Jeremiah 31:3–17

So in Jeremiah 31, God makes this new relationship very clear. "At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel." There is to be a complete restoration of the scattered and dispersed tribes, not of Judah only but of all Israel: "all the clans of Israel." Nothing could be clearer.

In chapter 31 the Holy Spirit goes on encouraging the heart with bright hopes of the coming glory. And He shows that the secret behind it all is the unchanging, eternal love of God. God says, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel!"

Whatever the state of His people, the Lord never forgets His love for them, and He is never slow to say so… We might have expected His first word to be a warning and a rebuke for their sins. But no. God's first word should have reminded them of the length and breadth, the depth and height, of that unchanging love… So we are brought face to face with the source of our redemption, and of every blessing we enjoy. We can never be reminded too often that we do not belong to the Lord because we love Him. We belong to Him because He has loved us and made us what we are.

God never has turned away from the cry of His people, and He never will. He loves them with an unchanging love. He must often correct them for their waywardness… yet He will not give them up. It was about these stubborn children of Jacob that He said: "I have loved you with an everlasting love, and with loving-kindness I will draw you."

So it was a story of grace from first to last. Grace saved them from the sword. Grace kept them in the wilderness. And grace brought them at last into the promised rest. They had plenty of hard fighting to do before they could settle in the land. Even so, it was not their own effort that brought them into rest. It was the grace of their God.

His love, His mercy, were set upon us. When we were converted? No, before then. When we were born? No, before then. When the world was created? No, even before then… Jeremiah writes, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you." He has drawn us to Himself, and He looks for an answer to His love.

In their times of sorrow, the psalms will teach Israel the deep sympathy of the Spirit of Christ. The knowledge of unchanging love will hold them up — "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jer. 31:3)… How much more do we know that same eternal love, made known to us in the Son!

The Holy Spirit keeps encouraging the heart in chapter 31 with bright hopes of the coming glory. He makes known that the secret behind it all is the unchanging, eternal love of God. As He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel!" (vv. 3-4).

We are thus brought face to face with the source of our redemption, and of all the blessings we enjoy; for we cannot be too often reminded that we do not belong to the Lord because we love Him, but because He has loved us and made us what we are.

In Jeremiah 31 God states this new relationship plainly: "At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel." He will fully restore the scattered and dispersed tribes — not of Judah only, but of Israel: "all the clans of Israel." Nothing could be more definite.

There is a way of reading prophecy that spiritualizes it and explains it away, applying it to the Church and to Christianity. As if to guard against that, we are told, "These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah." They are not words about something else pictured under the names of Israel and Judah. They are words the Lord spoke (a solemn thought!) about Israel and about Judah.

Jeremiah is speaking of "the virgin of Israel," the same people he also calls "you backsliding daughter." He sees that in the day of restoration the virgin remnant of Israel will keep herself morally pure, free from all defilement with the idolatry of Babylon.

Every heart was full of gladness, and it came out in music, dancing, and song. They were redeemed, and they knew it on that happy morning. Loaded with the joy of their salvation, they pour it out in words of thanks and praise.

The virgin of Israel will then go out again with dance, music, and song (Jer. 31:4). Their glad rejoicing will be acceptable to the Holy One. It will be the thankful offering of a people whose righteousness and beauty are the lasting memorials of His own abounding grace.

Jeremiah foretold the promised restoration of the nations of Israel from their scattering among the Gentiles. Out of the Lord's "everlasting love," even toward the ten tribes who had turned away from Him, He says, "I will bring them" back, "for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn" (Jer. 31:1-9).

In the prophecies about the future blessing of the twelve tribes, Ephraim stands for the ten tribes. See Ezekiel 37:16-22, where the twelve tribes become one nation in their own land, with one king over them. That prophecy has never yet been fulfilled, but God will surely accomplish it in His own time.

This is no return of Judah, but of the twelve tribes. How different from the small remnant of Jews, with a few stragglers from other tribes, under Ezra and Nehemiah! Here all the families of Israel are in question.

It is plain from this and other scriptures that only two tribes were restored — Judah and Benjamin. There may have been people from other tribes among them… For the same reason, the ten tribes will not be gathered and restored until after the appearing of the Lord for the salvation of the remnant in the land.

