Monthly Archives: August 2017

Jeremiah= Chapter 31 (Part 2)

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We left off at Jeremiah 31:22.markers

Jeremiah tells those who are taken into captivity by Babylon to leave markers on their travels on their way into Babylon so they can follow them back to Jerusalem upon their release 70 years hence. This is a very rare occurrence for anyone mentioned per travels in the Bible.  In America when pioneer travelers ventured west, it was common to do the same thing in order to mark and follow the trails others used to get out west. We can also see the spiritual implication; a roadmap. The very same markers of life that lead us into spiritual captivity will also tell us not only how we got into a spiritual backslide, but also what needs to be done to return to a good relationship with God and Jesus.

God assures his chosen people that eventually (End Time) he will do something different in order to bring them back under his shepherding and their worship of him. His comparison is “as a woman protecting (encompassing) a man from harm instead of the traditional man protecting the women activities” [v22].

We might make note here that when the ten northern tribes were dispersed by the Assyrians, every man, woman and child was removed from their home land. None were left behind. In this situation of the dispersion of the southern tribe and Kingdom of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar did leave behind a remnant, mostly consisting of the very poor. These were primarily the Hebrew (Jews) people remaining in Judah 600 years later at the beginning of the New Testament who have now resettled the land and becoming a nation once again in 1948. A remnant did return from Babylon but it was less than 1% of those taken into captivity.

If anyone is deluded into thinking that modern day Israel will ever give up Jerusalem to Islam or Arab *Palestinians, they totally miss God’s plan for them. Jerusalem will eventually, if not already, the focal point of global politics and world nations putting pressure on Israel to give it to Islamists. IT WON”T HAPPEN! Keep in  mind Isaiah 1:26…”I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”

*We must note for the knowledge and understanding of each reader, Palestine is a name of a place, not a people. This means anyone living within the area called Palestine is Palestinian. For political purposes alone, this is why history revisionists and media sources try to convince us that a certain group of Arabs are the only Palestinians. Not true! Anyone living within these boundaries, just as is true of Americans, s/he is soon an American. Those who live in Jordan are Jordanians, but also called Arabs.

consquences

Jeremiah has it correct in Lamentations where he writes.., [Lamentations 5:7] “our ancestor (fathers of old) have sinned thus we suffer the consequences of those sins.” Jeremiah 31:27 is a clear End Time, road to passage, and promise to Israel.

“The days are coming,” in that time says the LORD, “when I will help the family of Israel and Judah to grow. I will help their children and animals to grow too…” [ERV].

This passage in Jeremiah (31:29-31) is from where this writer gets the statement, “the old testament is about a nation; the New Testament is about individuals (paraphrased).  ”People (N.T.) will die for their individual sins no longer suffering the consequences of the ancestral family or sin of their fathers.” But once again we are assured this is a future prophecy since verse 31 addresses both the people of the Northern Kingdom (ten lost Tribes) and the Judeans Jews.

It isn’t redundant but it makes a solid point to repeat in verses 32 and 33 we read “This message is from the Lord.” It add authority since in is upon his own name he makes this oath. No longer will it be a matter of faith (v33). No one will need to teach family, neighbors or friends about God. He will write it upon their heart. In short, they no longer will have a choice of faith. They will know. This is the true meaning of the Hebrew word “yadda.”

Jeremiah 31:34b… (in-part) “I will forgive them for the evil things they did. I will not remember their sins.” But it gets even better. We now have a window of insight into the eventual activities of Satan (Book of Daniel and Revelation; End time events of the anti-Christ). God declares to Israel that if he does not fulfill his exclusive and specific promises to Israel (all Tribes of Jacob/Israel) then his upholding them as a people will be nullified [v36, v37]. He even puts forth the challenge that the heavens are too expansive to be searched/measured and the depths of the earth cannot be explored by man. However, if they can be searched out, then his covenants with Israel will no longer exist. This is precisely why Satan tries to change God’s creation during the Tribulation. It is his only chance and he knows it quite well.

