Original Meaning

30:1–3. Although the text does not provide a specific setting for these prophecies in Jeremiah’s life, the command in 30:2 to write them in a scroll suggests that they are to stand as instruction and witness for the future. The summary statement in 30:3 uses a typical prophetic introduction for predictions of future change—“the days are coming” (cf. 30:8, 24). The primary claim about the future is that the affliction of “Jacob” (30:7, 10, 18) will be removed and the people will be restored to their land and to a better relationship with God. Apparently “Jacob” is a covenant term for God’s people that includes both Israel and Judah (30:4). In the restoration God will raise up “David their king” (30:9).6 Jerusalem also is addressed in 30:12–17.

These prophecies presuppose a unity to God’s people that transcends their current political and geographical circumstances. Not only are there predictions that Israel and Judah will be restored to their land and that God will raise up for them a king from David’s line, but the restoration of Zion (= Jerusalem) is also predicted (30:17–18). Moreover, Jeremiah announces a restoration of the covenant relationship between God and his people that assumes a unity for that people (30:22; 31:1; cf. 32:38).

30:4–7. This portion of chapter 30 is a bit cryptic with respect to the future turmoil it presupposes. A rhetorical question in verse 6 suggests that the dismay on the part of human beings will not be permanent. The point is that Jacob will be saved from a time of trouble.

30:8–11. The introductory phrase “in that day” is a rhetorical device used by prophets to speak of a decisive time in the future. Yokes and bonds will be removed from Jacob, and the people will no longer be enslaved by foreigners. By “David their king” is most likely meant someone from David’s line. Such a hope is drawn from texts like 2 Samuel 7 and prophetic texts that rely on God’s promised fidelity to the Davidic line.7 Since no king from David’s line ruled Jacob in the postexilic period, this hope finds its ultimate fulfillment in the New Testament proclamation that Jesus is David’s greater Son (cf. Matt. 1:1–17; Luke 1:26–33; Rom. 1:3), not in the leadership of the restored community in the Persian period.

The injunction “do not fear,” addressed to Jacob as God’s “servant” (v. 10), reminds the reader of the exilic prophecies in the book of Isaiah (Isa. 41:8–10; 43:1–7; 44:1–5; 54:4). The nations among whom Jacob has been exiled are subject to judgment. Jacob too has received judgment, but his judgment has been disciplinary in form. A day of reckoning still awaits the nations.

30:12–17. In these verses humiliated Jerusalem is addressed. The description of her guilt and her helplessness remind the reader/hearer of the book of Lamentations. Judgmental language predominates in these verses, but its effects on Jerusalem are not without merciful limits. There is also announcement that Zion’s enemies will be destroyed and that the city will be restored.

30:18–22. The announcement that Zion will be restored continues in the proclamation that Jacob’s fortunes will be reconstituted. That Jacob and Zion are closely related can be seen from verse 18b. There is also an allusion to future leadership that will spring up from among the people (v. 21). The concluding verse reiterates the covenant formula (cf. 24:7). Restoration above all is a restoration of the relationship between God and his people.

30:23–24. This surprising section puts the future under the claim of God’s righteous judgment and also in the context of divine intentions that cannot be fully grasped. The final verse (v. 24) is cryptic. Only the future (lit., “in the latter days”) will reveal the extent of God’s purposes in restoring Jacob and in punishing iniquity, for God’s intentions to judge iniquity are most certainly part of the future when his people are “restored.”8

Thus, the earliest recipients of these prophecies are informed that the full significance of these prophecies will only be realized at considerable distance from their time of origin. Perhaps this last verse should be read together with verses 1–2: The cryptic words of chapter 30 will be preserved in a book to serve not only as a witness from the past, but also as inspired prediction about a future where God will judge human iniquity, a future not yet fully understood or realized by Jeremiah’s contemporaries. The full impact of these predictions will best be seen at the conclusion of God’s intended future.

As noted in the introduction to the hopeful prophecies in chapters 30–33, some scholars have denied that the same Jeremiah who so consistently announced judgment could simply switch directions and announce, like Hananiah in chapter 28, that God’s restoring activity was on the historical horizon. These scholars speculate that these verses and others like them in Jeremiah must come from editors in the exilic and postexilic period who wished to supplement Jeremiah’s words for the next generation.

