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Text: Jeremiah 30:1-3
A meditation of hope
- Now, in the next two chapters, Jeremiah gives hope to the Israelites. The first three verses of chapter thirty introduce the theme of the next couple of chapters. There was hope described in the law in Leviticus 26:3,12: If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; … And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. Now, the law isn’t the promise, which was given to Abraham. But the law did provide a written record of certain divine expectations.
- Under Moses, the nation of Israel received the law of God. Moses became the voice of the law even as the prophets continued the voice of the law. Men like Jeremiah were not revolutionaries, they were applying the law and the promise given to the nation. They were faithful executors of the old covenant and the promise.
- These two chapters seem to be a part of a dream Jeremiah had. Look at 31:26. After seeing destruction countered with various forms of hope, back and forth, Jeremiah said, Upon this I awakened; and behold, my sleep was sweet unto me. Then Jeremiah sums up every bit of hope he just dreamed about with the coming days that God will make a new covenant with the nation. Behold, the days come… (vss 27, 31, and 38). It’s a statement like you would make about the good ole days. The days characterize a time and a people. In this case, both are summed up in Jesus Christ. In his day, in his generation.
- For the next few weeks, we’ll slow down to enjoy the hope Jeremiah sees for the nation, but not for the Jew only, it will also be for the Gentile.
Promised unification and inheritance
- Let’s go back and read the first three verses. The first thing the LORD says to do is write down what He said. The LORD will regather Israel and Judah. This regathering goes far beyond the regathering under Ezra, Nehemiah, and the prophets. Only Judah and Jerusalem were returned, but not the northern tribes.
- Ten Lost Tribes of Israel – You’ve probably heard some theories on the 10 lost tribes of Israel. The Mormons have theories about them, the Black Heberw Israelites have theories about them, and modern-day Jews have teachings that the 10 tribes are lost forever. The reason the 10 northern tribes are lost is that they never returned.
- Jesus preached this regathering in:
- Matthew 19:28-30
- Before you think this inheritance and glory is only Jewish, look at Luke 13:22-30. Here Jesus says there will be Jews trying to get in based on their Jewishness, but won’t be able to. All the while heathen enter from the four corners of the earth.
- As much as from a Christian point of view you love the Jewish people, the current Zionist movement birthed by Theodor Hertzl at the turn of the century around 1900, is just as godless and antichrist as anything. It culminated in an Israeli state in 1948 with all the allusions to prophecy and words like “regathering” complete with messiahs, political geniuses, and evangelical pastors rooting it on. But without Christ. Worse yet, antichrist. What Christians and Jews fail to understand on both sides is that the regathering is done in Christ!
- John 11:47-54, particularly verse 52.
Preaching and teaching on this regathering
- John the Baptist preached Jesus Christ would gather his wheat into the garner, but burn up the chaff (Matthew 3:12)
- Wheat and tares in Matthew 13:24-30
- Galatians 3:16-29 Paul explains and makes very clear the method of gathering is faith.
