Restoration for Israel and Judah
Jer 30:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Jer 30:2 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.
Jer 30:3 The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.”
Jer 30:4 These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
Jer 30:5 “This is what the LORD says: “‘Cries of fear are heard— terror, not peace.
Jer 30:6 Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale?
Jer 30:7 How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.
Jer 30:8 “‘In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them.
Jer 30:9 Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
Jer 30:10 “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.
Jer 30:11 I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’
Jer 30:12 “This is what the LORD says: “‘Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.
Jer 30:13 There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.
Jer 30:14 All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many.
Jer 30:15 Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.
Jer 30:16 “‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
Jer 30:17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’
Jer 30:18 “This is what the LORD says: “‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place.
Jer 30:19 From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained.
Jer 30:20 Their children will be as in days of old, and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them.
Jer 30:21 Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me— for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the LORD.
Jer 30:22 “‘So you will be my people, and I will be your God.'”
Jer 30:23 See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.
Jer 30:24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this.
1 God showed Jeremiah the return of the Jews. 4 After their trouble they shall have deliverance. 10 He comforteth Jacob. 18 Their return shall be gracious. 20 Wrath shall fall on the wicked.
Restoration for Israel and Judah
Jer 30:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
1. The word. See on ch. 1:1.
Jer 30:2 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.
The prophet was instructed to write down that which had been revealed to him regarding the restoration of Israel, and this record is found in chs. 30 and 31. These promises of future restoration were recorded by the prophet immediately after the interchange of letters in ch. 29 (see EGW, Supplementary Material, on chs. 25; 27–29; 30; 31).
Jer 30:3 The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.”
The divine promise of ch. 29:10–14 is here broadened to include not only the southern kingdom of Judah but also the northern kingdom of Israel as well. The prophet’s heart goes out not only to the captives in Babylon but to those in Assyria and in the cities of the Medes (see 2 Kings 17:5, 6).
Jer 30:5 “This is what the LORD says: “‘Cries of fear are heard— terror, not peace.
God pictures to the prophet the Israelites in a most distressful condition (see Lam. 2:18–22). The words will have yet another fulfillment in the time of distress “through which the people of God must pass just before Christ’s second coming” (PP 201).
Not peace. See on ch. 6:14.
Jer 30:6 Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale?
In no more graphic fashion can the harrowing sufferings of men be described (see chs. 4:31; 6:24; 13:21).
Jer 30:7 How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.
Primarily, the prophet sees here the distress that will soon be brought upon Jerusalem and Judea by the Babylonians under their great conqueror, Nebuchadnezzar (see 2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36:17–21).
When applied to the time of the end, “that day” looks forward to the great day of the Lord at the end of this present world’s history. Of that event the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and by the Romans was “but a faint shadow” (GC 36; see on Jer. 30:5; Joel 1:15).
Jeremiah illustrates the intensity of the experience that was to come to Israel (see on v. 6) by a comparison with the experience of Jacob when he wrestled with the Angel (see on Gen. 32:24–26). Jacob was threatened by an angry brother ready to kill in revenge for past wrongs. To prepare for the crisis, Jacob tarried to spend the night in prayer.
The burden of his heart was that everything should be right with God. As far as he could, Jacob had endeavoured to right every wrong that he had committed. By his persistence and faith, Jacob was given the assurance of God’s blessing before the night had passed.
In looking forward to the experience of the children of Jacob, Jeremiah shows that, at the time of the Babylonian invasion (see on Jer. 34:7), they would pass through an agony like that of their ancestor. But with the prophecy of such great “trouble” the prophet coupled an assurance to every faithful soul that “he shall be saved out of it.”
This same experience of intense soul searching will come to spiritual Israel after the close of probation, just before the Lord’s second advent. Only those who have confessed every known sin will be able to come forth victors from that time of spiritual agony known as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (see GC 616–623).
Jer 30:8 “‘In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them.