But let’s note again that these are not the only words of hope in Jeremiah’s book. Why could not Jeremiah himself have understood God to be both a righteous Judge and the One who intends to restore a chastened and punished people? We must acknowledge, however, that neither in this chapter nor elsewhere in the book are we provided with enough detail to reconstruct when Jeremiah first announced that God would restore his people after a time of judgment. His reaction in his encounter with Hananiah demonstrates that he was open to the fresh and surprising word of the Lord that would move beyond the necessary corrective judgment to the healing balm of restoration. Since the contents of Jeremiah are not arranged chronologically, it apparently was not important for later readers to have a chronology of his theological development; it was sufficient merely to indicate topically and thematically that the prophet announced both judgment and restoration as the work of the same Lord.

Bridging Contexts

GOD AND THE FUTURE. The chapter contains prophecies that range into the near future and into the far future from the perspective of Jeremiah’s contemporaries. This realization helps us with interpreting the texts. Regarding the near future, God worked through the historical process to overcome the power of Babylon and to provide a way for his exiled people to return to their ancestral land. With the rise of Cyrus the Persian, later known as Cyrus the Great, a different political order was established in the latter half of the sixth century B.C. Under the leadership of Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel, several groups of Jews made their way back to the land of promise. They began the process of rebuilding the temple complex and their lives (Ezra 1–3).

These people were not free from Persian control, but they laid more than a physical foundation; along with the preaching of prophets like Haggai and Zechariah, they also laid a spiritual foundation for greater renewal to come. The unfortunate breach between the returnees and many of the other inhabitants of the area (particularly those led by Sanballat, the governor of the province of Samaria) meant that reconciliation between the descendants of Israel and Judah was not accomplished. Nevertheless, elements of Jeremiah 30 find fulfillment in the miraculous ways in which life in Jerusalem and Judah were restored after the Babylonian exile.

The chapter as a whole indicates avenues through which God’s announced intent in chapter 1 “to uproot and tear down” and “to build and to plant” is actualized. Restoration took place in the postexilic period, but this example of God’s faithfulness does not exhaust the claims of chapter 30. There is also the indication that God’s people should not forget the necessity of a righteous judgment and that they should recognize their own inadequacies in healing their own failures. Such claims give subsequent generations of God’s people cause for reflection as they ask: Are there still ways in which we exhibit failure and incur judgment?

A claim like that addressed to Zion in 30:12 (“your wound is incurable”) pushes past a mere historical reading to interrogate any generation. It is a theology at one with a later biblical claim of death apart from divine grace (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13). The conclusion to Jeremiah 30 points further forward to a time (times?) of broad reckoning, where God will judge iniquity on a wider scale. Such language calls any generation of God’s people to anticipate more from the Lord of history.

Chapter 30 also predicts the restoration of the covenant relationship between God and his people (30:22). This claim should cause current readers to reflect on the centuries that have passed since these words were first proclaimed. Subsequent biblical history and that of the church are evidence that God still pursues this goal among his people. In Christ God has bound himself to his people and provided all the means necessary to overcome their failures. The future remains open to a greater fulfillment of these words, just as it was for Jeremiah’s contemporaries.

Contemporary Significance

ESCHATOLOGY. WHAT DOES the future hold for the church and the world in which it carries out its ministry? Theologians use the term eschatology to describe the expectations about the end of the age. As these words are being written, there is much in the popular culture about transition to a new millennium. The year 2000 is popularly understood as the beginning of a new millennium (even though it is actually the end of a century and also the end of a millennium). Does this transition year bring us closer to the Millennium on earth, or is that scriptural hope best understood through the life of the Spirit in the church of Jesus Christ? As always, the future will be the best vantage point from which to see the significance of the present! At a distance from the pressure of the “now,” the puzzles of the present begin to show new meaning.

Sociologists chart the strange behaviors that often come at transition po ts such as a new year. Some of it is lawless or antisocial, and some of it is the nervousness that comes with the times, even if such nervousness lies below the conscious surface. This was especially true of the transition to the year 2000, which was a milestone as modern people measure time. But what about God’s ways of evaluating the state of the world and of working out his ultimate purposes? One wonders if each new year has any particular significance in God’s scheme.

God’s faithfulness, present and future. Yes, eschatological speculation will be profitable in the near future, but will it be helpful for the church? A glance at biblical prophecy confirms that God has been faithful to his promises, but his faithfulness comes in surprising ways. It is true that God announced through prophets both the exile of his people and their return. But the return did not usher in the final age. God also announced that a new David would come to lead the people, but not everyone could accept that Jesus was the fulfillment of this hope. In this regard, oftentimes it is at some distance that people of faith can see more clearly what God has done. Perhaps what is more important for people of faith today is to concentrate on the “constants” in the eschatological prophecy of the Bible rather than on a blueprint mentality that believes it can “figure out the future in advance.”