These words seem meant to guard against the method of interpretation that explains such prophecies away by applying them to the Church and to Christianity. We are told, "And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah." They are not words about something else pictured under the names of Israel and Judah. They are words the Lord spoke (solemn thought!) about Israel and about Judah.

Israel's is an earthly calling… In days to come, grace will restore and save them. They will then stand in grace, no longer holding their blessings on the terms of their own obedience. Even so, the blessings that mark out their calling and position will still be earthly. Ours is a heavenly calling.

They would have understood well the picture of a "vineyard" standing for Israel. God had formed it on a very fruitful hill and planted it with the choicest vine. He had done everything possible for its fruitfulness and protection. Yet when He looked for fruit, He found only wild grapes. In the end God broke down its wall, and the vineyard was trampled down — a picture of the state of Israel until now. Ps. 80; Isa. 5:1-10.

First, a man would enjoy the fruit of his own labour. This is simply the fulfilment of the promises God made to His people, on the condition that they observed and kept His commandments (see Deut. 28:1-12). The same chapter shows the contrast: if they turned aside from God's statutes and laws, others would eat the fruit of their land and all their labours. (v. 33.)

They will say of Him whom their fathers rejected, "He is our God." And He will own them, and take pleasure in them, as His people. With dance and tambourine they will crown the vine-clad mountains of Samaria, in the happy joy of an acceptable gladness. The Lord's loving-kindness will have drawn them into the covenant of endless peace, and they will keep their feasts of gladness in the beautiful garments of salvation (Jer. 31:4-5).

This does not refer to any particular mountain, but to the range of hill-country in Ephraim.

There is to be a complete restoration of the scattered and dispersed tribes. Not of Judah only, but of Israel: "all the families of Israel." Nothing can be more distinct.

Jeroboam had no faith in God and His word. He feared for his throne if the people kept going up to Jerusalem to worship. So he installed golden calves in Bethel and Dan. He appointed priests from all classes, ignoring the special privilege of the Levites. He set up feasts of his own devising against God's law. This turned the people completely away from God's centre and from His order. All this was more than unfaithfulness; it was open apostasy.

The message reached Ephraim, Manasseh and Zebulun. Most of the people met it with nothing but contempt and mockery. The Lord had already broken down much of their false worship. Yet when the chance came to return to God's true centre of worship, Jerusalem, they refused in folly and pride.

Scripture ties Zion to David and his rule. It ties Zion, just as plainly, to the sovereign grace of God, at a time when everything entrusted to man in Israel had failed. The priesthood had broken down. The ark had gone into captivity in the enemy's land. God's judgment on the Philistines brought it back, yet no one sought after it in the days of Saul. He was the Lord's anointed king, yet he had become apostate. Everything might have seemed lost. But it was not. At that lowest point, as the seventy-eighth psalm says, "Then the Lord awoke as from sleep… and He put His adversaries to rout. He rejected the tent of Joseph; He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loves… He chose David His servant."

Ephraim shall no more provoke Judah, nor shall Judah again provoke Ephraim (Isaiah 11:13). They shall be "one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms" (Ezekiel 37:22).

The restoration of the ten tribes will happen after the Lord has taken His kingdom. Because they had no part in the rejection and crucifixion of Christ, they will be spared the fearful and unusual trials their brothers must pass through. They will still be judged for their own sins. Those trials fall on their brothers because they accept the antichrist and join themselves to him.

These, and many other Scriptures, show the blessedness and joy of the people of God as they move together in relation to His interests… What precious results such movements yield! There is praise and thanksgiving to God. There is gladness of heart in a growing knowledge of God's holy ways. There is a deeper desire to walk in a way that pleases Him, and a testimony that draws others to Himself.

Another important difference is already set out at the start of Jeremiah 31. It is not a return of Judah, but of the twelve tribes. How different from the small remnant of Jews, with a few stragglers from other tribes, under Ezra and Nehemiah! Here all the families of Israel are in question… Who can claim that this has been fulfilled either in the Jews or in the gospel, much as the gospel has gone beyond it?

Verses 1–9. Sovereign grace will bring them back and give them the songs of salvation. It is true of Israel: "I have loved you with an everlasting love, and so with loving-kindness I have drawn you." It is just as true of us. What a day of joy it will be when they go back home once more, never to leave the old homeland again!

