Thanks for watching! Let us turn again to God's word
in that chapter that we read in Jeremiah chapter 30. I want to direct your attention
for a while to the words that we find here in verse 7. Jeremiah
chapter 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. Firstly, we were considering
something of those who are spoken of as the outcasts of Israel
back in the book of Isaiah. And now God takes account of
those who are despised The Apostle in the New Testament, remember,
speaks of the same characters as the offscouring of orphans,
the outcasts of Israel. And even in this chapter, of
course, we see that God's ancient people were an outcast people. At the end of verse 17, because
they call thee an outcast, saying, this is Zion, whom no man seeketh
after. And so, also in the words of
the text, we are reminded that this was very much the time of
Jacob's trouble. Jacob, the man who became Israel
at Penihah, when the angel wrestled with him, and he was able to
prevail and to obtain the Lord's blessing, and yet how Jacob,
how Israel so often finds himself in that situation where he is
despised, outcast, the offscouring of all things as the Apostle
says in 2 Corinthians. Well I want with the Lord's help
to say something with regards to this time that is being spoken
of in the text, spoken of as the time of Jacob's trouble. and in considering the words
I divide what I say into four parts, four sections and first
of all to take account of the historical context where we have
to recognize of course that this was very much the time of Israel's
captivity and now the language here in the text is very emphatic
we have this interjection at the beginning of the verse, alas, for that day is great, so that
none is like it. Remember that all the words,
every word, is the word of God, all of it is inspired of the
Holy Spirit, even this opening word. We know that there are
no idle words anywhere in the scriptures and so we do well
to take account of the way in which the subject is introduced
to us with this interjection. Alas, it is the time of captivity. Isaiah ministering some approximately
100 years before Jerusalem fell and the people were taken and
transported into exile into Babylon where they would be in captivity
for some 70 years. Now it's true that he does speak
of restoration, but before there could be restoration there must
of course be the captivity and so even in this chapter there's
some intimation of the fact that they will be removed far away
in verse 3. Those 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. But as
I say, before they can be restored, they must have been taken away
into captivity. And so, again in 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 before that, there is going
to be this dreadful day, this terrible day. The day of the
Lord, saith Joel, is great. and very terrible and there is
none like it. It was such a fearful day that
befell Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar came with his armies and we have
the account of course in the historic books. I am sure you
are aware of those things that are recorded in the books of
the kings and the books of the chronicles there at the end of
the second book of Kings. 2 Kings 24 verse 10 at that time the servants
of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem and
the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came up against the city and his servants did besieging and
there we are told verse 13 he carried out then all the treasures
of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house
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 nor the craftsmen
and smiths, none remain, save the poorest sort of the people
of the land." It was truly a terrible day. That's awful, that great
day of the Lord. And the Psalmist also laments
these things. We have that that's recorded,
for example, in the 74th Psalm, which pertains to that day of
the exile there in Psalm 74 and verse 3. Lift up thy feet unto
the perpetual desolations, even all that the enemy hath done
wickedly in the sanctuary. Thine enemies roar in the midst
of thy congregations. They set up their ensigns for
Verse 6. Now they break down the carved
work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire
into thy sanctuary. They have defiled by casting
down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. Now the temple
of God was destroyed, desecrated by the hordes of those Babylonians
when Jerusalem fell. And of course his prophet Jeremiah
was witness to these things, this is the period when Jeremiah
was actually ministering he was able then to speak of
