(Jeremiah 32:1-5) The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, 3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; 5 and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed”’?”
It was during this time of imprisonment, that God spoke to Jeremiah, to remind him of God's covenants with Israel, and that He would fulfill all promises to them one day.
At the end of the Tribulation, the Israelites as a nation will recognize the "signs of the times" (which are the prophesied judgments upon the earth) - and they know that their Messiah will be returning to earth. Jesus will have the victory at Armageddon, and remove all evil and all unbelievers from the earth.
Jesus will then lead all those who have become believers during the time of the Tribulation, into the Millennial kingdom. Jesus, as the rightful and perfect King, will fulfill the Davidic covenant by taking the throne for the thousand years - reigning - with immediate justice and peace on earth.
The Abrahamic covenant will also be fulfilled during this time, because the Israelites will have their perfect King right there with them. Because the nation will live in obedience, they will experience fully their promised land, seed and blessings...
(Jeremiah 33:1-18) Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it, the Lord is His name, 3 ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ 4 For thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword, 5 ‘While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness: 6 Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. 8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. 9 It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’
10 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without beast,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say,
“Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting”;
and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the Lord.
12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds who rest their flocks. 13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.
14 ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.’ 17 For thus says the Lord, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.’”
Within the Abrahamic covenant, when the nation of Israel was promised land, seed and blessings, there were two parts to the promise of "seed".
First of all, through their descendants, and more specifically through king David's descendants, would come their Messiah (the Christ) - Jesus - the King of kings! When Jesus came to earth in flesh (born of a virgin), He was still fully God!
The second aspect of "seed" means - that the Israelites would become a vast and mighty nation of many, many people. Interestingly, within this description, we get a hint of just how many angels there might be...
(Jeremiah 33:22) As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’”
From this we see:
- there are many, many angels, at least one angel for every Israelite - at least! (Jer.33:22)
Personal experience: even with so many angels, we know that they cannot be everywhere, because they are not omnipresent (we will see this in scripture fairly soon). What we do not know is where they are at any given moment.
As well, we do not know where evil is all lurking! A facebook friend of mine just posted this the other day...
"We installed Ring. It shows you all the neighborhood videos posted. It is scary to see all the night prowlers outside homes while people are sleeping. Furthermore, it is so shocking to see all the videos of the package thieves. I always thought it was a hand full of people. Boy was I mistaken. The package thieves are of all ages, gender, and race."
I remember, about 25 years ago, there were some very hot nights when we slept with the windows open. Being a very light sleeper, I could hear people sneaking around. At first, I would peer out the window to watch them. I knew it wasn't the same person all the time, because they drove bikes with various methods of carrying items (some even pulling little carts). They all would go from house to house, trying the doors of homes and cars, just looking for an opportunity to steal something. I called the police once or twice, but they just said, "By the time we get there, they'll be long gone." So - all I could do after that was try to ignore those activities and pray for protection and pray that God would convict the hearts of the criminals.
Today's takeaway: how much evil is lurking around us? Just how many times have we been in danger without even knowing it? Well - God knows!...
(Psalm 139:1-12) O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.
(Proverbs 15:3) The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good.
(Hebrews 4:13-16) ...there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
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