Well, let us turn to the chapter
we've just read in Jeremiah 30, and turning in particular to
the words that we have here at verse 7. Jeremiah 30, verse 7. Alas, for that day is great,
so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Alas, for that day
is great, so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. To say something then
with regards to Jacob saved from his trouble, and as we think
of that salvation that comes to him in the time of trouble,
I want us to consider it from three perspectives. first of
all in the historical context and then secondly as we see it
very much as a word of prophecy and then finally coming to some
application to see how it relates to the experiences of the people
of God, the true Israel of God, the true seed of Jacob. First of all though to consider
the history that is being spoken of at this particular period.
How emphatic the vocabulary is! We have this word of interjection
at the beginning of the verse, alas! Here is something terrible that's
being declared, something awful to behold. It is the time of
trouble. And it was, of course, at that
time that the Prophet Jeremiah was God's servant, God's minister
to his ancient covenant people. It was the time of the captivity. We know that. As we see in verse
3, Lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again
the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord, and
I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their
fathers, and they shall possess it." Or they had been taken away
into exile. But God is assuring them that
He will yet restore them. Again at verse 10, Therefore
fear thou not, O My servant Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed,
O Israel, For lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed
from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and shall
be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid." But the situation that they're
in is a fearful situation. It was a terrible judgment that
God had visited upon them because of their sins and because of
their idolatrous ways. Another prophet says, the day
of the Lord is great and very terrible, who can abide it? How
could they abide that that had befallen them at this time? We
see how in Psalm 74 there is a lamenting of the situation.
At that particular time they cry out, we see not our signs. There were no signs to behold
of God's favor and God's blessing. because the Babylonians had come
and besieged Jerusalem, it had fallen, the temple had been razed
to the ground, the people had been carried away into exile. There were terrible things that
were transpiring at that particular period. And it's spoken of there
in the historic books of the Kings and of the Chronicles,
in 2 Kings chapter 24, for example, we read something of what happened. There in 2 Kings 24 and verse
11 we're told our Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against
the city and his servants did besiege it. And then at verse
13 he carried out then all the treasures of the house of the
Lord and the treasures of the kings out and cut in pieces all
the vessels of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the
temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And he carried away
all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor,
even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths,
and none remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
And he carried away Jehoiakim, to Babylon. And the king's mother,
and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the
land, those carried thee into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon."
That was the situation. These are the circumstances in
which Jeremiah is called to be the Lord's servant and to speak
to the people the word of the Lord. They were false prophets.
And he has to speak against those who were saying peace, peace
when there was no peace. Oh yes, God would grant restoration,
but it would be in God's time, not in their time. But here is
Jerusalem, laying now in ruins. And remember, what follows the
book of the prophecy, we have the lamentations of Jeremiah.
And there in the opening words of that book, out of the city
sits solitary. that was full of people, how
is she become as a widow? She that was great among the
nations and princess among the provinces, how is she become
tributary? And verse 4, the ways of Zion
do mourn, because none come to the solemn feast. All her gates
are desolate, her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and
she is in bitterness. Alas! for that day is great,
so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble." It was indeed a dreadful period in their history. And
two particular signs, you see, they say, we see not our signs.
One of the signs of God's favor and God's blessing, of course,
was what's spoken of as the Shekinah glory there in the tabernacle. Remember back in Exodus, right
at the end of the book of Exodus in chapter 40, where we read
of them erecting the tabernacle of the Lord, And then we read,
the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Now God descended
and God would be there in the holy of holies seated upon the
mercy seat, the glory of God in the midst of his people. But
now all of that was gone. God's glory had departed. And of course, We have it represented
in the ministry of Ezekiel who was another who was ministering
at the time of the captivity. He was ministering to those who
had gone away into captivity. And see how he speaks of the
departure of God's glory from Jerusalem there in Ezekiel chapter
10. Verse 18, Then the glory of the
LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, that is, the temple,
and stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their
wings and mounted up from the earth in My sight. When they
went out, the wheels also were beside them, and everyone stood
at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house. And the
glory of the God of Israel was over them above. the prophet
had seen that remarkable vision in the opening chapter of God's
throne and the wheels within wheels remember that remarkable
description that we have well here is that glory of God now
mounting up and moving away from the holy of holies and standing
at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house and then
later it follows that God moves himself even further away in
chapter 11 and verse 22. Then did the cherubims lift up
their wings and the wheels beside them and the glory of the God
of Israel was over them above and the glory of the Lord went
up from the midst of the city. and stood upon the mountain which
is on the east side of the city. So God has utterly departed.