This is ifanother example of “If you _____; then I _____.” Verses 38 – 40 tell us the exact marking posts and border of the New Jerusalem to come; the one John of Patmos discusses in (Revelation 21:1). The city that Jeremiah is told of is a city that will not only be spacious and well outside of its borders of today or Old Testament times, but both “holy to the Lord,” that is, freed from all pollutions, and everlasting ( Joel 3:17 Joel 3:20 , Revelation 21:2 Revelation 21:10 Revelation 21:27

Chapter 32 is a continuation of End Time statements and promises or covenants with Israel as a total people.

Rev. Dr. Jstark August 2017

Jeremiah – Chapter 31 (Part 1)

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Dr. JNOTE: Jeremiah 31 is a rather long chapter and covers much so it will be divided into two parts. This is part 1.end time.jpg

Chapter 30 to 33 is eschatological; i.e. End Time centered.  It is about ISRAEL and God’s promise to forgive them in the end for betraying HIM as a people and as a nation. Remember that the Old Testament is about a nation (Israel) and the New Testament is about individuals. God is the husband of Israel and Jesus is the husband of the church of believers. This distinction is seldom taught but straight out of scripture.

(God) Husband of Israel – Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14; Hosea 2:16.

(Jesus) Husband of the New Testament church – II Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7-9.

CAUTION: There are several references to the God-head husband in Revelation but read it with due caution. Most of the references in Revelation is a reminder and promise of God as husband to Israel/Jerusalem; not Jesus and the church of believers.

The very first verse in Jeremiah 31 is specific… (ESV) “At that *time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.” A side note: God is not talking about the church. He is specific in that it is God of all the clans of Israel. The dichotomy of the realm of Jesus and the Father God is in the words used. They are distinct yet in most ways, parallel. Parallel does not mean the same path. This is often argued by those who don’t fully understand why the Old Testament Covenants are Israel and the New Testament Covenants do not nullify the O.T. Covenants, rather they are specific to born again individuals.

*That time is a continuation of chapter 30 being a prophetic view for Israel and End Time. This is covered in verses 1-9. God assures his people that in That Time, he alone will protect their existence and they will not be eliminated from populating the earth.

Israel has been an unfaithful wife but Jeremiah 31:3 is specific. “I (God) have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” God continued his love for Israel even when she abandoned him over and over. An Old Testament and very specific example of this relationship is the life of Hosea (Hosea 1:2-4). Hosea is a God-given example of his relationship with Israel. It is THE THEME of the entire Book of Hosea. If space allowed, which it doesn’t, this would be a good time to give a review of Hosea but the reader/student can do this on his or her own.

Verse 5: Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit.

Verse 8: I will bring them from the North Country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. (Here being Jerusalem).

Is there any reason to attempt to spiritualize these verses??? NONE, but history and bible revisionists attempt to warp its obvious meaning. These verses are straight forward and must be taken as God intended Jeremiah to present them to the captive Judeans now in or under Babylonian control. However, the problem comes in when we misunderstand that God is not talking about 70 years later when Daniel reminds the King Cyrus (the Mede) of the promised release and return. God is telling Jeremiah about a time even today is yet to come. Watch the news today and study the Apocalyptic End Times. We are extremely near this time if not one foot not already in the doorway. Everything is in place even as you read this article.

We know that this TIME has not yet occurred as the promises found in Jeremiah 31:9, 10 & 11 have not yet happened. Israel and Judah have yet to reunite as a single identity of people even though Gentiles have corrupted their identities by calling all of them Jews. The word Jews is never mentioned in the Bible until the nation of Israel has divided and the King of the Northern Ten Tribes prepares to go to defend itself from the “Jews” of Judah [I Kings 12:24]. This is the first time in scripture the word “JEW” is ever used. However, and depending on which Bible translation is referenced, some scholar’s point to II Kings 2:6 where most of the translations correctly use the name “Jew” as an identity of the Tribe of Judah.

The next several verses in Jeremiah 31 continue to explain (Prophecy) how God will reunite all of Israel (descendants of Jacob) and what will be waiting for them via God’s own hand. Note that the church is never mentioned or even indicated to be a part of any of this eventuality. This is God’s Covenant with his chosen. Jesus’s followers have a similar but different Covenants. In short, this is when God intervenes in world events and returns his blessing upon his chosen sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The world (other nations) will recognize this fact and whatever the New Covenant God enacts with ISRAEL, we can only speculate.

