{"id":1777,"date":"2014-08-28T08:34:57","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T15:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/?p=1777"},"modified":"2014-08-30T15:19:54","modified_gmt":"2014-08-30T22:19:54","slug":"jeremiah-301-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/?p=1777","title":{"rendered":"Jeremiah 30:1-24"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremiah 30:1-24. \u00a0As we read through Jeremiah we need to keep in mind what a Prophet is and what their writings are generally about.\u00a0 For a more detailed description of this you can read \u201cWhat Profit\u201d<\/a> in the \u201cDid You Know\u201d section.\u00a0 We want to remember though that a prophet of Yahweh (the personal name of the God of Israel, the one true God) was a messenger.\u00a0 In Israel the priest talked to God for the people and performed symbolic acts that were reminders to the people of their situation; we all have failed to live up to God\u2019s standards and have a broken relationship with him.\u00a0 We need help in healing this relationship.\u00a0 Ultimately in the Bible we find out that Jesus is that help.\u00a0 One important thing in fixing anything is realizing that it is broke.\u00a0 The actions of the priest in ancient Israel, as they performed sacrifices and rituals about sin (our disobedience and rebellion toward God) the people were constantly reminded that we don\u2019t measure up and that we need to approach God and confess our failure to Him.\u00a0 But in ancient Israel, because of our offensiveness, only the priests could approach God.\u00a0 On the other hand the prophet\u2019s job was to speak from God to the people.\u00a0 They were God\u2019s messengers.\u00a0 One clear picture we get from this situation is that there was a wall between God and mankind.<\/p>\n

Most of the prophet\u2019s messages were directly to the Jewish nation either in whole or in part. Some times to individuals in the nation (like the messages we have just read to the various false prophets).\u00a0 Some of the messages were to people and nations outside of Israel.\u00a0 We have seen that to in Jeremiah when he delivered messages to the representatives of foreign kings.\u00a0 God\u2019s choosing and dealing with the Israelite people was and is a lesson for al mankind; God loves and is concerned that all of us understand our broken relationship with him and how it can be fixed.<\/p>\n

The writings in the Bible that we identify with certain prophets (like Jeremiah, Isaiah, or others) contain specific messages to specific people or groups of people given at a specific time.\u00a0 That is why I try to help you remember what is going on as we read each part.\u00a0 On the other hand the messages were gathered together to help all of us see and understand more about God and his plan to \u201cfix\u201d us.\u00a0 Sometimes the writings were collected together by the prophet and sometimes (like on what we are reading now) by someone else, or a mixture of the two.\u00a0 The writings were not usually collected in order of when they were written but they weren\u2019t just thrown in a book either.\u00a0 The writings are usually put into some sort of order; grouped together for some purpose.\u00a0 Bible experts don\u2019t always agree on that purpose or order and work hard at understanding it.\u00a0 Even if we don\u2019t understand the overall reason or order of a book, we can often see reasons for smaller sections and certainly should be able to understand the reason for individual messages (see 2 Timothy 3:16).\u00a0 We just finished reading a section in Jeremiah in which he dealt with false prophets who were opposing him (chapters 26-29).\u00a0 Chapter 26 also began a larger section of Jeremiah that was \u201cwritten\u201d by one or more other people.\u00a0 Baruch, Jeremiah\u2019s scribe or secretary was at least one of these.\u00a0 In chapters 1-25 the story is in the first person, written by Jeremiah about himself.\u00a0 In chapters 26-45 most of the writing that holds the story together is in the third person; someone else describing the events.\u00a0 The information is still about Jeremiah and contains his messages from God to various people and groups but is was put together by Baruch and possible others.\u00a0 But remember God was still in control of this whole process, he wants us to know and understand.<\/p>\n

So far a lot of Jeremiah has been about trouble; the brokenness of the peoples relationship with God, their unfaithfulness, and the trouble that was coming as a result.\u00a0 Clearly the priests had failed in Israel and the people were not realizing how broken their relationship with God was.\u00a0 Jeremiah informed them that God was going to get their attention and in fact we have already seen a lot of that with the exile of many to Babylon and the death of several false prophets.\u00a0 Jeremiah has predicted more destruction and trials.\u00a0 His book has been quite very depressing, especially for the Jewish people who were living through it.\u00a0 Last night I was watching a police show and a couple of the detectives were discussing the death penalty (a cop had just been killed in the story).\u00a0 One of the men was all gung ho for the death penalty while the other was not.\u00a0 The one who was not told a story of trying to arrest a man who had committed a murder.\u00a0\u00a0 The bad guy got the drop on him and the officer had a pistol up his nose.\u00a0 He told his partner that if that criminal knew he was going to be executed for the murder he had already committed he might have pulled the trigger on this officer too.\u00a0 His point was that if the guy didn\u2019t have any hope he might kill more; figuring he didn\u2019t have anything to lose.\u00a0 Now I don\u2019t necessarily agree with all of the idea that that character presented (in the Bible we find the death penalty prescribed and are also told that for a society to work that people need to see consequences for their actions fairly quickly (Ecclesiastes 8:11)) but I do think it is important to give people hope where it is available.\u00a0 So far there have been little glimpses of hope in Jeremiah.\u00a0 Today we start a section (Chapters 30-33) that is mostly about hope.<\/p>\n

