Jeremiah 30

Hope

Write in a book...

Here we have the first indication in the Book of Jeremiah of the creation of the “Book of Jeremiah”.

Why is it important to write down?

Why is this book important?

Because of the immediate truth that the people of Jeremiah’s time needed. And the deeper truth, that they needed, and the whole world needs, that lies behind the book.

Write it in a book, says the Lord. Why are things written in books? So they can be remembered. For most of human history things were remembered largely through speaking and hearing. Oral transmission of stories and facts and of practical information. If you wanted to learn how to be a blacksmith you didn’t go look for a book on it- you found a blacksmith who told you how to do it.

Literate people were not common. Scrolls and parchments and ink were all expensive, and the time needed to copy them was extensive. So only things that very much needed to be remembered - only the very most important things that would absolutely need to be remembered for longer than a generation or two and should not be changed or grow fuzzy with time- only those things were written down.

When the Lord tells Jeremiah to record his words in writing- that must have been a moment for Jeremiah...a moment of indication that, actually, his words were NOT just for this generation at this time, but that the Word of the Lord that had come to him had something in it that was for all people for all time.

And of course, writing it down also means that people later cannot say- oh you never said that. It enshrines the words of the speaker in a way that refutes those who would undermine their authority.

Jeremiah 30:3 “For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.””

The Lord is saying, 70 years from now, after everyone you know and even most of those being born now are gone and dead, I will restore the fortunes of my people, and because IT IS WRITTEN, they will know that I am the Lord and that my prophet, Jeremiah, spoke truly when he spoke in My name.

Doubtless this is one of the reasons why the book of Jeremiah was enshrined as Scripture as the Lord wanted and planned, because even though it is unsparingly brutal in its honesty as to how far Israel had fallen into sin and idolatry, there could be no doubting that it was a true prophecy because what the Lord said through Jeremiah would come true, DID come true.

Jeremiah 30:5–7 ““Thus says the Lord: We have heard a cry of panic, of terror, and no peace. Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale? Alas! That day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it.”

What day is being spoken of here? Men are holding their groins like women in labor? What does this mean? Labor of course entails suffering and pain, but it also holds tremendous promise of new life and joy.

And the Lord says a day is coming, a great day, such that there is none other like it. It is distressful for Israel, but Israel will be saved “out of it”.

Jeremiah 30:8–9 ““And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”

You might remember that the Lord at one point had ordered Jeremiah to wear a yoke around his neck as a symbol of the burden and guilt of sin that Israel was carrying and Hananiah the false prophet forced Jeremiah to take the yoke off and then he, Hananiah, broke the yoke. But the Lord told Hananiah that it was no use, that no matter what he did in point of fact it was a yoke of iron, unbreakable by human hands.

But the Lord can break the chains of sin. Of all peoples, everywhere. Some translations cover up this truth entirely that is spoken of in this passage. Let’s remind ourselves of God’s word to Jeremiah way back in the third chapter:

Jeremiah 3:17 “At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.”

Jeremiah 30:8–9 ““And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”

vs.

NIV- 30:8-9 SLIDE

“‘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. 9 Instead, they will serve the Lord their God     and David their king,     whom I will raise up for them.

David their King will be raised up. Who will be raised up? David? Can the dead be raised? Can these bones live?

Do you remember the first time that someone you put all your trust and faith in failed you? We all have those stories. Parents, spouses, close friends, children, at some point in life all of us put more hope, more faith, more trust in someone than their sinful souls can endure, and they fail us and the pain cuts deep. Because we want to be able to put all of our trust in someone and to never be disappointed. We want a savior, someone who can know us completely, love us perfectly, and yet not excuse our sins while loving us.

There is a whisper of such a person in the very bones of Creation, first alluded to in

Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

The woman will have a child who shall strike back against evil. It’s a whisper, nothing more, a subtle hint. Who is the child of the promise? Maybe it’s Seth. Seth who replaced Abel after Cain killed him. Eve seemed to have some hope in him, she named him ‘Seth’ which means one who is appointed or selected. But it was not Seth. Maybe it was Noah, a righteous man among the wicked, perhaps he would save humanity and defy evil. And in a way he did save humanity. But Noah and his family proved to have the same seeds of destruction in themselves as did everyone else in the end.

Would it be Abraham, a man called away from his family to serve, but he quickly proves to be all too fallen.

Maybe it would be Samuel who was born of prayer and dedication and whose mother gave him to the Temple to serve the Lord all the days of his life. But it was not Samuel. But Samuel found a young man, David. A man after God’s own heart. Maybe it would be David. But David proved to be lustful and violent as well. Maybe his son who would be a man of peace and wisdom? God promised David that it would be his lineage, his line that would rule forever in Israel. So, solomon, then? Even his name, Solomon, is derived from Shalom meaning wholeness, but Solomon proved to be wise but unable to save, dissipating his own wisdom in sexual lust and power.

And so on. Who would it be who could strike the serpent’s head? What child are we waiting for? What kind of child could possibly perfectly fulfill God’s Law and somehow redeem all of Israel and be a light to all the nations? How would that even be possible? Who could even imagine such a person? Could it be a resurrected David?

Acts 2:29–35 ““Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’”

Who is the child that is to come? It goes forth from the Lord like someone shouting a truth, a fact, into a deep canyon. It echoes, each time getting larger and more dramatic and it comes back to you several times, each time larger than the time before. Isaiah speaks of a suffering servant, Zechariah speaks of a King entering Jerusalem on a colt.

Until in Bethlehem a child is born, and the nations worship (the wise men from afar) and the shepherds perhaps representing the lineage of David, the Jewish people, give praise. They shall serve the Lord their God and David their King, Jew and Gentile together.

Jeremiah 30:10–11 ““Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with you to save you, declares the Lord.