This passage does not say that "Israel" is "the chief of the nations," but it is a call of joy among the chief of the nations. Israel means there the whole twelve tribes.

In political terms, the Jews once had the chief place among the nations of the world. They lost it through their disobedience. It passed to the Gentiles in the person of Nebuchadnezzar, and the Gentile holds this rule to this day. He will keep it until the Lord comes to judge the rulers of the earth, and gives the Jews back the place they once held as chief among the nations.

It is plain from this and other scriptures that only these two tribes were restored, though there may have been people from other tribes among them. So it was only to Judah and Benjamin that Christ was later presented for acceptance, when He was born into this world. They rejected Him. That is why they, and they only of the twelve tribes, will pass through the terrible trouble… For the same reason, the ten tribes will not be gathered and restored until after the Lord appears to save the remnant in the land. (See Zechariah 14, Ezekiel 20:33–44, Ezekiel 34, and Jeremiah 31:6–14.)

"Let us go up … to the LORD our God. For thus says the LORD: Sing aloud with gladness" (Jeremiah 31:6–7). These Scriptures, and many others, show the blessedness and joy of the people of God as they move together in relation to His interests… Such movements yield precious results: praise and thanksgiving to God; gladness of heart in a growing knowledge of God's holy ways; a deepening desire to walk in a way that pleases Him; and a testimony which draws others to Himself!

Another important distinction is set out at the start of Jeremiah 31. This is not a return of Judah only, but of the twelve tribes. How different from the small remnant of Jews, with a few stragglers from other tribes, who came back under Ezra and Nehemiah! Here all the families of Israel are in view. … Who can claim that this has come true either in the Jews or in the gospel, much as the gospel goes beyond it?

There is the promise that the Lord will be "the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people" (verse 1). Verses 31 to 34 give the terms of the new covenant that will form the basis of that relationship. Then what is said here of the ten tribes will come true … (verse 8), and what is said of the two tribes as well … (verses 16 and 17).

The ten tribes will be restored after the Lord has taken His kingdom. They had no part in the rejection and crucifixion of Christ. So, although they will be judged for their own sins, they will be spared the terrible and peculiar trials their fellow Israelites must pass through. Those trials come from accepting the antichrist and siding with him. It is therefore not until after the return of Christ that He will bring to light and restore this long-lost portion of His people.

It is a complete deliverance, so that even the suffering and the sick will be brought safely back by God's command and care. He will bring them safely into the holy land. If anyone were likely to be left behind when God gathers Israel, it would of course be the sick and helpless described here. But no — He brings them all back. The Lord will forget none.

Plainly enough, the passage speaks of the deliverance of the whole earthly people, both the ten tribes and the two tribes, and of nothing else. We may take the principle of the promised restoration of Israel to show how good the Lord is towards us, but nothing more. The truth is that we have never been driven out of our heritage, as Israel was.

Some would spiritualise these prophecies and explain them away, trying to apply them to the Church and to Christianity. As though to guard against that, we are told, "And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah."

This tie, once formed, God never broke or disowned. The failure of the people could not dissolve it, and God will never forget it. Hosea 11:1 reminded them of it in the past; Jeremiah 31:8-9 predicted what will give them joy from it in the future. … It was not, and it is not, a question of deserving. The question is one of God's sovereignty. He formed the tie of His own will. He will never break it, and He will never stop owning it.

Later in their history, Jeremiah used this same beautiful image when he foretold the restoration of the nation of Israel from their scattering among the other nations. Out of Jehovah's "everlasting love," reaching even the ten tribes who had turned away from Him, He says, "I will bring them" back, "for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn."

It is not a return of Judah, but of the twelve tribes. How different from the small remnant of Jews, with a few stragglers from other tribes, who came back under Ezra and Nehemiah! Here all the families of Israel are in question.

Israel will not return with vainglory and pride, as if their own arm had delivered them. Their salvation in that day will not be due to the influence of money or to diplomacy, or to anything of man. "With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back." It will be a real work of God in them and for them. A work of repentance in their souls will accompany their restoration.

