Jer 30:1-12 The Time of Jacob’s Trouble

[Study Aired January 30, 2022]

Jer 30:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 30:2  Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
Jer 30:3  For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
Jer 30:4  And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
Jer 30:5  For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Jer 30:6  Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Jer 30:7  Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
Jer 30:8  For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
Jer 30:9  But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
Jer 30:10  Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
Jer 30:11  For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
Jer 30:12  For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

The first three verses of this chapter speak of our ultimate salvation and the blessings of returning to the Lord from our rebellious ways. Until verses 10 and 11 we are being shown what it means to go through the fiery sword which guards the way of the tree of life.

Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

It is the uncorruptible Word of God which keeps the way of the tree of life, the way of Christ, who is The Word of God:

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This study brings to mind a couple of earlier verses in this prophecy of Jeremiah:

Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

The Lord has been married to us “before the world began”. ‘Before the world began’ we were called to be His wife: (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2)

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2Ti 1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:1  Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Tit 1:3  But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

The Lord, being our Maker, knows that we are mere clay in His hands, and therefore He is patient and kind to the work of His hands:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

“So He made it again…” is in the Qal stem which tells us that the Lord is in the process of forming a “new man… another vessel” within us. The words of this entire prophecy of Jeremiah are also “the Words of the Lord” concerning how He is dealing with and ‘making again another vessel’ of His unfaithful wife:

Jer 30:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 30:2  Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
Jer 30:3  For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

“I will bring again the captivity of My people” is repeating what the Lord inspired Moses to tell us in:

Deu 30:3  That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

In Jeremiah 30:3 and in Deuteronomy 30:3 the same Hebrew word, the word ‘shub’, H7725, appears twice in each verse. In Deuteronomy it is translated both as ‘turn’ and as ‘return’. In Jeremiah it is translated as ‘bring again’ and as ‘return’.

Jer 30:3  For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again [H7725: ‘shub’] the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return [H7725: ‘shub’] to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

Deu 30:3  That then the LORD thy God will turn [H7725: ‘shub’] thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return [H7725: ‘shub’] and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

Now let’s read the preceding two verses in Deuteronomy 30:

Deu 30:1  And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
Deu 30:2  And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

These words were written by Moses. The holy spirit inspired Moses to prophesy of Israel’s apostasy and captivity before they had ever entered the promised land.

Jer 30:4  And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

It is here in Deuteronomy, before Israel ever entered the promised land, that Moses was inspired to write “for our admonition” (1Co 10:11) “It shall come to pass, when all these things come upon thee, the blessing and the curse…” This was not written for their admonition. No doubt they were being admonished, but it all really happened to them for our admonition (1Co 10:11).

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [Greek: ‘tupos’, types of us (vs 6)]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

In other words, ‘Israel and Judah’ are us, and it is us whom the Lord knew before we were born, “before the world began” who are being addressed (Psa 139:16, 2Ti 1:9, Tit 1:2). It is us upon whom both “the blessing and the curse” must come.

The Lord desires a wife who is faithful and dedicated to Him just as any husband would desire. By nature and by His design we are unfaithful, but He loves us so much He is willing to take us back if we will only repent:

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

We do not come back to the Lord without being judged, corrected and chastened for our infidelity. As we will read in this chapter, the Lord will “correct [us] in measure; yet will [He] not leave us wholly unpunished”. That statement is repeated in:

Jer 46:27  But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
Jer 46:28  Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

When the Lord tells us “I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee…” what He is telling us is that He will destroy the kingdom of our old man and his self-righteous iniquity, and use that destruction and dissolution as the catalyst for making us into “a new vessel as it seemed good to the Potter to make [us]” (Jer 18:4). The Lord simply desires a faithful wife through whom He will bring many children into His family, and what the Lord wants, the Lord gets, to the point that He even tells us that “He performs the thing that is appointed for [us]”:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

If, and when we do repent and turn back to our spiritual husband, it will be because “He performs the [repentance] that is appointed for [us]”. ‘The thing appointed for me” is “I will… correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished” (Jer 46:28). This is the punishment prescribed against us:

Jer 30:5  For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Jer 30:6  Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Jer 30:7  Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

“The time of Jacob’s trouble” is the time of our judgment in “this present time”. Christ called it a time of “great tribulation” and promised that His ‘Jacob’, His elect, would be delivered out of it:

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew [of Jacob], which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

“But he shall be saved out of it” applies to both the elect and those who come up in ‘the resurrection of damnation’, better translated as ‘the resurrection of judgment’ (Joh 5:29). This statement here in Jeremiah 30 brings this confirming verse in the New Testament to mind:

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

The ‘any man’ of this verse is the same as the “every man” of the previous verse:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

All those who are saved, both in “the resurrection of life” and in “the resurrection of damnation (Greek: ‘krisis’, judgment)”, are saved through “fire”, through ‘fiery punishment, correction, and judgment’ – “Every man”!

Jer 30:8  For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
Jer 30:9  But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

“David their king” signifies “the Lord [Himself along with] His Christ”, “kings and princes”:

Jer 17:25  Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.

Jer 22:4  For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

Mat 21:5  Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King [Christ] cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

Rev 4:4  And round about the throne [G2362: ‘thronos’] were four and twenty seats [G2362: ‘thronos’]: and upon the seats [G2362, ‘thronos’] I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

This is what these “four and twenty elders” tell us of themselves and of the four beasts which are in the midst of and around the throne of God:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

These four beasts and these four and twenty elders are types of the Lord’s elect, His bride, with whom He will reign on the earth a thousand years and then become the judges of all who will be in the resurrection of judgment/the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death/great multitude which no man can number.

Jer 30:10  Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

‘Israel’ here signifies “the [true] Israel of God” and not physical Israel, just as manna was called “bread from heaven” while it was simply a type of “the true bread from heaven”:

Joh 6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. [GW]

The Lord “will have all men to be saved”, and that which He desires, “even that He doeth”:

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

It is His sovereignty which brings us back to what He is doing with us as His “married… wife” whom He will use to bequeath to Him “all men” as His children:

Jer 30:11  For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

This is the first time we read these words in this prophecy of Jeremiah. The holy spirit repeats this promise as we quoted earlier in this study:

Jer 46:28  Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

We are given this promise even as we are reminded that the kingdom of our old man is marred and cannot inherit the kingdom of God:

Jer 30:12  For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

Here is this same statement “in the demonstration of the spirit and of power” (1Co 2:4-5):

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

“In demonstration of the spirit” simply means that we are seeing for ourselves and showing others “that which is written”:

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other. (ACV)

This prophecy of Jeremiah happened to Judah and Jerusalem, and it was written for our admonition:

Jer 30:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 30:2  Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
Jer 30:3  For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

All the words of the judgments of this prophecy of Jeremiah happened, and they are written not for Jeremiah himself nor the people of his time. It was all done for us:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened to those men for examples, and they were written for our admonition, to whom the ends of the ages came. (ACV)

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

What an incredible statement! The entire Old Testament history and economy, and everything the prophets ministered, was really for our benefit and “not unto themselves”! That statement includes these words which “minister… not to them… but unto us”:

Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Here are our verses for our next study:

Jer 30:13  There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
Jer 30:14  All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
Jer 30:15  Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
Jer 30:16  Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
Jer 30:17  For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
Jer 30:18  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
Jer 30:19  And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
Jer 30:20  Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.
Jer 30:21  And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.
Jer 30:22  And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Jer 30:23  Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.
Jer 30:24  The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.