those dreadful things that would befall the land and we have his
book of Lamentations as well as the book of his prophecy and
how he speaks there in the opening verses of the Lamentation How
doth the city sit 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? 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 embittered. It is that great and terrible
day of the Lord then that is being spoken of. Again, in that
psalm that we refer to, the 74th psalm, the psalmist Asaph cries
out, we see not our signs. We see not our signs. No sign
of God's gracious presence. They had the signs of that presence
of God amongst them, did they not, historically? But as these
things had been taken away there was the Shekinah Glory. There was that that was really
the wonder of Jerusalem. the temple of God and the presence
of God there in the midst of his people, the Shekinah glory. When Moses first set up the tabernacle
of the Lord at the end of the book of Exodus, we read out the
Lord descended and came and he made his dwelling place there
in the midst of that tabernacle. And so great was the glory of
God that Moses, the man of God, was unable to enter into the
tabernacle. At the end of Exodus we're told,
then, a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory
of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter
into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And as it was
with the tabernacle, so also with the temple that Solomon
built. When Solomon, under God, was
able to build that temple so that God had a proper house to
dwell in, in the midst of his people, did not God again come
and presence himself there in the midst of Israel? but now
you see God's glory departed when God removed the people into
exile God himself also departed they were taken to the east of
Jerusalem they were taken into Babylon and it was there amongst
those who were in the captivity that the true Israel was to be
found There was the real remnant of the Lord, the spiritual Israel. And God, in a sense, went and
dwelt amongst them. We see that in Ezekiel, the opening
chapters of Ezekiel. We have that remarkable vision
that the prophet sees. He sees something of the glory
of God. He sees the wondrous throne of
God. But then we see God's throne
removing out of the midst of Jerusalem. in chapter 10 of Ezekiel verse 18 then the
glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house
and stood over the cherubims and the cherubims lifted up their
wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight and 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 no more in
the midst of the Lord's house they are now at the east gate
of the Lord's house and the glory of the Lord God of Israel was
over them above God is removing and we see God removing even
further in the next chapter in chapter 11 and verse 22 we are
told then did the cherubim 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
sitter and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of
the city. God is removing. God himself, in a sense we might
say, is going into exile with the remnants. We see not our
signs. No more God's glory there in
the midst of Jerusalem. Not only the destruction of the
temple, but all that the temple stands for, that gracious presence
of God in the midst of his people, is no more. Well, this truly
is the day of Jacob's trouble. We see no more our signs, says
the Psalmist in Psalm 74. Besides, in the plural, it wasn't
just the removal of God, the Shekinah glory, there was also
no more any prophet. How does it continue there in
that 9th verse of the Psalm? There is no more any prophet. neither any among us that knoweth
how long. No ministry of the word of God,
no message coming by God's prophets. Yes, Jeremiah was a prophet,
Ezekiel was a prophet, but these men were removed from Jerusalem. We know that Jeremiah had to
depart and go into Egypt. and we see that here in chapter
43 and there at verse 5 following we are told of those who go into
the land of Egypt and amongst them at the end of verse 6 we
read of Jeremiah the prophet and Barak the son of Nariah the
scribe so they came into the land of Egypt for they have cried
not the voice of the Lord, thus came they even to Tarpanis. The people were a disobedient
people and the prophet is removed from their midst and we know
also of course that Ezekiel, Ezekiel is ministering not in
Jerusalem, Ezekiel's ministry is very much amongst those of
the captivity. In words of Ezekiel he came to
pass in the 13th year, in the 4th month, in the 5th day of
the month that I was among the captives by the river Kebar,
that the heavens were opened and I saw the visions of God.