The Shepherd leads, though often by paths we do not know, until He brings us into the path of righteousness. He has walked the path of faith before us. The good shepherd, as the Gospel of John says, goes before His sheep and meets the enemy first. They follow in His footsteps, so they must expect a thorny path, though one He has already walked. Their Shepherd is with them, and His presence makes darkness light and crooked things straight. The foolish sheep are only wise when they hand themselves over to His guidance and follow wherever He leads. He will make them walk in a straight way where none will stumble and be hurt, for He rejoices over His people to do them good.

This tie, once formed, God never broke nor disowned. The failure of the people could not dissolve it, nor will God ever forget it.

The word "firstborn" is often used in Scripture, as with ourselves, to signify priority in time — the one who comes first. Scripture also uses the word to signify pre-eminence and dignity. God speaks of Ephraim as "My firstborn," though Manasseh was in fact the son born to Joseph first.

So "firstborn" Israel was not the first nation to exist, for Egypt and many other nations came before it. Nor was "firstborn" Ephraim the oldest of the tribes of Jacob. In each case, "firstborn" marked a position held in relation to others. That privilege did not rest on who existed first, but on God's favour and choice.

Israel was God's son, His firstborn; the children of the Lord their God. Jehovah was a Father to Israel, and Ephraim was His firstborn. Yet they never worshipped Him as the Father; for no one can know the Father except those to whom the Son will reveal Him.

Jeremiah 31 is the chapter of the "new thing" and "the new covenant." The Lord does not excuse the bad men who scattered the sheep of Israel. Yet He shows that He Himself has been behind it all for good. He calls to the nations to see that His people are not outside His care.

There are no islands near Palestine. Cyprus is the nearest, and that is about seventy miles from the closest point of Syria, far to the north. So the term "the isles" sometimes stands loosely for places or nations far away. We read of "the isles which are beyond the sea," "the isles afar off," and "isles of the Gentiles."

I know the nations are summoned to hear, but it is not about their own salvation; it is about Israel's blessing.

He came to gather His sheep. But as a people they refused to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd. He was struck down, and God, ruling as judge, "scattered" the flock.

God will yet make good every one of the faithful promises He made to Abraham His friend, and to David the man after His own heart. This will prove true: "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock." Those who fail to see it lose one of the most important pictures of God's faithfulness. The Prophets and the Psalms are full of promises to Israel. If we turn them all into blessings for the Church instead, what becomes of the gifts and calling of God for His earthly people?

The ten tribes will be restored after the Lord has taken His kingdom. They had no part in the rejection and crucifixion of Christ. They will still be judged for their own sins, but they will be spared the fearful trials that the rest of the nation must pass through. So it is only after Christ returns that He will bring to light and restore this long-lost part of His people.

He foretells the day when the Lord Himself will recover His scattered people, and "will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock." He also tells us of One who will be raised up from the seed of David, the shepherd king. In His days Israel will live in safety. The believer knows this Shepherd now, and receives eternal life from Him before He returns to gather Israel.

God speaks to the nations here. If only the great nations of today would listen to this message: "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock." His promises made to Israel will not fail. The nations should understand, though they do not, that Israel will yet become the head of all the nations of the earth. What singing that will be in that day! What rejoicing after their sorrow!

I know the nations are summoned to hear, but it is not about their own salvation — it is about Israel's blessing.

God will yet make good every one of the faithful promises He made to Abraham His friend, and to David the man after His own heart. You will find that "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock" (Jer. 31:10). Those who fail to see this fact lose one of the most important illustrations of the faithfulness of God. Suppose we turn all the promises to Israel that fill the Prophets and the Psalms into blessings for the Church instead. What then becomes of the gifts and calling of God for His earthly people?

Jeremiah 31 is the chapter of the "new thing" and "the new covenant." The Lord does not excuse the bad men who scattered the sheep of Israel. Still, He shows that He Himself has been behind it all for good. He calls the nations to see that they are not outside His care… They shall "flow together"! Take the fences away! That is what the one flock will do. Let the scatterers stop their scattering! The sheep will flow together to the goodness of the Lord.

God's power works in another way, still future, and Scripture calls it redemption… The Psalms and Prophets use the word again and again for the future deliverance of Israel for His kingdom on earth. Another word carries the same sense, and Jeremiah 31:11 is one of the places that uses it. All of it, however, rests on His blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was an outward sample and pledge.