It's interesting because He's moving in an easterly direction.
He's identifying Himself with those who have been taken into
exile. Oh, He has not altogether finished
with them, though He has sorely punished them because of their
idolatrous ways. Yet there will be a restoration,
but they They no longer have that sign of God's favour and
God's blessing in the midst of Jerusalem. We see not our signs,
the departure then of the glory, the Shekinah glory, but also
in the sense no sign in that there was no prophet. There was
no prophet. Again, the language of the Psalmist
in Psalm 74, there is no more any prophet. neither any that
know how long." Now, you might say, well, haven't I said that
Jeremiah and Ezekiel were prophets at that particular time? They
were. But these two prophets were removed from Jerusalem. We find Jeremiah sent to Egypt
later here in chapter 43. And there at verse 5 following, And Joannan the son of Cariar
and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah
that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven,
to dwell in the land of Judah, even men and women and children
and the king's daughters, And every person that Nebuchadnezzar
Adam, the captain of the guard, had left with Gedaliah, the son
of Ahiacham, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and
Baruch, the son of Neriah, who was the scribe to the prophet. And it says, So they came into
the land of Egypt, for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord. Thus
came they even to Tarpanhes. so even the prophets with his
other dignitaries he's taken away and he moved into Egypt
and of course he's equal and Daniel also they were prophets
but they were there with those who were in exile they were there
with those who were in the captivity in Babylon so there was no prophet
anymore in the Holy Lands no prophet anymore in Jerusalem
They have no signs of God's favour and God's blessing. Well, that
is something with regards to the circumstances and the situation
that pertains historically at the time when this man is pronouncing
these words. But they are prophetic words.
They are prophetic words. Observe just what it says in
this verse. It doesn't speak of this day.
Alas, for that day it says. That day is great, so that none
is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble. It points to the future. The
German commentator Keil says it is really a prophetic statement. It's a word of prophecy. of things
that were to come. And Dr. Gill, in his commentary,
speaks of a two-fold prophetic reference in these words. What
is the day that he's being spoken of? Well, Dr. Gill refers us
to the destruction of Jerusalem by Imperial Rome in the year
70. after the coming of Christ, after
the manner in which He'd come to His own, they'd not received
Him, they handed Him over to the Roman authorities, they crucified
Him. And they called for His blood
to fall upon them and their own children. And so it was in 70,
God sent a terrible destruction upon Jerusalem under the Roman
general Titus and the city Phalem, the Jews were scattered abroad. Well, Dr. Gill says it is that
day that he's being spoken of. But besides Imperial Rome, the
good Dr. Gill also says that the reference
here is to the troubles that come from from papal Rome upon
the true people of God. He sees it in terms of the persecutions
of the Antichrist. Now remember the words of the
Lord Jesus in the Gospel in Matthew 24 where the disciples draw his
attention to the buildings of the temple and the wonder of
that building and the Lord says that one stone is not going to
be left upon another stone. The Lord in Matthew 24 himself
speaks of those events that would befall the city of Jerusalem
in the year 70. But more than that, there in
that chapter the Lord also speaks of other things. He speaks of events that will
usher in his own return, his coming again. It's not an easy
chapter, Matthew 24, but we have to distinguish these two things,
the events of the year 70 and then those associated with Christ
and his coming again. And there in Matthew 24, And verse 21, the Lord says,
There shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning
of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except
those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved,
but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. And
there is a principle we can draw here. Surely the Lord will keep
His people. in all days, in all generations,
in spite of all those troubles that might ever come upon them. And how the prophets time and
again speak of such days. Daniel, who's ministering, as
I said, in the time of the Babylonian exile, we find strange prophetical
utterances in Daniel's book, in chapter 12, in the opening
verses there, he speaks of a time of trouble, such as never was,
since there was a nation, even at that same time. And at that
time thy people shall be delivered, every one shall be found written
in the Book. How the Lord God has a care for
all those of His people who are written in the Book of the Lord.