He is with the captives. Daniel also, there is no more
any ministry there in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is left in that desolate
condition. This is that awful time, the
time of exile, when Jerusalem is left for 70 years. We have, as I said, those awful
laments that are made by Jeremiah concerning the sad condition
of the city, which was once the city of God. The time then that
he is being spoken of is the time of captivity, when we think
of the historical context. But look at the words of the
text. It says, 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. It doesn't say, Alas, for this
day, That day, the commentators say,
is a reference to some future day. This is really a prophetic
statement, says Kyle, in his commentary. That day, the day
that was yet to come. And Dr Gill sees a two-fold prophetic
reference in what we have in the words of the text. Alas for
that day, Gill says, In the first place it refers to the events
many years in the future, even the year 78 A.D. and the destructions
of Jerusalem by the imperial power of Rome under their general
titles. Those terrible things that befell
the city just under 40 years after the crucifixion of the
Lord Jesus Christ. But Dill also says that that
day, the day of Jacob's trouble, also refers to the last days. He says it refers to that terrible
persecution that comes from Antichrist. Not just a reference to pagan
imperial Rome, but also a reference to papal Rome and its cruelties. against the true Israel of God. Now the Lord Jesus, we know,
himself speaks of these two events in the Gospel, in Matthew chapter
24, where Christ speaks of the signs
of his coming. He reckoned that he is speaking
both of the year 70, 70 AD, but also that as a type of the
end of time and the tenable persecutions that will come at the end. In verse 21 there, 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 is the
promise that is given and then again later in that chapter verse
38 as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that
Noah entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came
and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of
Man burn." Two-fold reference to events
that would come so soon after the death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
after His crucifixion, but also a reference to His coming again
at the end of time. And it is spoken of in the Old
Testament, that latter day, that day in which we ourselves find
ourselves living, the Gospel day, that's the latter day, is
it not? Even in verses of Daniel chapter 12 we see something of
it. And it is spoken of there in verse 1 as a time of trouble.
We can understand the words of the text not just in their immediate
situation, their historical context having to do with that that was
to befall Jerusalem so very soon, but also it is a reference to
the end of time, to the Gospel dispensation, the beginning of
that dispensation, the events that came so soon in the year
70, but also those things that would come at the end of time. This whole period of the Gospel
dispensation is of course spoken of as the last days throughout the Old Testament.
The last days, the day of the Lord. Those times that it should
be spoken of in this sense as the time of Jacob's trouble. And yet we see it, we witness
it in our own generation, do we not? That now God's word is
scoffed and ridiculed and men reject the authority of the scripture
and men only want to do that that is right in their own eyes,
as was the case in the days of the judges. That men reckon that
they know better than God and they reject God's holy law and
They do those things that are so plainly a contradiction and
a denial of the Lord of God. This is the day in which we find
ourselves living, is it not? It is truly the day, the time
of Jacob's trouble. And yet we are not to be surprised
because the Scriptures forewarn us concerning these days. And
it's not only a terrible day when we think of political events,
it's also a terrible day when we think of the way in which
God's word is no longer reverence and God's day is constantly desecrated. And all this under the sovereign
hand of God. None of these things come by
chance. God is dealing with us and dealing with this nation,
is he not? And he deals with us, of course, in strict accordance with his
own laws. Remember those words that we
have in Amos, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I
will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a
thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. We have such an abundance with
regards to our natural food, do we not? God is merciful, yet
he grants plenty for harvest. And we go to the shops and the
shelves are full of good things. We are not denied any of these
things, and yet we see that there is in the land an awful famine.