Redemption is God stepping in, in the end for the body as well, to break the bond of the enemy and deliver the one who was captive. It may be by blood for the soul, but finally by power for the body. This is always how Scripture treats it. So you find, "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed" (Ps. 107:2). Whom does the Spirit mean? All mankind? Not so, but Israel only.

In the first case, ransom or buying back, the Kinsman dealt with a rightful claimant and met his demands. His brother, or his brother's inheritance, had been sold. It had to be bought back at a price set fairly and justly, according to the law of valuations. But this duty of rescuing or delivering a brother is different. Here the Kinsman deals with a stranger or an enemy. He must do this service by meeting force with force, by the strength of a stronger arm. But this is also our natural condition, our state under the ruins of the fall. And the Son of God, who shared our flesh and blood, does this Kinsman-service for us.

It is a deliverance worked by the Lord, and therefore it is complete. Its enjoyment is not hindered by weakness. It is a deliverance that melts the heart and brings tears and pleading. Yet it removes every cause for tears except grace.

This shows at once that it was not merely the restoration from Babylon. He declares that His love is an everlasting love. He redeemed Jacob (v. 11); they would come and sing on the height of Zion. Verse 31 declares that this rests on establishing the new covenant.

Both families (chapter 31) would be His people. This shows at once that it was not only the restoration from Babylon. God declares that His love is an everlasting love. He redeemed Jacob (v. 11); they would come and sing in the height of Zion. Verse 31 declares that all this rests on establishing the new covenant.

As though to guard against the spiritualizing mode of interpretation, which would explain away such prophecies in the attempt to apply them to the Church and to Christianity, we are told, "And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah." They are not words concerning something else figuratively represented under the names of Israel and Judah, but words spoken by the Lord — solemn thought! — concerning Israel and Judah.

They shall "flow together"! Take the fences away! That is what the one flock will do. Let the scatterers stop their scattering! The sheep will flow together to the goodness of the Lord. The good Shepherd knows His own sheep and they know Him. Let the hindrances disappear, and the freed sheep — the one flock — will happily flow together and flock around the One who gave His life for the sheep.

See how fully God set blessing before Israel. "The corn, the wine, and the oil" are joined together again and again in Deuteronomy and other scriptures. They take in the produce of the field, the vineyard and the orchard. God makes all of it yield its increase in blessing. Of Him it is said, "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof."

Sin had interfered with the giving of blessing to the earth. Redemption reconnects the broken links, and the chain is complete. This shows most plainly when the Lord Jesus reigns in glory over the earth. Jezreel — the place once of sin and judgment, now of mercy — calls to the corn and the wine and the oil, as the evidence of God's favour, and in line with His promise at the beginning. Israel forfeited it then, because God made it conditional on obedience. It is secure now through restoring grace.

Water was always necessary. In Eden a river watered the garden, and so people described a fruitful place as well watered, "like the garden of the LORD" (Genesis 13:10). The picture also stands for great blessing. When Israel is restored, "their life shall be like a watered garden" (Jeremiah 31:12). Under God's judgments, though, they were like a garden without water (Isaiah 1:30).

The people of Israel were planted beside the waters. That is to say, they were in direct relationship with the LORD. Yet they kept turning aside from Him, to their own hurt as well as to His dishonour. But a day is coming when the people will turn back to the One they have so badly neglected. They will see God in Christ… Let us avoid Israel's failure. Let us hold fast to the Head, from whom the whole body … grows with a growth that is from God (Colossians 2:19).

Ages have passed since Jeremiah wrote these words. Generations have come and gone, yet these promises are unfulfilled. How, then, can they feel sure it will be fulfilled to them, in their day? … In the land as the restored remnant, though outside Jerusalem, they have seen the soil grow fertile again. It lay uncultivated for so long, keeping its sabbath. Now it yields its fruit in plenty. God has remembered the land.

It is as if God guards against the way of reading prophecy that treats it as a symbol — explaining such promises away by applying them to the Church and to Christianity. So we are told, "And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah." They are not words about something else pictured under the names of Israel and Judah. They are words spoken by the Lord (a solemn thought!) about Israel and about Judah.