Jeremiah 31:17 makes it totally clear; “There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country.” We are discussing a covenant with Israelis here, not just Judean Jews. Why hope in the future and not then? Verse 18 explains this if one understands how an unruly or untrained calf is treated by their shepherd; one that continues to violate the “rules of the shepherd” and repeatedly wanders off. The shepherd will break the leg of the animal making it totally dependent upon the shepherd to carry it. This is what Hosea points out with his prostitute wife exemplifying how Israel treats their God-husband. God will need to break the leg of Israel in End Time so that she can do absolutely nothing on her own. They will then realize there are totally dependent upon their God (shepherd).hope

Verse 21 of Jeremiah 31 is of particular insightfulness. It hints of other bible passages and promises being fulfilled. “There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country.” There is hope for Israel but it will be many generations later and through their children’s children. For there is a new thing on earth that God has or was about to initiate. Most commentaries avoid discussing it but we will offer suggestions; i.e. V22 “and woman will encompass a man.”

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, “encompass” means: to completely go around; group a task or tasks; a thick fog; encircle. Encompass: sâbab (H5437)

  1. Some translations state that a woman will protect a man. But, is this a “NEW THING” as stated in verse 22? Doubtful as even back in the time of Jacob when he had issues with his twin brother Esau, the women lead their return and reunion upon the death of their father Isaac. In a sense, they lead the way to protect Jacob from the fury of Esau.
  2. The control phrase is “God is creating a NEW THING on earth.” In a world that had traditionally held women at bay and in a sense, servitude, God is going to bring women to the forefront; beginning a form of dominance over their male counter-part.
  3. Some commentaries see this as a hint of the Virgin Mary bringing Jesus into the world by birth. This could mean that the strategy of God has now officially changed. He is moving from a nation to individual relationships with the God-head. That is shifting from the Old Testament concepts of Judaism to the New Testament relationship between God (Jesus) and mankind.
  4. In the spiritual relationship which the prophet has in view, this male/female relationship will now begin to be inverted. Israel, the erring but repentant wife, shall woo her Divine husband. The history of Gomer in Hosea 2:14-20 again presents a striking parallel. A like inversion of the normal order is indicated, though with a different meaning. Men traditionally woo the woman.
  5. Israel will eventually press herself to her God-husband and seek him out for eternity.
  6. Personally, this author sees it as the beginning of role reversal. This is very evident in today’s society and cultures with exceptions like in Islam. Men have defaulted to women to take leadership roles, head of households, guiding the man instead of the man guiding his family and wife.

This is an oft debated verse. We leave it to your discretion and interpretation as to its meaning. It is there so it is something that God intends us to grasp. It most likely suggests that someday God will make things on earth as different as a woman controlling man; role reversals

miniJimRev. Dr. Jstark

 

Jeremiah Chapter 30

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Jeremiah is finally told to “ what he has seen and heard in a book” [30:2] Thus, we get the book of Jeremiah. Take note of the specificity at the beginning of verse 2…”Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:…” [ESV]. This is not just God speaking to people on earth but HE is specifically identified as THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL. HE identifies himself as the God of Israel. Recall that Israel; i.e. the Kingdom of…” has not existed for over 120 years yet God identifies himself as speaking to all of Israel; not just Judah. This is our first hint of what will follow in this chapter; one people reunited as a nation. What Jeremiah is told to write about is future tense; the two sticks of Ezekiel 37:16.

Verse 3 expands this thought. [ESV] “For behold days are coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people.”  Jeremiah has now gone beyond the sorrowful days confronting the Judean Tribe in captivity in Babylon. It is of particular value to understand the wording. God says, I will BRING THEM BACK to the land promised to their fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). He isn’t going to send them back, but LEAD THEM BACK. This suggests that God is present when this happens. This also suggests it will occur at the end of the Tribulation when Christ returns to the Mount of Olives as their Messiah. Later verses in this, and the next three chapters, underscore this eschatological view or window into which we can peer into the window of the future.

