Jeremiah Part 2 Lesson 3

INTRODUCTION. Sometimes life can be so depressing. Our sins and our failures seem overwhelming and because of that our future looks bleak and if not bleak it’s discouraging and it’s joyless. Our mind so often takes us into dark recesses and there declares: it happened—that is what was done—life is hopeless —irreversibly ruined—there’s no going forward—there’s no healing. If we would search it out we could probably trace where our mind went back to a monumental disappointment in our lives—something that went awry, something that was off course, something that robbed us of our dreams—of our desire for happiness. But I’ve got good news for you today there is an again—there is an again—that word “again.” There is a way to recover. There is a way of restoration. And this is what we see as we look at Jeremiah—there is this way of recovery; there’s this way of restoration because of God, because of His everlasting love, because of a new covenant. And we want to explore this today. I want to take you back and I want to explore it with you in Jeremiah 30 and Jeremiah 31 and then next week you’re going to do 32, and you’re going to do 33 and you’re going to get a bigger package and a more awesome view of all this. But I want us to look at it in the light of Israel. But I want to take it from Israel to our day. And obviously you’ve done the homework and you know that when Jesus was betrayed—on the night in which He was betrayed and He was celebrating the Passover and they were having the Passover meal, He did something that wasn’t in the script. It WAS in the script but they didn’t know it was in the script. It had been in the script since Genesis 3:15. It had been in the script since Jeremiah 31, but they hadn’t recognized it—they didn’t get its full import—its full significance until—until that night He took the cup and He said, “This is the blood of the (what?) of the new covenant.” And then all of a sudden those Jews that were sitting around that table celebrating this Passover meal—there was like a connection—there was like a light bulb that went off and all of a sudden…They knew the Scriptures and they knew Jeremiah 31 and all of a sudden this that was said in the 500’s BC was now connected to (what?) 29 or 33 AD (whatever you follow). It was all put together. That’s what I want us to do today as we look at this lesson. I want us to look at Jeremiah 30 and 31.

WRITE IT IN A BOOK. And in chapter 30 he’s instructed to do what? He’s not instructed to go and stand at the temple and proclaim something. He’s instructed to sit down and (what?) write it in a book. Because in a sense, and we know now that we have the whole book of Jeremiah, but in a sense, write it down so it’s there so to speak in black and white so that it could be read again and again and again and again.

PROMISE OF RESTORATION. And what he sits down to write in Jeremiah 30:3 which is a promise of restoration. Jeremiah 30:3 3 ‘For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people (now watch what He is careful to say) Israel (Northern Kingdom) and Judah (Southern Kingdom).’ Now if you look at this—you come along here and you have the division between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom and you can see Bethel where they put one of the golden calves is not far from Jerusalem—the other one clear up here in Dan—and we go up there when we go to Israel and we study what they did. But you know also that what they did was they had the tabernacle first at Shiloh—first in the area of the Northern Kingdom. And when they came into the land of course the kingdoms weren’t divided but they divided under Solomon. So what he’s saying is Israel has gone into captivity. They went into captivity in what year? Do you remember? 722 BC—you want to get that down. That’s a date you always want to remember. They went into captivity in 722 BC under the Assyrians. Now all that’s left as Jeremiah is writing this is the Southern Kingdom and the temple is in Jerusalem. So Shiloh, he’s done with as we see and now the temple is in Jerusalem. And he’s writing just to Judah. But in this He is saying, “Write in this book that I am going to restore the fortunes of My people, both Israel and Judah.” And Israel is the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom and Judah are the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom and He says, “I’m going to unite them. I’m going to unite them.” They have not been united since 931 BC after the death of Solomon when the kingdom was divided. When Jeroboam who was a servant then made golden calves and as I said put one in Bethel and then put one eventually in Dan. So now he’s talking about a time of restoration and this is what I want you to see. This word RESTORE is so key—it’s key to them because everything is messed up, because judgment is coming, because they have a wound that is in essence incurable because they have sinned against God. They have turned their backs against God. And earlier in Jeremiah you saw them say, “There is no hope for us. We’ve turned our back.” Do you feel that way? Do you feel like you made a mistake somewhere along the line and there’s no hope for you—there’s no restoration—that life is always going to be lived at a minus something because of what you did? Because of your failure? Or because of how somebody else failed you? So you can never live life to the fullest? I want to tell you something—that’s a lie. And that’s a lie because there is a God. There is a God who is a God of redemption—who is a God of restoration. That is a lie. And you will be miserable as long as you believe the lie. But if you will believe God, if you will see what God is going to do for Israel and Judah and you will get the precepts and you will get the principles, He’s going to take you from there clear over here to the ADs, to the year of Anno Domini—the year of our Lord—and the year of the new covenant. And He’s going to show you how the new covenant is the cure—the new covenant is the cure. It is the way to recover. It is our restoration. So He says, The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’ ” So it begins there.