This is not a return of Judah only, but of all twelve tribes. How different from the small remnant of Jews, with a few stragglers from other tribes, under Ezra and Nehemiah! Here all the families of Israel are in view.

In chapter 31 the Holy Spirit goes on encouraging the heart with bright hopes of the coming glory. He makes known that the secret behind it all is the unchanging, eternal love of God. He says, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel. You shall be adorned with tambourines again, and shall go out in the dances of those who celebrate" (vv. 3-4).

Jeremiah 31:13 shows a scene of mourning that the Lord turns into joy, where young and old are united together.

Sorrow is shut out for ever. Young and old, unmarried and married, join to show their cheerfulness and delight. Sorrow and mourning are mentioned only as things now past — mentioned to mark the contrast between past and present.

Ages have passed since these words were written. Generations have come and gone, yet these promises are unfulfilled. How, then, can God's people feel sure it will be fulfilled to them, in their day?

His promises made to Israel will not fail. The nations should understand, as they do not, that Israel will yet become the head of all the nations of the earth. What singing that will be in that day of which the prophet speaks. What rejoicing after their sorrow! What fullness will be theirs!

The coming kingdom will have no place for mourners: all will rejoice then; but those who mourn now, feeling the ruin of outward conditions, will be blessed in the sweetness of being comforted by God.

Judah, the people Jeremiah's prophecies were addressed to, would not be the only ones restored. All the families of Israel would enjoy this blessing. Jehovah would be their God, and they would be His people... The Lord Himself works this deliverance, so it is complete. Weakness cannot spoil their enjoyment of it. It is a deliverance that melts the heart and brings tears and pleading, but it removes every cause for tears except grace. They will sorrow no more. Their soul will be like a watered garden. They will be satisfied with goodness from Jehovah... This will come through a new covenant — not the one made when they came out of Egypt. The law will be written in their heart. They will all know Jehovah, and none of their sins will be remembered any more.

Some explain such prophecies away by applying them to the Church and to Christianity. As if to guard against that, we are told, "And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah." They are not words about something else pictured under the names of Israel and Judah. They are words the Lord spoke — a solemn thought — about Israel and about Judah.

His second coming will end wars. He comes whose Person is the answer to every question and the solution to every problem. He comes to deliver His people and to reign supreme... Jeremiah 31 describes the joy of Israel at that moment, when they will come and sing aloud on the height of Zion.

It would mean enjoying the very best that God's own circle provides. It is striking that the fat is included, because in the sacrifices the fat belonged to God. Still, we do read in Psalm 36, "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Your house, and You shall make them drink of the river of Your pleasures."

God will renew the land, rebuild the ruined cities, and make the strangers who once despised them their servants. But the crown of it all will be their spiritual blessing. They will be the "Priests of Jehovah" and "Ministers of God" in the coming age. Under the law the offerings of the ordinary people supported the priests. So it will be for them, and in abundant measure, for they are going to "eat the riches of the Gentiles."

They speak with confidence, not just about the righteous, but about themselves. "We shall be satisfied." The blessing will come in their day. With the word of God before them, what else could they expect? It is grace indeed, but God had beforehand announced it. What they look for now is not a taste of goodness, a slight sense of what God could give. They look to be filled to the full.

A man may hunger after the world and not be filled; the world is fading, not filling. A man may be filled and not satisfied. A sinner may take his fill of sin, but it is far from satisfaction, "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways" (Prov. 14:14). This is the kind of filling the lost in hell have; they will be full of the fury of the Lord. But whoever hungers after righteousness will be filled and satisfied. "My people shall be satisfied with My goodness" (Jer. 31:14).

The Rama or Ramah spoken of in these verses was a city of the tribe of Benjamin, some 5–10 miles north of Jerusalem (Joshua 18:21 and 25). The Assyrian, the rod of His anger, had already removed the ten tribes — the kingdom of Israel — out of the Lord's sight (2 Kings 17; Isaiah 10:5). The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph, the first son of Rachel, were among them. Now Nebuchadnezzar was removing the tribe of Benjamin, Rachel's second son, along with the tribe of Judah, "at the commandment of the Lord" (2 Kings 24).