Again, in verse 4 both Israel and Judah are mentioned together. Israel (Kingdom of) has long been gone. The ten tribes are dispersed into the hinterlands of no-man’s lands by the Assyrians and natural wanderings or exile exploring which Israelis are very good at doing. The Judeans in Babylon MUST RETURN FIRST as Christ is to be born in Bethlehem, Judea another 500 years after Jeremiah. Jesus is of the Tribe of Judah. This means chapter 30 must be taken as a distant prophecy of things to come LONG after the70 years in Babylon have past. Jeremiah has shifted from his concerns over his fellow Judeans to things in a far distant future. It is called eschatology. God instructed him to specifically “write this down.” Why write? It is for our sake and understanding today.

However, the Judean Jews (Tribe of Judah) will go through more troublesome times far beyond this captivity in Babylon. Other nations will despise them, attack them, and try to humiliate them, push them around from exile to exile, execute them, and turn on them as a group. This is the punishment of a nation of God’s chosen who continually fall back into wanting things other than God.  The worse is yet to come via the second half of the Tribulation called the Great Tribulation or Jacob’s Trouble [Jeremiah 30:7].

Thinking back, when Jacob was born, he had a hold of his non-identical twin brother Esau’s heel; an issue or omen of conflict that has never been solved and won’t be until the coming of Jesus to establish “His Kingdom on Earth.” This blog is not the time or place to take us back to some of the original passages in Genesis that underscore this conflict but don’t let this stand in one’s way of personally searching it out.

God does make a promise (covenant) at this moment with Jeremiah listening and writing. God says that he will “save Jacob (Israel as a twelve tribe nation) out of it.” That doesn’t bode well for the Gentiles of this time however. There will be panic but not for the true believers. The only church of believers (not an institution), will already be raptured. We can’t return with Christ to rule with him if we are still here on planet earth during this time.

Verse 8 tells us exactly what will happen when God brings his people back to the whole Promised Land in which they will enter the New Jerusalem; 1,400 miles by 1,400 miles (Revelation 21:16). Israel at present is only 9.3 miles wide at its narrowest point between the west bank and the Mediterranean Sea. It is only 263 miles from south to north. Israel is about the size of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

“I will break the yoke from the necks of the people of Israel and Judah, and I will break the ropes holding you. People from foreign countries will never again force my people to be slaves…” (ERV).

Jeremiah 30:10 is a great help toward deeper understanding and perspective. In the ERV it states that it will be “their descendants” who will be *saved and returned to the Promised Land. This makes it even clearer that this goes well beyond the 70 year captivity and their eventually ‘small in number’ return to Jerusalem. Well over 98% of the captives still alive or born during the Babylonian captivity opt to remain in this territory; not return to Judah with Zerubbabel or Ezra upon the decree of Cyrus the Great for their release. Even Daniel remains in Babylon and does not return to Jerusalem.

*However, it does not mean their immediate descendants. This chapter and the next three; 31, 32, and 33 are eschatology chapters. This reference is to a far future generation. Chapters 30 – 33 are the perpetuity of Israel. Other nations will vanish (by name) but Israel will be here.

Although Israel (Kingdom of) and Judah (Kingdom of) are mentioned multiple times, they are addressed in the singular; a people once again united in End Time and not scattered throughout the world.  God scattered them. He will reunite them but this time around he will change their hearts and be THEIR God and them HIS people.

Due to the greatness and constant or repeated rejection of God, opting for things over him, religious symbolism versus worship, God brought this judgment upon them. As New Testament Christians we must learn from this. Even though we see many banners and signs reading “Gods is Love,” this example of Israel also tells us that God is also just (justice) and will hold his children accountable. Yes, God is love, but that does not mean turning a blind eye toward our sins in perpetuity. There is a limit. We will be disciplined if we continue down a path of self-destruction and ignorance of God’s Word. Blessed are the poor in spirit, meaning they do not have the resources to grow in knowledge, but we do not have that excuse if even just reading this website.

The yoke referred to in chapter 30 is the oppression of other peoples (Gentiles) over the Israelites throughout history; even to this very day. Verse 11 specifically states that God will destroy these “oppressing” people, “I will not destroy you.” However the last part of verse 11 also reads, “You must be punished for the bad things you did, but I will discipline you fairly.”