Lots of bread, nor a thirst for water but that dreadful famine
of the refusal to hear the Word of God. God's Word, I say, is
rejected. God's Word is scorned. And on
top of all this, of course, we see God's judgment in that awful
withholding of the Holy Spirit. And so there's little power evident
in the ministry of the Word of God It might be the same truths
that are believed and preached by those who delight in God and
in the sovereignty of His grace. We only seek to declare the same
spiritual truths as our fathers delighted to declare, and yet
we don't see the signs following that they witnessed. And why
not? Because there is that withholding,
that withholding of the Spirit of God. It is truly the time
of Jacob's trouble. And that's for that day. That day is great, so that none
is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble we are talking about. We cannot escape these things. True faith, saving faith, spiritual
faith is really a rare thing. there might be those who profess
to have a faith, but how often do we see that it is something
that they have worked up themselves, or they've been worked into this
by the sort of preaching that they've heard, as if they have
an ability to believe, not brought to the end of themselves, never
shut up to what they are as sinners, never shut up to their native
unbelief, never brought to that point where they have to cast
themselves utterly entirely upon the Lord because they have nothing
of themselves. What do we see today of those
who are living the true life of faith? All these things alas
are so little known. Amos also speaks of Jacob and
speaks in the sense of this same day of Jacob's trouble and he
says, by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small. And it's interesting
because the question is repeated there in Amos in chapter 7 and
verses 2 and 5. We have a repetition of those
questions. And of course the repetition
is not without some significance, it's emphatic. By whom shall
Jacob arise? For he is small. What hope is
there when there is such a little remnant? And the situation only
seems to grow darker. And as we were saying on Thursday, if God's children are outcasts, referred then to that hymn of
Josie Parks, 223, which is based upon the text that we were then
considering. Lord, pity outcast violent base,
the poor dependence on thy grace, whom men disturb as call by sinners
and by saints withstood. for these too bad for those too
good condemned or stunned by all. Though faithful Abraham
must reject, and though his ransomed seed elect, agree to give us
up, thou art our Father, and thy name from everlasting is
the same. On that we build our hope." And
the words evidently are built on the words of Isaiah 63, 16. there at the head of the hymn
we have a reference to that verse and also to 1 Corinthians 4 and
verses 11-13 where the apostle speaks of believers as the offscouring
of all things. It is a time of trouble. The
words appertain to us, you see. We read these things and we rightly
seek to understand them as they were first given by God to the
prophet and there was an application to the day in which he was living
and the people that he was ministering to, but these things are written
for our own. That we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
might have hope. And so ultimately, ultimately
we must understand the words of the text spiritually. We've
said something with regards to their historical interpretation,
and something with regards to their prophetic interpretation. But we must come to this, their
spiritual significance. The time of Jacob's trouble. Now what is the time of Jacob's
trouble when it comes to us individually and personally? Well it has been
observed that this is that time when God begins his work in the
soul of the sinner. and when God begins that work
in the sinner's soul it's different from all other troubles because
it is a divine troubling, it's a spiritual troubling which though
it has the effect of turning a man to destruction yet it has
eternal life as its issue what a blessed truth is that What
does God say? I know the thoughts that I think
towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you
an expected end, back in chapter 29 and verse 11. God's thoughts towards Israel,
even in sending them into exile, were not thoughts of total destruction. There was an expected end. there
would be the blessing of restoration. Oh yes, there would be the sifting
of the nation. It would be that godly remnant
that was preserved in exile. But friends, is it not also true
with regards to God's dealings with us? It is a time of trouble in the
soul when God comes and when God's at work, that awful conviction
in a man's heart. Isn't that the ministry of the
Holy Spirit? Isn't that how Christ speaks of his coming, when he
has come? He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness
and of judgment. And he is speaking very much
of the elect world, surely there in John 16. Of sin, because you believe not
on me. Of righteousness, because I go to the Father and you see
me no more. Of judgment, because the prince
of this world is come he comes to be proved as the spirit he
comes to convince to convince us of our unbelief it's terrible when he comes in
that way of judgements when he comes as it were and deploys
that holy law of God though the law was given to Israel yet there
is that application is there not Paul says in Romans 3 verse
19 we know that what things whoever the law said it said to them
who are under the law that every man may be stopped every man
may be stopped nor the world become guilty before God therefore
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his
sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin that's the time of Jacob's
trouble when he has that knowledge of his sin. The law worketh wroth. And he must, he must begin here.
Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up to the
faith which should afterward be revealed says the apostle. Before saving faith comes, oh
there must be that sense of our being shut up by the law, shut
up to what we are as sinners, condemned, feeling it, unable
to deliver ourselves. And the psalmist cries out, I
am shut up and I cannot come forth, cannot deliver ourselves,
only God can deliver. Remember how the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he came into this world, was made in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin. Although he himself was the holy,
harmless, sinless son of God, yet that is the truth, he was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He came where
his people were, just like Ezekiel has to go and sit where they
sat, as he said. His equals, He comes to minister
to those in exile, has to go where they are and be amongst
them. And so the Lord Jesus, when He comes, He comes where
His people are. This whole sinless man made sin
for us. Now, He's spoken of there in
the 22nd Psalm that we looked at last Lord's Day evening, I
am a worm, he says, and no man. I am a worm and no man. And surely, friends, those who
know him as their Saviour must be like him. We must be like him. We also
must feel the awful thing that sin is. No wonder God addresses his Israel
as worm Jacob. That's the true Israel of God.