In verse 1 we see that this is about Jeremiah not by Jeremiah.\u00a0 But we also see that Jeremiah is getting a message from the LORD, Yahweh.\u00a0 And remember that Yahweh is the creator of the universe, that certainly makes him big enough to make sure his message is protected and delivered.\u00a0 In fact that was a big part of the last section, false prophets being dealt with, 4 of them dead.<\/p>\n

In verse 3 we see that God is going to \u201crestore the fortunes\u201d of the Israelites.\u00a0 It is interesting that he says Israel and Judah.\u00a0 Israel is the name of the ancestor that all of the Israelites descended from (also known as Judah, see \u201cWhat\u2019s in a Name\u201d<\/a>).\u00a0 There were twelve brothers, sons of Israel, whose descendants were together called Israel.\u00a0 The nation that they formed was called Israel.\u00a0 Israel was united under three kings and then divided into two kingdoms.\u00a0 The Northern Kingdom was composed of ten of the tribes and the Southern Kingdom had two tribes.\u00a0 Each tribe had been given certain land when they took over the entire territory.\u00a0 Jerusalem was in the territory of Judah (one of the 12 brothers) and was also the capital of the nation.\u00a0 When the ten tribes broke away they set up a new capital in Samaria and also an alternate place to worship God.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t work out very well for them and they quickly defected from honoring God.\u00a0 Their downward spiritual spiral let to their eventual conquest by the Assyrians in 722 BC.\u00a0 The Assyrian policy was to \u201cmix up\u201d the people they conquered by scattering them through out the empire and getting them to marry outside of their group.\u00a0 The Northern Kingdom is usually called Israel in the Bible.\u00a0 The Southern Kingdom, as we are seeing here in Jeremiah, also defected from God.\u00a0 It took a little longer and the outcome is a little different.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s policy was to relocate people he conquered as a group and allow them to maintain their distinct tribal identities.\u00a0 The Southern Kingdom is usually called Judah after the larger tribe in it.\u00a0 The people came to be called Jews.\u00a0 Some of the people of the Northern Kingdom were left behind when the Assyrians conquered them by others were brought in to intermarry with them.\u00a0 Their descendants are called Samaritan in the Bible.\u00a0 The Jews saw them as \u201chalf-breeds\u201d and religious defectors and hated them.\u00a0 It is interesting that in the restoration in this verse that God is going to restore all of the tribes of the original nation of Israel, both Israel (the smaller kingdom) and Judah will have a part.\u00a0 This is because God made a promise to their ancestors and intended on keeping his word.<\/p>\n

In verses 4-11 we see the people of Israel (all of the tribes) are very upset.\u00a0 In verse 7 we see that they are in the middle of a time of great trouble.\u00a0 Remember that Jacob is another name for Israel (all twelve tribes).\u00a0 Jacob is in great distress in \u201cthat day\u201d.\u00a0 The word translated \u201cday\u201d in Hebrew (the language that most of the Old Testament is written in) is \u201cYom\u201d.\u00a0 The word can mean a 24 hour day and can sometimes mean a longer time period.\u00a0 Here in verse 7 it is talking about a longer time period called \u201cthe Day of Jacob\u2019s Trouble\u201d.\u00a0 WE learn at the end of verse 7 that Jacob (the twelve tribes) will survive this time of trouble.\u00a0 Remember that often prophets would talk give a prediction that would be fulfilled more than once.\u00a0 This time of Jacob\u2019s Trouble is probably referring to the Babylonian Captivity in the short run but in the bigger picture Jeremiah was also seeing and predicting events that we sometimes call \u201cThe Great Tribulation\u201d (most of \u201cRevelation\u201d is about this time period, see also Daniel 9:24-27.\u00a0 \u201cWeek\u201d is a generic term like \u201cdozen\u201d and in the context it is talking about \u201cweeks\u201d of years.\u00a0 The last week in the prediction is the \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d).\u00a0 We know that this prediction cannot be completely fulfilled\u00a0 by the return from the Babylonian Captivity because of things like \u201cnations\u201d (plural) and \u201cscattered\u201d in verse 11.\u00a0 Also only Judah was involved in that captivity.<\/p>\n