What are some of those constants? One is certainly that God is the Judge of all people. In addition, God has called a people into fellowship and has promised to be their God. These two things will not change, whether something in the year 2000 makes it a special year or not. A typical year is one in which God judges and purifies a people in various ways. If 2000 and beyond are typical years, then they will reveal many small fulfillments of the greater purpose God has given in Scripture and has not yet brought to culmination. When all is finally accomplished, it will be more clear. The church is called every year to have expectation and hope. God has indicated the shape of prophetic hope for all time in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Heb. 13:8).

During the last week of 1999 the present writer watched a few people load up their cars and trailers and head out to the rural areas of Texas. They did so because they feared the apocalyptic changes that might be ushered in with the coming of the new year. What was it about the biblical message that so frightened them? Most likely it was the expectation that if the end of history is coming, it would have disastrous proportions (cf., e.g., Matt. 24; Mark 13). All of us should be reminded that when the end is near, whether it is accompanied by the death throes of civilization or not, the consistent teaching of the biblical text is that God will save his people.

Jesus told his disciples to watch for the signs of the times; that is good advice in any situation. It is certainly so with the concern about the future: Watch for signs of the times. The ultimate shape of the future, however, can be discerned from those things that Scripture constantly espouses: God is working out his near and far purposes to judge iniquity, to redeem a people, and to create a new world where death and sin are banished. Maranatha!

Jeremiah 31:1–40

Jeremiah 31:1–40

1“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.”

2This is what the LORD says:

“The people who survive the sword

will find favor in the desert;

I will come to give rest to Israel.”

3The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

4I will build you up again

and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.

Again you will take up your tambourines

and go out to dance with the joyful.

5Again you will plant vineyards

on the hills of Samaria;

the farmers will plant them

and enjoy their fruit.

6There will be a day when watchmen cry out

on the hills of Ephraim,

‘Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the LORD our God.’”

7This is what the LORD says:

“Sing with joy for Jacob;

shout for the foremost of the nations.

Make your praises heard, and say,

‘O LORD, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

8See, I will bring them from the land of the north

and gather them from the ends of the earth.

Among them will be the blind and the lame,

expectant mothers and women in labor;

a great throng will return.

9They will come with weeping;

they will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead them beside streams of water

on a level path where they will not stumble,

because I am Israel’s father,

and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

10“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations;

proclaim it in distant coastlands:

‘He who scattered Israel will gather them

and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’

11For the LORD will ransom Jacob

and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.

12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;

they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD—

the grain, the new wine and the oil,

the young of the flocks and herds.

They will be like a well-watered garden,

and they will sorrow no more.

13Then maidens will dance and be glad,

young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning into gladness;

I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

14I will satisfy the priests with abundance,

and my people will be filled with my bounty,”

declares the LORD.

15This is what the LORD says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because her children are no more.”

16This is what the LORD says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,

for your work will be rewarded,”

declares the LORD.

“They will return from the land of the enemy.

17So there is hope for your future,”

declares the LORD.

“Your children will return to their own land.

18“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:

‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,

and I have been disciplined.

Restore me, and I will return,

because you are the LORD my God.

19After I strayed,

I repented;

after I came to understand,

I beat my breast.

I was ashamed and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20Is not Ephraim my dear son,

the child in whom I delight?

Though I often speak against him,

I still remember him.

Therefore my heart yearns for him;

I have great compassion for him,”

declares the LORD.

21“Set up road signs;

put up guideposts.

Take note of the highway,

the road that you take.

Return, O Virgin Israel,

return to your towns.

22How long will you wander,

O unfaithful daughter?

The LORD will create a new thing on earth—

a woman will surround a man.”

23This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling, O sacred mountain.’ 24People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. 25I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

26At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

27“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals. 28Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD. 29“In those days people will no longer say,

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.

31“The time is coming,” declares the LORD,

“when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah.

32It will not be like the covenant

I made with their forefathers

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to them,”

declares the LORD.

33“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel

after that time,” declares the LORD.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

34No longer will a man teach his neighbor,

or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest,”

declares the LORD.

“For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.”

35This is what the LORD says,

he who appoints the sun

to shine by day,

who decrees the moon and stars

to shine by night,

who stirs up the sea

so that its waves roar—

the LORD Almighty is his name:

36“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”

declares the LORD,

“will the descendants of Israel ever cease

to be a nation before me.”

37This is what the LORD says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured

and the foundations of the earth below be searched out

will I reject all the descendants of Israel

because of all they have done,”

declares the LORD.

38“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”