Jeremiah 30:12

The Bible says in Jeremiah 30:12-14, “For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.” Israel had come to be in a terrible condition. God described their terrible condition by using symbolism to the types of suffering that can happen to human beings: to be in serious trouble with no one to speak up for you, having an incurable disease with no medicine to help, having no one to love you, and being wounded by a cruel enemy. All of these would definitely be among the great sufferings of life. Those who get terminal cancer know what it means to suffer. All of us know how wonderful it would be if someone would find a cure to cancer because it is so common to finish life with such a painful and discouraging trial. But at least many people who die in this way are surrounded by loved-ones at the end, and have the comfort of knowing that many care about them and have been praying for them. The Israelites had no such comfort. They were hated and are still hated. Almost all of the world hates them, except for a few Christians.

Why did the Israelites come to such a miserable existence? The answer to that question is stated very clearly in the last part of Jeremiah 30:14, “for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.” Sin is the problem. Sin is the number one problem of the human race. Sin is destructive. Sin must be dealt with. All human beings have a sin problem because all human beings are sinners. It says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The most important benefit of believing on Jesus is that He will take care of the sin problem because Jesus forgives sins and washes them all away.

Another benefit of believing in Jesus is that He will “plead” the cause of all of His children. To have Jesus as Savior means that He will save from a multitude of situations. He will save us from our sins. He will save us from the judgment of God. He will save us from the wrath of God. And He will always “plead” for us. He will stand up for us and proclaim that we are innocent and pure and clean and holy. He is our Mediator, our lawyer, and our advocate. It says in First John 2:1, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”

It says about the Israelites in the above passage in Jeremiah chapter 30 that “All thy lovers have forgotten thee.” That can never be said of a Christian because of how much Jesus will always love us. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son…” It says in First John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.” It also says in John 13:1, “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” It says in Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.[38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” How much better it is to live under the covenant of the new testament compared to living under the covenant of the old testament.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 30:15-17, “Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.[16] Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.[17] For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.” In these verses as well as in many others in the Bible sin is equated to disease. Another way of saying this is that the ravages of disease are symbolic of sin and the effects of sin. Just as disease harms and can destroy the body, sin harms and can destroy the soul. One of the reasons that Jesus healed sick people was to prove that He could forgive sin and heal the soul. The ultimate source of sickness and death is sin. If sin had not entered the world through the poor choice of human beings, there would be no sin or death. Of course, doctors and researchers and others in the medical profession go to great lengths to heal those that are sick and to hopefully find better treatments for every disease. We should all pray for their success in doing so. If it is important to heal every sickness that we can, then it is even more important to heal the sin-sickness of the soul. Thank God that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary for our sins so that He can heal all who believe in Him. As the Lord says in Jeremiah 30:17, “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 30:18-22, “Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.[19] And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.[20] Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.[21] And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.[22] And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” Once again God looks into the future past the sins of the Israelites and past the terrible judgment that would fall upon them, and the Lord talks about the final state of Israel and all other believers. The blessings are many and wonderful. Because of God’s mercy, all that was lost will be restored. This promise supercedes the principle of reaping what we sow. Mercy trumps everything. One of the promises in this passage that would be good to remember has to do with children. God said in Jeremiah 30:20, “Their children also shall be as aforetime.” If you love your children, one of the great sorrows of your life might be what happens to your children. Some Christian parents have seen their children go astray, and what a heartache that causes: to see many prayers and hopes dashed by the reality of another life drawn into the world’s destructive ways when it did not have to be. But God gives a promise that the day will come when all of that will be behind you along with all the other sorrows of life. For those of you who have lost your children, wouldn’t that be wonderful to be with them again before they were hurt and before the world got to them. God promises that such a day will come.

Another important truth to notice in Jeremiah chapter 30 has to do with exactly what takes place when a person comes to Christ. It says in Jeremiah 30:21, “and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.” The Lord said, “I will cause him to draw near.” Salvation is the work of Jesus Christ in the heart of the person that comes to Jesus. Jesus is the soul winner. Be careful of over-emphasizing the part that you play as a witness for Christ. They cannot believe unless they hear, and they cannot hear unless someone tells them the gospel, but salvation only takes place when God causes them to draw near.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 30:23-24, “Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.[24] The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.” It is interesting to note that the anger of God against sin is compared to a whirlwind. The word “whirlwind” is used twice. We know how much damage a strong can cause that brings a tornado with it. Notice also the other strong words used in these verses: “fury,” “pain,” and “fierce anger.” Jesus wants to save every soul, and He works in every heart and life to do that, but God hates sin. Because Jesus is the Holy Judge of the whole earth, He must punish sin. He gives everyone a very gracious and merciful opportunity to believe on Jesus and be saved, but that opportunity has its limit. Be careful what choice you make. The offer of mercy will end and the time of judgment will most assuredly come. Notice when God’s wrath against sin will have its most terrible manifestation. It says in Jeremiah 30:24, “in the latter days ye shall consider it.” We will understand, we will know, we will see, and we will “consider” the fierce anger of the Lord and the fury of the Lord in the latter days. That is what the last days will be all about. The end of this age of grace will usher in the time of the wrath of God against the sin and rebellion of man. It says in Revelation 19:11-16, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.[12] His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.[13] And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.[14] And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.[15] And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.[16] And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 31:1-2, “At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.[2] Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.” “At the same time,” meaning at the latter days after the great fury of God is poured out against sin, there will be a revival in Israel. In the age in which we live individual Jewish people can get saved through faith in Christ just as individual Gentiles can get saved through faith in Christ. It says in Romans 11:26, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:” It also says in Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” People get saved one at a time, but once in a while there is a great revival when many people turn to the Lord Jesus at approximately the same time. One of the greatest of these revivals will take place at the return of Christ when the whole nation of Israel will believe on Jesus.

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