Jeremiah 30:12-15 underscore the perpetual wound or sore, perhaps omen, the Tribes of Israel carries with them. It cannot be healed under present circumstances. What Jeremiah is actually suggesting is that Israel has made many agreements with other nations, but these same nations turn a blind eye toward Israel’s continual blights and contentions with the world around them. This recognition or distinction of Israel apart from other people came from a prayer Moses offered up 800 plus years earlier when the Israelites were wandering in the Wilderness. Exodus 33:16, 17 explains this beginning point. Moses is in one of his “Tent Meetings” with God. Moses asked God:

“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.  For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

God replies, (v17) “this very thing that you have spoken I will do…” From this point forward to this very day, Israelites have been unique. Persecuted for this identity for which Moses asked of God to make them, “so we are distinct.” God basically answered Moses by saying, “Okay, if this is what you want I will grant this also” (JIV).

We need to mention something here since this chapter and the next three are eschatological chapters. In verse 14 of Jeremiah 30, Israel and Judah are correctly accused of being “lovers” of other nations and their not so godly customs. They compromise accepting political correctness as okay. God points out that these lovers desert them without blinking an eye. Again, since this chapter and the following three are End Time prophetic chapters, we can see in the news today how people and nations are once again aligning against the very existence of Israel. As long as other nations can get something for their troubles of aligning with Israel, they will hang around. Once that leeching ends, they abandon Israel; back in the time of Jeremiah and again in End Time. This is why God identifies Israel as a prostitute.

Jeremiah 30:16 once again shows an eye for an eye…God says these nations that abandon Israel will get the same thing in return. 16c… “…all who prey on you I (God) will make (them) prey.” [emphasis mine].

Do we wonder in which direction the modern day debates over who owns and will occupy Jerusalem will ultimately go? Jeremiah 30:18 answers this without opinion. “Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt on its mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be.” The nation of Israel will once again be in charge of all Jerusalem and all of the Promised Lands. We do not have any need to be concerned as God has spoken. Israel is his people of End Time. As Moses asked in Exodus 33:16, 17, so it will be.

Let’s conclude this article with the last sentence at the end of chapter 30… “In the latter days, you will understand.”

miniJim

Rev. Dr. Jstark August, 2017

Jeremiah – Chapter 29

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And the beat goes on… Jeremiah 29:11 is one of those controversial and taken out of context verses. Jeremiah empowered by God’s promises to Israel is speaking of Israel in this verse using as present and far-future tense. Using the YLT (Young’s Literal Translation) it reads:

29:11… “For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking towards you–an affirmation of Jehovah; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give to you posterity and hope.”

continue

more to come…

 

Let’s however begin with the 29:1 then explain the controversy of verse 11 a bit later.

Jeremiah laments that he is “left in Jerusalem” while his brethren and fellow Judeans have been taken as captives to Babylon. The royalty, skilled labor/craftsmen, and the brightest of the youth (including Daniel) have been removed to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar hopes to leverage their skills, contacts, and *governing potentials. These are mostly men of value to any economy, politics, and society.

*Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego became government officials of Babylon. So did many others whose names have not been recorded in scripture.

King Jehoiachin and the royal leaders/family are no long residents of Jerusalem and never will be again. This includes a truck load of prophets, priests, and religious leaders. Jehoiachin’s (aka: Jeconiah) uncle Zedekiah is placed on the throne in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.  This eventually becomes another issue for Nebuchadnezzar but we will address it later in our study. A letter is sent to Nebuchadnezzar and the captives in Babylon that points out that it was God who allowed ol’ Neb to even capture Israel and the people of Jerusalem…”Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem unto Babylon.”  In a very real sense, this letter reminds all of them that Jeremiah warned and they refused to listen. He (God) is also putting Nebuchadnezzar on notice. We find this in the Book of Daniel.

Basically God tells these captives to dig in and thrive because they will be there for quite a while (70 years). God even explains that HE does not want their numbers to diminish but increase while there.  Let’s go back several lessons for a minute. God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the Promised Land. It included a much greater territory than they ever conquered or occupied through the Judges, Saul, David and Solomon, and the divided kingdoms; about 800 years by this time. He promised that if they follow and worship him, HE will expand their borders. Well, Israel did not follow God but God is not slack in his covenants in either the Old or the New Testaments.