At the end of verse 11 we see that the time of trouble is being used as punishment by God.\u00a0 The other word used to describe what God is doing is \u201cchasten\u201d (at least in my translation).\u00a0 That word means \u201cto instruct\u201d or \u2018discipline\u201d.\u00a0 We see here that God wants them to learn and change.\u00a0 Verse 12-15 do not give much hope though, their \u201cwound is incurable\u201d and it is because of their disobedience and rebellion toward God (sin, iniquity).<\/p>\n

In verse 16 a little light comes back into this dark picture.\u00a0\u00a0 The people that have been oppressing the Israelites will now be the ones who are devoured and go into captivity.\u00a0 And in verse 17 we see that God will do what they could not do for themselves, he will heal and restore them.\u00a0 They can be sure because the LORD (Yahweh, you know the guy who created everything) has said so.\u00a0 We also see part of God\u2019s reason at the end of verse 17; the people around them are mocking the Jewish people, it\u2019s like those people were saying that the Jewish God had no power, they would see though.<\/p>\n

In verse 18-22 God returns to a description of what he is going to do for the descendants of \u201cJacob\u201d; cities and the city (Jerusalem) will be rebuilt, the tents will be filled, there will be a palace again, the people will give thanks to God and will celebrate, and probably most important of all, the group (congregation) will be \u201cestablished before Me (Yahweh)\u201d.\u00a0 We also learn that God will punish the people who had oppressed them and that the Israelites will have a new king who will be \u201cone of them\u201d.\u00a0 That second part probably would make them think of the promised \u201cmessiah\u201d or chosen one who was to be a king forever from the descendants of David (see Jeremiah 30:9; 2 Samuel 7).\u00a0 Also the phrase\u201d from among you\u201d or \u201cfrom their midst\u201d many experts think may mean that the \u201cmessiah\u201d would be a common person, not seen as royalty (though he would be a descendant of David).\u00a0 Jesus fits this description (Matthew 8:20, 13:55, Luke 2:7).\u00a0 Verse 22 ends on a very bright note with God assuring that they would be his people and he would be their God; the relationship would be restored.<\/p>\n

Verses 23-24 give us the full picture of God\u2019s actions though.\u00a0 While he would restore Israel to himself he is not a push over.\u00a0 God is holy (pure) and just or fair or right.\u00a0 He will strongly punish wickedness (a word that can mean guilty or ungodly).\u00a0 God is passionate about us and will not stop until he has accomplished what is in his heart.\u00a0 The last statement, \u201cin the latter days you will understand this\u201d seems cryptic to many.\u00a0 I think it is just a reference to that multiple fulfillment part of a some prophecies.\u00a0 Sure the exiles in Babylon would see a partial fulfillment but the whole story will not play out until the \u201clatter days\u201d; the days in Revelation, the seventieth week of Daniel 9.<\/p>\n

I like God\u2019s passion.\u00a0 I like God\u2019s faithfulness.\u00a0 God\u2019s holiness is scary; he will not ignore sin.\u00a0 But he does have a solution and he will apply it to us; Jesus is that solution, available to all who will accept him (John 1:12).\u00a0 It is good to know God is doing all the \u201cheavy lifting\u201d.\u00a0 He will break the yoke off or our necks.\u00a0 Jesus did that at the cross.\u00a0 That is so cool.\u00a0 And in the end we get to be restored forever back to life (1 Corinthians 15) to have a place in God\u2019s forever kingdom.\u00a0 Way cool.<\/p>\n

Thank you God for your faithfulness, love, mercy.\u00a0 Help me honor your love for me with my actions each day.\u00a0 Let me prepare now for that wonderful eternity.\u00a0 Help me help others see you so they can avoid that wrath.\u00a0 Taking our own punishment for sin would be awful.\u00a0 Thank you for applying your power to my problem.\u00a0 Thank you for loving me.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeremiah 30:1-24. \u00a0As we read through Jeremiah we need to keep in mind what a Prophet is and what their writings are generally about.\u00a0 For a more detailed description of this you can read \u201cWhat Profit\u201d in the \u201cDid You Know\u201d section.\u00a0 We want to remember though that a prophet of Yahweh (the personal name […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1777"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1783,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777\/revisions\/1783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}