Jacob, I will save you

Jacob, I will save you

 

Jeremiah 30:1-11

 

Jeremiah 30-33 is called the ‘Book of Comfort.’ The Lord promises the restoration of Judah and the people of Israel. However, the time of restoration will come only after the time of severe punishment has been fulfilled.

 

God says, ‘I will bring my people when the time is right,’ and tells Jeremiah to write those words down in a book. The record (book) is a guarantee that He will accomplish that task. But before that there will come a sad and terrible time of trouble, when even strong men will suffer like women in childbirth. Only after enduring the harsh winter can we finally welcome the spring of salvation.

 

God says that he will save Jacob by breaking the yoke from his neck and cutting off his chains. Hananiah made the same prophecy before, but the context was completely different. The time for Israel to be restored is not after two years as Hananiah claims, but after the 70 years of punishment have been completed. The people of Judah will now be punished according to the law, but when that day comes, they will live in peace and safety, serving the Lord, not idols, and serving David's descendants as kings, not foreign kings.

 

He punishes Israel and Judah with the heart of a father who spares no effort in disciplining his children. But he also calls them ‘my people’ and says he will definitely save them. Both discipline and restoration are God's ways of showing love. Are you not repenting of your sins and just seeking restoration in your life? Discipline is also love, so let’s accept it happily and quickly turn away from the wrong direction in life.

 

Salvation means changing the object of service (verses 8, 9). Salvation is for the people who were under the yoke of the Babylonian king to serve God and serve David's descendant as king. Nowadays, depending on who we serve, we can enjoy peace and stability, or we can cry out in violence and pain. Let us not live as slaves of money, chasing greed, but as servants of Jesus Christ who bore the cross.

 

Let us become Christians who bear the yoke of the Lord and serve only the Lord!

 

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