He will preserve them in every time of trouble, even to the
end of times. He will preserve His church.
The Lord Jesus has said it Himself. The gates of hell are not going
to prevail against His church. All the machinations of men can never prevail because Christ
will build His church and He will present that church ultimately,
complete, entire, in all its parts. And in a sense, we can
say that even nowadays, in many ways, isn't this the time of
Daniel's trouble? We know our Bible religion is
mocked at, our men scoff at those who believe what is written in
the Word of God, those who would contend for special creation
out of God, was pleased to make all things out of nothing in
a period of six days." Our believers are continually having to contend
against the opposition of science, falsely so called, as the Apostle
calls it there in 1 Timothy 6 and verse 20. We know that the days are evil. Wicked practices are continually
being introduced. Laws so contrary to God's law. The media as an agenda. It sets
itself against the word of God. Political events are troublous
to the people of God. But more than that we feel that
there is a spiritual judgment upon the land. There is a famine.
There's not a famine of bread, there's not a thirst for water.
In that sense, we are still favored with plenty in this land, but
there is a famine of the hearing of the Word of God. There is
a very solemn withholding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In that sense, is it not really
the time of Jacob's trouble? The same truths are believed,
I believe, The same truths are believed today as were believed
by our spiritual forebears. The same gospel is being proclaimed. There are those who would be
contending always for the blessed doctrines of the grace of God,
the sovereignty of His grace. And yet, though there is the
proclamation of these things, there seems to be such a withholding
of the work of the Spirit. And what is all the ministry
of the Word of God and the preaching of the Gospel except the Spirit
Himself is pleased to come and make the blessed application
of those truths to the hearts of men? For there is little real
faith, it seems, in either. How sad it is When the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth, says the Lord?
By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small? Remember, we have
that question repeated there in Amos chapter 7, in verse 2,
and then again in verse 5. By whom shall Jacob arise, for
he is small? We feel it, a fewness, a weakness. And yet, you know, we're prone
to count heads, aren't we? That's how we measure the flourishing
of the Church of Jesus Christ, when there are many attending
services. And yet, in a sense, I was struck
recently, by comments that were made in a sermon I was reading
with regards to the church at the beginning of Acts. And there
were 120 it says there in Acts chapter 1. There were 120. And yet probably that was the
most flourishing state the church was ever in. And this preacher
said, instead of measuring blessing by counting heads, we need to
weigh the church. It's not a numerical thing. And
so even in the time of Jacob's trouble, can we not look to God
to preserve a faithful remnant? Does he not say in Zephaniah,
I will live in the midst and afflict it and poor people, and
they shall trust in the name of the Lord. And those who were
taken into exile, when we think of the the account that we have
in Daniel's book concerning not only Daniel himself but those
three Hebrew children Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and they're
great boldness well we're not to despair are we? though it
be the time of day of Jacob's trouble because it says at the
end of the verse but he shall be saved out of it And how significant
is that little word, but? Oh yes, the verse begins with that interjection,
alas! Near is cause for great sadness,
sorrow, but he shall be sived out of it. And so thirdly, I
want us to look at the verse as it were from a spiritual perspective. We've thought of the historical,
we've thought of the prophetic, but what of the spiritual, the
experimental? Well, there are two things that
stand out here. There is the need for there to
be a real conviction of sin before there can be any true comforts
of the gospel. It's been said that these words
must ultimately be interpreted and understood in that spiritual
sense. We see as it were here the sinner
awakened and convinced of his sin but then we see that same
sinner being saved. Again, one comments here that
this is different from all other troubles. It's divine, spiritual
trouble which, though it turns man to destruction, it has eternal
life as its issue. These two things then. First
of all, it begins with conviction. Alas! For that day is great,
so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble, when that true spiritual Israelite
is brought under conviction of sin. We know that he is not a
Jew which is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly,
and circumcision, Paul says, is that of the heart. in the Spirit and not in the
letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Oh, God brings His elect to that
place of the conviction of their sin. When He has come, when the