8. I will break his yoke.
Primarily referring to the yoke of the Babylonians, which was broken when, under Cyrus, the exiles were permitted to return to their own land (see 2 Chron. 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:1–4).
Jer 30:10 “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.
This comforting assurance is substantially repeated in ch. 46:27, 28 (see Isa. 41:8–16; 43:5–7).
Jacob. Here synonymously used for “Israel” (see Gen. 32:27, 28) to represent the people of God.
Save distant. Primarily this refers, as shown by the context, to the return of the exiles from their Babylonian captivity. The promises of future prosperity were conditional on obedience.
Jer 30:11 I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though I destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’
Discipline in measure. Here God gives His people the assurance that although, because of their transgressions, He must discipline them, He will restore them when they have learned the lesson of obedience to Him. In His love God will not “make a full end” of them, as He would do with the heathen oppressors of His people.
Jer 30:12 “This is what the LORD says: “‘Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.
The reason God did not dare leave Judah “altogether unpunished” (see v. 11) was that the people had by this time gone too far in their sins. Verses 12–15 describe Judah’s pitiable condition. Humanly speaking, there was no hope for her. However, God promised to heal her wounds (v. 17).
Jer 30:13 There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.
13. None to plead thy cause Judah had been forsaken by her lovers (see on v. 14), and now she stood alone, for she had forsaken her God.
The second and third clauses of this verse read literally, “[there are] no medicines for [your] ulcer, [nor] healing for you.” This repeats the truth of v. 12 (see Isa. 1:5, 6; Hosea 5:13). Again God challenges His sinning people to seek soul salvation through their Lord, who alone is, so to speak, the balm of Gilead for the wounds of sin (see on Jer. 8:22).
Jer 30:14 All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many.
The allies (see on ch. 22:20) now realize that Judah’s case is helpless in the face of Babylonian opposition.
Jer 30:15 Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.
A graphic picture of Judah’s pitiable, hopelessly sick and wounded condition (see Lam. 1).
Incurable. See on vs. 12, 13.
Jer 30:16 “‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
Even though God used the Babylonians as His instruments to punish His people for their apostasy, the Chaldeans themselves would not escape the divine retribution because of their own iniquity (see on ch. 25:12).
Jer 30:17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’
I will restore you to health.
Though Judah’s former allies would scorn her because of her misfortunes and regard her as an outcast (see on vs. 13, 14), God would not forget His chosen nation; in His love He would heal her “wounds” (see Hosea 6:1).
Jer 30:18 “This is what the LORD says: “‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place.
Verses 18–21 describe the prosperity that might have been Israel’s had the people accepted their divine destiny and loyally carried out the mission assigned them by Heaven. For the church of God these verses predict ultimate deliverance from this present evil world (see PK 538).
Jer 30:19 From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honour, and they will not be disdained.
The prophet envisions the diffusion of the knowledge of the true God and the gathering in of converts from all over the earth (see pp. 29, 30).
Jer 30:21 Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me— for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the LORD.
Jer 30:22 “‘So you will be my people, and I will be your God.'”
The Lord desired Judah to enter into the full relationship implied in this expression, but His chosen people failed to live up to their privileges. The promise now belongs to the Christian church (Heb. 8:10). In the new earth state this relationship will come to pass in its fullness (see Rev. 21:3).
Jer 30:23 See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.
A graphic picture of God’s judgment descending upon impenitent sinners (see chs. 23:19, 20; 25:32, 33).
Jer 30:24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this.
The deliverance of God’s people would be accompanied by the fall of the Babylonian Empire, which had held Israel captive (ch. 25:12, 26), and finally by judgment upon the wicked of all nations (ch. 25:31–33). God now announces His purpose to carry this act through to its completion. That is, at the time of the fulfilment of the prediction and subsequently. Now the future looked dark. Ahead lay invasion and deportation. The fulfilments of the glorious promises of prosperity appeared almost incredible. The future would confirm the merciful purposes of God.