The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: 4 They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.
5 “For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the Lord. 6 Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them. 7 No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. 8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 “And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12 and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
The Lord Will Restore Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.
16 “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18 But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
19 O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of trouble,
to you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,
worthless things in which there is no profit.
20 Can man make for himself gods?
Such are not gods!”
21 “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.” Jeremiah 16 ESV
Jeremiah 16: 14-21 The Lord Will Restore Israel
14-15. When it shall no longer be said, as the Lord lives Who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt - David in the Psalms, Isaiah, Moses in the Pentateuch, often refer back to this example of God's redemption of Israel. The Jewish Passover is a celebration commemorating this time, when the angel of death passed over the houses, whose door posts, were marked with the blood of the Passover lamb. This will always be remembered, but no longer as a sole account of Israel's release from bondage. God is true to His word, and His covenant with Abraham was a unilateral and everlasting covenant, so He will have a remnant always set apart for Himself from this people.
Out of the north country - The northern kingdom had been taken by Assyria and the north is the direction of approach upon the city of Jerusalem. Babylon would be the new captors of Judah, and this would encompass all of what Assyria had taken and then some. People would have fled to Egypt, been taken and dispersed also to the north and east. When Israel was led out of Egypt by Moses, they were still a rather localized, close knit community. Egyptians looked down upon Hebrews so there was separation, but now Israel is dispersed in two siege campaigns, northern Israel during the Assyrian rule and now Judah to Babylon. Isaiah has predicted their release from captivity by Cyrus, a Persian king who will come some 100 years after Isaiah's prophecy, and Daniel learns of the duration of Babylonian captivity through reading the works of Jeremiah. He finds out it will be 70 years which corresponds to the seventh year at which time Israel was commanded to let the land rest, a Sabbath year for the land, and for 490 years they did not follow this command. They found out that God didn't speak just to hear His own voice, but that what He spoke He meant to be carried out in quite literal fashion, and now the land would get that rest, 70 years of back pay. God ensured this happened.
…20Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah. 2 Chronicles 36: 20-21
16-18. Behold, I am sending for many fishers - "Behold", in other words, pay attention. Now an interesting part of God's covenant with Abraham, was that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, and this referring to the Seed promised in the garden, the Messiah, God the Son, adding to His deity, humanity. Also, it says, that through Abraham's offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed. How can God make this happen with such a defiant people? Well, they didn't let the land lie fallow, and yet in captivity the land laid fallow. They recorded the words of God, were the keepers of the sacred writings and through them their neighbors learned of God's displeasure with sin, and that even whom He loveth, He also chaseneth. Daniel was a bold witness for God in Babylon, and we will go deeper there when I get to that book, but lets look to something even further reaching.
…16saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, 17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. 18And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”… Genesis 22: 16-18
Many fishers - Most of Jesus' disciples were from Galilee, and they were fishermen by trade. I am not just pointing this out because I like to fish, these men were a different breed of fishermen, it was not only fish they brought to the table, but it provided their bread, money for other expenses, their livelihood. They literally leave all this to follow Him, their means of provision, what they know. Those of a more reformed, covenant theology sort of background, will have to acknowledge that this was God's will and purpose before these men were ever born, He chose them. And this has farther reaching implications than just the time of the Apostles. Israel being called out of Babylon back to their homeland is foretold, but it is a shadow of greater things to come. There is a bondage that living in the promised land doesn't cure, it turns out to be just a change in geographical location, because there is a spiritual bondage, a state of being dead in one's trespasses and sins that geography does not change, lineage does not cure. Now, the same God that sends for Babylon to capture them, "net them", is the same that provides ransom for them, and also those ministers that will take the gospel out to them.
“The ‘fishers’ would first net the big haul, presumably a reference to deportation, to be followed by ‘hunters’, who would ferret out the individual survivors.” (Cundall)
…55“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!… 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20And at once they left their nets and followed Him.… Matthew 4: 18-20
I will send for many hunters - No one escapes God's punishment, and it says, "their iniquity is not concealed from my eyes." Just as the prophets hid during the days of Jezebel, Manasseh and at other times, in clefts and caves, now the people that persecuted or did not stand up for those being treated so, they will receive the same. It is interesting later, after the time of Jesus earthly ministry, with His initial twelve, one is called to be an Apostle to the gentiles. Saul of Tarsus is a hunter of men, Christians in particular, he was a Pharisee and they considered the Jews that had turned to Christ as Messiah, traitors, they believed it to be a heretical sect, a cult. He was a licensed hunter, under commission of the religious rulers to bring Christians to trial, and to stone blasphemers. He held the cloak of Stephen in his hand as they martyred him. He saw the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, and his life was never the same, not even his name. God's covenant with Abraham was unilateral, God was the initiator and the upholder, and the ultimate satisfaction for both sides. Through the ministry of the apostles, the gospel went out to all peoples, Jew and gentile alike. God accomplishes His requirements through men.
15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. 17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”… Romans 1: 15-17
…18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”… Matthew 28: 18-20
…11On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, and the adversaries of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will no longer envy Judah, nor will Judah harass Ephraim.… Isaiah 11: 11-13
To You shall the nations come - What is your expectation of the future? If you have read scripture then you can see that God has said He will restore Israel, and has demonstrated it in Egypt, from Babylon, Persia, and all over the world. Look at the holocaust, whenever the nations have tried to prove God wrong, they have gone after His people. He has used the nations as a threshing floor to separate His wheat from the chaff, but those whom He has named, who are a gift to His Son, that remnant is always preserved. He has also promised that through them the nations would be blessed, God even has a remnant amongst the gentiles, and he has sent the gospel out to all the corners of the world. During the millennial reign Christ will rule over all the nations and they will turn to Him as Lord. Jesus is coming back, that is what the future holds. God is keeper of this covenant so it is in the safest of hands.
Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies - Even now, watch, look closely, they are in a race to suppress the truth, to control media, to control what you hear and from who. They pass down the same regurgitated world views, systems that have been tried and failed, but this time they swear it will be different, destroying history so that you can't see that it is nothing new. One day many will see Jesus and grow tired of pounding their chest. These arm chair quarter backs will lay down their imaginary footballs.
“The thought of God’s proven reality, over against the phantom gods of heathenism, opens Jeremiah’s eyes to foresee the day when far-flung peoples will realize the hollowness of their religions and turn to the Lord.” (Kidner)
They shall know that My name is the Lord - How many gentiles have come to know the Lord through the witness of the gospel, the testimony of what Christ did on behalf of sinners.
“Expositors are divided as to whether the Jews or the Gentiles are meant here. Actually, what is said will apply to both; there is no need to exclude either one (cf. Ezekiel 36:23; 37:14).” (Feinberg)
…21Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’ ” 22This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. 23Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”… Isaiah 49: 21-23
…6For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God. 7“For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. 8In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.… Isaiah 54: 6-8
…7I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.” 8Thus declares the Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.” Isaiah 56: 7-8
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