Spirit has come, Christ says, He will reprove, He will convince
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Oh, who may
abide the day of His coming? When the Lord comes by His Spirit,
He comes as a refiner of fire. He comes as full as soap. He
comes to work that conviction in the soul, that law which is
the ministration of condemnation, that ministration of death. And how the Lord chops His people
up to what they are, makes them feel that there's no hope, there's
no hope at all for them in self it is the time of Jacob's trouble
he sees himself as he really is in the eyes of a God whose eyes are too pure to behold
iniquity you cannot look upon seeing and so we shut up We know
how the Lord Jesus Christ himself was of course one that was made
sin for his people. That's the amazing statement
that the Apostle makes there in 2 Corinthians 5.21. He was made sin for us. And he
cries out in all the agonies of his soul in Psalm 22, I am
a worm and no man. Well, if we're going to know
Christ, we must also feel something of what sin really is. To see it and to feel it, to
see sin smart but slightly, to own with lip confession is easier
still. But oh, to feel cuts deep beyond
expression. If we're the followers of Christ,
we will know what sin is. But then there's also here that
blessed deliverance and that great salvation. He shall be
saved out of it, it says. And then as it go on, verse 8,
It shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts,
that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst
thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him.
that they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King,
whom I will raise up unto them. Nor will is the promise of David
their King, even many, many years after David had gone the way
of all flesh. This David, of course, is David's
greatest son. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
that great salvation. Now the Spirit doesn't just come
to convince. The Spirit also comes as the
Comforter. And how He comforts. When He,
the Spirit of Truth, is come, Christ says, He shall not speak
of Himself. He shall take of Mine and shall
show it unto you. That's His ministry. He shall
glorify Me. All He bears testimony to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it's remarkable what we see
here when we consider the order of the words here at the beginning
of the chapter. Because the first thing that
the chapter speaks of is the promise of deliverance. That
is the first thing that is declared as the word of the Lord comes
to the prophets. Thus speaketh the Lord God of
Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken
unto thee in a book. And what is the first word? Lo,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity
of my people Israel, and Judah, saith the Lord, and I will cause
them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and
they shall possess it. There is the promise of deliverance.
And that is before the prediction of the day of trouble. In verse 7, Alas, for that day
is great, so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble. Now what is the significance
of that? Well, does it not remind us that salvation is first in
the order of God's decree? I know we sometimes speak of
the decrees of God, as if they follow one after the other. Well,
really, God's decree, we know, is one. God's decree is one. But what is it that lies at the
very heart of that decree? It is the great work of salvation. And everything else that we read
of in Scripture happens in order to that that Christ accomplished
when He came to this world in the fullness of the time, when
God in the last days spoke unto us by His Son. It is salvation
then that is really first in the order of God's decree. And so when God deals with us
in contrary ways, to the honor and to the glory of His name
and it's for our ultimate good. All things work together for
good to them that know God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. All God's great purpose then
is that of salvation. Jacob might know many times of
trouble And often the cry might go out that he is very small
and who can save him? Well, the Lord has uttered His
word of promise. He shall be saved out of it. Or do we believe that? Whatever
trials, troubles, difficulties come into our lives, the Lord
is able to save us. and will save us again, and again,
and again. Salvation isn't something that
we just experience at the beginning of the Christian life. It is
the daily experience of the Lord's people in the midst of all their
troubles. Alas, for that day is great,
so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Well, let us, before
we come to our prayers, sing God's praise in the hymn 1047. The tune is eagerly 132. By whom shall Jacob never rise? For Jacob's
friends are few. And what should fill us with
surprise? They seem divided too. 1047, Tune 132. I Oh, take a trance, our few, And
watch again our sweet surprise, They seem divided too. Then shall Jacob now arise, for
Jacob's foes are strong. Irie, they triumph in their eyes. Can any tell by whom? Say, shall this branch that withered
lies Again revive and bloom? Lord thou canst tell the work
is vain The help of man is vain On Jacob now arise and shine
And he shall be again