things and believe the wrong things. We're blind and we wander in the darkness groping for something we might call truth. And every step that we take was taken a step further away from the Lord. And if God didn't come and pursue us like a little lost sheep, like a lost coin, like a lost son, that we'd never be found. But the Lord does reach out, doesn't he? And he sent his son Jesus Christ to do just that. So that we would know what kind of God we serve. Because if we allow the world to dictate to us what God is like, we're going to end up with a cruel, evil god. Because that's all we can believe in. Because that's the systems that we've devised. That's what our nature produces. And the gods that we create are gods who are angry all the time. And we must do something very terrible to ourselves or to somebody else in order that we might somehow plate his anger. I wonder how many of you had an opportunity just this week. It's all it happens every year in the Philippines. How many of you had an opportunity to see these people being crucified? Was on the news. You see them putting their hands on the on the wood. You see them taking nails and driving them through their palms. You see them putting the nails in their feet. And they lift them up on a cross. And they stand and they are hanging there because they had prayed and asked the Lord to do something and God had answered their prayer. And they had promised him that they would do something like crucifying themselves and they do that quote unquote out of gratitude. That's pagan. If my son David were to say, "Daddy, I love you, and I'm going to show you how much I love you by going out and crucifying myself, and I'm an evil father." But I would say, "You don't need to do something like that, son. You don't need to harm yourself. What kind of father would I be if I got pleasure out of your pain?" No, son. Don't do that. Just tell me you love me and obey me and that's all I really require from you. Just show me by your your actions. You know that you love me. Keep my word. That'll demonstrate to me that you do, son. And you want to know something? We are so messed up. We think that God requires our blood. No, he doesn't require my blood. He required the blood of his own son. God is so incredible, guys, that because I could never do anything to reach him, he reached down for me. And the full extent of his love was the laying down of his life. Jesus laying down his life for me. That demonstrates the extent of his love. God demonstrated his love toward us that while we were yet sinners, what's the Bible say? Christ died for us. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And so God is going to show them that without him their wound is incurable. Verse 16. Therefore, all those who devour you shall be devoured, and all your adversaries, every one of them shall go into captivity. Those who plunder you shall become plunder, and all who pray upon you, I will make a prey. For he says, I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds, says the Lord, because they called you an outcast, saying, this is Zion. No one seeks her. I will do it. Notice that, verse 17, I will restore health to you. Verse 18. Thus says the Lord, behold, I will bring back the captivity captivity of Jacob's tents and have mercy on his dwelling places. The city shall be built upon its own mound, and the palace shall remain according to its own plan. Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving, and the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish. I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all who oppress them. The noble shall be from among them, and their governor shall come from their midst. Then I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach me. For who is this who pledged his heart to approach me, says the Lord? You shall be my people, and I will be your God. So Jerusalem was laying basically in ruins until now. It's the capital again of Israel. Amazing. The Lord prophesied. He's he's speaking through the mouth of Jeremiah and he's letting them know in verse 18 that the city shall be built upon its own mound. Jerusalem is exactly where it is now, where it's always been. It's been rebuilt exactly there. The promise that God is making is a simple one. I'm going to heal your wounds. And even though your punishment is welld deserved, I'm still going to heal you. Even though I have to deal with you severely for what you've done, I will show you mercy. The Lord is saying, and the nations that have abused Israel, he's saying, will be judged. Now, God promises a time of rich blessings. He says, Jerusalem will be rebuilt after Babylon's destruction of it, and it will exist on its original sight. In verse 23, behold, a whirlwind of the Lord goes forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind. It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord will not return until he's done it and until he has performed the intents of his heart. In the latter days, you will cons you will consider it. He's saying this is all going to take place in the last days. In the last days, you'll see it clearly. If you're interested in studying the last days, read Matthew chapter 24 and Revelation chapters 6-19, and you'll get a pretty strong picture of that. We'll look at some of these things as we continue on through the book of Jeremiah.