Fear not thou worm, Jacob, and ye men of Israel. I will help
thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One. Oh, the Lord Jesus, you see,
is the one that we must be all together identified with. Him
who was made sin. We must feel what we are as sinners. He comes, he says, not to call
the righteous. He comes to call the sinners.
This man receiveth sinners. There is in this time of trouble
that comes to God's Israel, to God's Jacob. It is even the time
of Jacob's trouble. But, he shall be saved out of
it. For it shall come to pass in
that day, observe, It's the same as we have it in verse 7 there
in 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, but they shall serve the Lord
their God and David their King, whom I will raise up unto them. Who is this David? This is a
promise surely of the Lord Jesus Christ. who is the saviour of
his people. And so in the fourth place, though
we might say it is a time of conviction, this time of Jacob's
trouble, it is also the time of Jacob's deliverance. But he
shall be saved out of it. Now observe the order as we have
it here in this chapter. In the first part of the chapter,
the first three verses, we have this great promise of deliverance.
The word that came to Jerusalem from the Lord, saying, Thus speaketh
the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that
I have spoken unto thee in a book. For 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. Here is the promise of deliverance. And that promise of deliverance
comes before this prediction of trouble that we have in the
text. 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. You see, salvation is first. In the order of God's decree,
what stands in the first place? Now I know, with regards to God's decree,
God's decree is one. We're not to think really in
terms of time and an order in the decree. That is how it happens,
of course, in time, there is an outworking of these things,
but God does in eternity. And so God's decree is an eternal
decree and God's decree is one. But what theologically stands
first in God's decree? Salvation. Salvation stands first. That's what the theologians would
call superlapsarianism, to put salvation first. The great purpose
of salvation and then everything else follows that. But salvation
is first. though there be a time of Jacob's
trouble, yet God knows his thoughts and there are always those thoughts
of peace and not of evil. So it was for the children of
Israel even in the time of the captivity, even that day when Jerusalem was destroyed and Jerusalem
was desolate in that great chapter of the book of the Lamentations
and there in verses 32 and 33 well verse 31 Jeremiah writes the
Lord will not cast off forever but though he cause grief though
he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude
of his mercies for he does not afflict willingly for the margin
says he does not afflict from the heart nor grieve the children
of men even when God brings trouble into the souls of his people
he has a gracious end in view even their salvation Moses says thou turnest man to
destruction and sayeth, return ye children of me. I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Oh 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. Here is our comfort,
is it not? We look to that God who ever
always has a gracious end in view, that God who is sovereign,
who accomplishes all his good will, all his good pleasure.
By whom shall Jacob arise for he is small? Jacob can only arise
in and through the goodness of his God. Fear not, Fear not thou
worm, Jacob, and ye men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord
thy Redeemer and the Mighty One. May the Lord be pleased to help
us for His name's sake. pointing in as 1047 between Isparant
and 142. Now whom shall Jacob now arise? For Jacob's friends are few,
and what should fill us with surprise? They seem divided to
1047. By whom shall Jacob now arise? For Jacob, friends of you, And
what should fill us with surprise? I am shall Jacob now arise For
Jacob's foes are strong I read their triumph in their eyes They
think he'll fail at all Why whom shall Jacob now arise? Can any tell by whom? Say, shall this Bronsert wither'd
lies Again revive and bloom? Lord, Thou canst tell the work
is right, the help of man is vain. On Jacob now arise and
shine, and he shall live again. The Lord bless thee and keep
thee. The Lord make his face to shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.