TRIBULATION (JACOB’S DISTRESS) TO RESTORATION. And then in Jer. 30:4-11 He takes them to tribulation and then to restoration. He’s going to take them to a time of tribulation because of their sins, but then restoration because He is God. And this is what He says. Let’s look at verse 5 5 “For thus says the Lord, ‘I have heard a sound of terror, Of dread, and there is no peace. There’s no peace. 6 ‘Ask now, and see (Kay grunting.) Can a man—that’s a man doing that—I’m not a man (laughter) but that’s a man doing it. Can a man give birth? Why is a man acting like a woman who is giving birth? Why is a man acting like a woman that is in such great labor? And He says, 6 ‘Ask now, and see If a male can give birth. Why do I see every man With his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? And then He answers it and He says, 7 ‘Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of (who’s distress?) of Jacob’s distress. Who is Jacob? Jacob is Israel. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel the night that he wrestled with God. And here was a man that was all messed up—that had messed up—that was a conniver, a schemer and that and God turned him around and made him the father of the twelve tribes of (what?) the twelve tribes of Israel or Jacob. It is the time of Jacob’s distress. But he will be saved from it. And He goes on to tell about this day. And in verse 10 He says, 10 ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘And do not be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will (what?) save you from afar And your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease. God’s sovereign. God’s in charge and you and I because of the great love with which He has loved us because I know that as He loved Israel with an everlasting love, He has loved me with an everlasting love because Eph. 1:3-5 says 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He (God) chose us in Him (in Christ) (when?) before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. And Ephesians goes on to say, and He does this also all according to the purpose of His will. So we rest. We can be quiet and we can be at ease. And He says, (Jer. 30:10) For I am with you. (Verse 10) And no one will make him afraid. (Verse 11) 11 ‘For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you (what?) I will not destroy you completely. I will not destroy you completely. (But what does He say?) But I will chasten you justly (Whom the Lord loves He [what?] chastens. He scourges every son whom He receives [Hebrews 12:6]). If you are without chastisement, if you are without discipline, then you are not a child of God. These are people that are chosen by God. This is God’s elect people. This is the one that He chose and brought to Himself. This is the one that has sinned, but this is the one that because God has loved them with an everlasting love, He’s going to restore. And I want to tell you something, you see the picture in Israel and if you know the New Testament and you put it all together, you can see it in your own life—you can see it in your own life. So He goes on to say, I will chasten you justly, And will by no means leave you (what?) unpunished.’ (Why?) because He’s God, because He’s God. Because He’s holy, because He’s righteous.

GOD EXPLAINS HIS DISCIPLINE OF THEIR SIN—THE WOUNDING AND THE HEALING. Then in vv. 12-17 what He does is He explains His discipline of their sin—the wounding and the (what?) the healing—the wounding and the healing. Back in Deuteronomy 32:39 He said, I am the Lord. I wound; I heal. I kill; I make alive. I am the Lord that does all these things. And He lets them know in (Jeremiah 30) verse 15, the last line—I have done these things to you. I have done these things to you. And yet He is going to judge those that were His rod of judgment.

GOD’S RESTORATION TO THE LAND and the CITY. And then He tells of the restoration to the land. He tells how I am going to restore you. And this is what I want you to see. He’s going to restore the city, look at verse 18. 18 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have compassion on his dwelling places; And the city will be rebuilt on its ruin, And the palace will stand on its rightful place. Listen precious ones, when you are in a conflict, when your mind is taking you back to failures and what was done to you and things of the past that you can never change—you can never change the past—you can never alter the past—but listen—the past is never to define you. You are never to live in the past. Paul says, Forgetting those things behind, I (what?) press forward towards the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:13-14) So we move from here—today—forward—not backwards. And so many people in the USA that call themselves Christians have been trained through psychology and stuff like that to go back to their past—to dredge it all up—to deal with it—NO! No. Let it go and go forward with the Lord and know that the Lord can heal. He says (v. 22), You shall be My people. I will be your (what?) God. If He’s going to be our God, is He going to be anything less than God in our lives? Is He going to be impotent? Is He going to be limited to where He is so that He can’t be bothered with you? I had a family member say, “I’m not as arrogant as you are to thing that you would talk to God about a parking place.” Well I talk to Him about a parking place. I talk to Him about my keys. I talk to Him about everything. And especially as you get older because you need to know where it is! You know, what did I do with it? And help me remember. But He says, “You’ll be My people. I’ll be your God.“ I mean, what more could you ask for? What more can I ask for than to be the people of God and to have God be my God?

TEMPEST OF THE LORD. Then He talks about the tempest of the Lord. 23 Behold, the tempest of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping tempest; It will burst on the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and until He has accomplished The intent of His heart; In the latter days you will understand this. (Jeremiah 31) 1 “At that time,” declares the Lord, 1 “At that time,” there is no chapter break here. 1 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My (what?) people.” I just want to tell you that I have a tendency to think that when He’s talking about the tempest and the wrath going forth, I think you could project it into the future and into the days of the Tribulation that are yet to come. Because at that time, He will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be His people.” So it seems to me to have a future. You can just think about that. You can just put it in your mind and think about it.

TIMELINE OF JACOB’S DISTRESS AND RESTORING, REBUILDING AND REGATHERING. Now what I want to do is I want to stop at this point—we’ve jumped through Jeremiah 30—but I want to stop with you and I want to put the time of Jacob’s distress on a timeline. I want to put the time of the rebuilding and the city being rebuilt and the palace being rebuilt—I want to put it on a timeline. A timeline for you just possibly to get in your mind and to think about. So we are way back here. And we are pre-586 BC. We are pre-that – 593 BC – somewhere in here. 586 BC is when the temple is going to be destroyed. So this is when the temple is going to be destroyed and I want to take us all the way –it’s a wavy line—all the way to the so to speak “end of time” and put on here the “new heaven” and the “new earth.” So you just want to write this at the end of page: “The new heaven and the new earth.” Okay? Then, what I want us to do is I want us to go from this time where there is the destruction and I’m just going to put the fire because it’s the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Zedekiah will be the king of Israel at the time when this happens. I want us to go over here to just before a time when God is going to set up His kingdom. So I’m going to put a throne here. So this is the time when God is going to rule on the face of the earth.