The Assyrian captivity and dispersion of the northern Kingdom of Israel 120 years earlier spread these people into lands that were to be Israel’s if they kept their end of the covenant. They didn’t. So they (Judean-Israelites) do occupy the land but are not rulers within them the same is true of the southern borders of the covenant with Israel. Sooooo, Babylon takes them captive moving large numbers of Judean-Israelis east of their small homeland. By doing so, they now occupy lands God had promised them; BUT…they are not rulers within this territory.  God actually tells his chosen people to work with not against their captives. He tells them to pray to him for the welfare of their captivity people in Babylon. WOW!

prefer liesAt the same time God through this letter and Jeremiah once again cautions these Judeans to not lend listening ears to the false doctrines and prophecies of those within their midst. Go back to our article on chapter 28 and re-read how Jeremiah dealt with on of them named Hananiah. It cost him his life for his false statements. You can believe several of these false prophets moved with them into captivity. God had ill plans for them but they are not recorded in scripture. Prophesying is one thing but to do so (lie) in God’s name….!!!! (See 29:21 to 26; 30 to 32). God will deal with all false teachers of the Old Testament and today per the New Testament. Vengeance is HIS!

Now we get into the controversial discussions of Jeremiah 29:; i.e. verses 10, 11, and 12. Here they are in the ESV:

Jer 29:10   “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

Jer 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jer 29:12  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

The primary issue is that it appears according to history as we know it, God did NOT make things better for them. Fact is, they got even worse after returning to Jerusalem 70 years later. There were the Greeks, Romans, Turks (Ottomans), WW I, WW II, Arabs and eventually Islamists. So where is the promised prosperity? This is where one must understand that God is referring to a distant future meaning when Jesus returns and sets up his millennial kingdom in Israel. Things are still going to get even worse for these people, i.e. Jacob’s Trouble in the latter half of the Great Tribulation. That is at least 2,700 years in the future from this time Jeremiah is lettering.

Author and blogger Mary DeMuth has another worthy opinion. She says, Jeremiah 29:11 Doesn’t Mean What You Think. As she explains, “the heart of the verse is “not that we would escape our lot, but that we would learn to thrive” in the midst of it.” There is some value to her thoughts but the fact is Jeremiah is referencing a prophecy yet to be fulfilled even today.  Of course this is not what the new captives wanted to hear. They wanted to make it a short tenure in Babylon then return to the “prosperity” of their home in Judah. Therefore, it is easy to conclude that they didn’t even fulfill this commandment; i.e. to pray for the prosperity of Babylon, not just their personal health and wealth. Most of those taken into captivity would die during the 70 years. (More on this in a later blog)

Dr. Coffman puts it: “The crowd of false prophets similar to Hananiah were circulating the same falsehoods in Babylon; and the letter in this chapter was written by Jeremiah in order to counteract and frustrate the evil campaign of the false prophets.”  It is no easy task to accept what one does not want and then learn how to live with it in praying for the prosperity of one’s enemies; in this case, the Babylonians.

Jeremiah 29:14 makes verse 11 clearer and more obvious. God restates that he will regather all of Israel from all of the nations where they have and continue to this day to be scattered. What is the condition? ”When you finally decide to follow me” says God. This explains the WHY in the second half of the Great Tribulation; aka: Jacob’s Trouble. God needs to FORCE these bull-headed people into finally accepting and seeking HIM.

God even tells these exiles, through Jeremiah, that those who remain in Jerusalem, the poor farmers and undesired of Nebuchadnezzar, he will (verses 17-19) bring upon them the things that later bible writers like Daniel and John of Patmos (Book of Revelation) prophesied; pestilence, the great sword, make them a horror, a curse, burden and reproach  to “all” other nations. We see this in the daily news today. It is a prophecy yet to be completed. This is another example of this author’s often noted statement… “God says, if  you ____, then I will ____.

Today we are at the threshold of seeing this Jeremiah 29:11. We are opening the door of this End Time history soon to be played out. It is all around us; nation against nation (meaning territorial and political fighting) and kingdom against kingdom (meaning political, racial, religious, petty family feuds, political and literal fighting and sabotage, fake news, spreading of the soon to be southern kingdom of Daniel prophesies; i.e. Islam, border wars, … You name it. This is what the passage in Matthew 24:6 means when correctly translated.

miniJimDr. J. Stark

August 2017