Why Rachel's voice? While Bethlehem belonged to the tribe of Judah, Benjamin was next to them; and you remember Benjamin was Rachel's son. Bethlehem is first mentioned in connection with Rachel's death (Gen. 35:16-20), and her tomb was "in the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah" (1 Sam. 10:2). This bit of land, belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, dipped down into the land of Judah. A little building still marks the site of her tomb, about a mile north of Bethlehem, on the main road from Jerusalem and Bethel.

Herod was so determined to sweep the area clear that he had children killed not only in Bethlehem, but in the districts around it — the parts of Benjamin just mentioned. Rachel had been dead for centuries and centuries, but the Spirit of God puts it in this remarkable way, as if her spirit had risen from the dead. Rachel's voice is lifted up in weeping over this terrible slaughter of so many of her own children, as well as the murdered infants of the tribe of Judah. Her cries of sorrow are heard even in Ramah, the chief town of Benjamin.

The story begins in chapter 30, and Jacob's name becomes prominent at once. Like his, the nation's way to the glory is through trial and trouble. The reference to Rachel's anguish (Jer. 31:15) points the same way. But "Benoni" — the son of her sorrow — becomes "Benjamin" — the son of the right hand.

It is beautiful to see that the Holy Spirit (Matt. 2:17-18) applies to that event the passage about sorrow but not that about joy. Here is what follows: "Thus says the Lord: Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy" (verse 16).

There was bitter sorrow then, even in the birthplace of royalty. Deep anguish was in the place where there ought to have been the greatest joy. The birth of the Messiah ought to have been the signal for universal joy in the land of Israel. And there would have been if there had been faith in God and His promise, but there was not.

But what comfort there would have been for them if they had turned to the Scripture which spoke of their sorrow. There we read, "The Lord appeared to Me from far away, saying: Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued My faithfulness to you… and there is hope for your future, declares the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own country" (Jer. 31).

Read that verse with its context, and you will see that its final and complete fulfilment comes in the last days. Then God will end Rachel's weeping by bringing her children back from the land of the enemy. Still, what took place at Bethlehem was the same kind of thing on a smaller scale.

In Jeremiah 31:15-17 there is a very touching reference to Rachel and a connection with the affliction of "her children" in the day of the captivity to Babylon. But it looks on to the blessed time of gracious repayment, when the LORD will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

She appears before us as a true Rachel. As we know, she now refuses to be comforted, and will refuse until her "children shall come again to her own border" (Jeremiah 31:15-17). Such is the heart of the children of Israel.

In this chapter we find the well-known scripture that is applied to Herod's destruction of the children at Bethlehem. It is beautiful to see that the Holy Spirit (Matthew 2:17-18) applies to that event the passage about sorrow but not the one about joy.

But what comfort there would have been for them if they had turned to the Scripture which spoke of their sorrow. There we read, "The LORD appeared to Me from far away, saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued My faithfulness to you… Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy."

So the Holy Spirit applied the first part of the prophecy, but there He stops. When the entire prophecy is fulfilled, there will be sorrow again in the land, great sorrow, but there will also be joy. "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." "And there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country" (verse 17).

Even this anguish points on to the future travail of the nation, just before their labour is rewarded (v. 16). The reward is the presence of Christ with them, their Messiah in resurrection life, the Man Child who has been brought forth before their travail (see Isaiah 66:7). All of this about Rachel and her children shows the comforting truth: joy comes in the morning, though weeping may last through the night.

Faith trusts the LORD, but Rachel has to learn that only resurrection holds life and power. For nature there must be a voice "heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping" — "weeping for her children, and no comfort, because they are not." Yet the LORD says: Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears. In the power of Him who is in resurrection "they shall come back from the land of the enemy", and there is hope for the time to come.

Hope is the handkerchief that God puts into His people's hands, to wipe the tears from their eyes — tears drawn out by their present troubles and the long wait for mercies they expect (Jeremiah 31:16-17).

The Gospel writer did not quote this verse. He only referred to what was fulfilled. … So the Holy Spirit applied the first part of the prophecy, but there He stops. When the whole prophecy comes true, there will be sorrow in the land again, great sorrow, but there will also be joy. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

It is pointless to quote Matthew 2 as if it proved that verse 15 was completely fulfilled there. The wording Matthew uses points out no more than a likeness in spirit between the prophecy he quotes and the event. It does not say the event was what the prophecy aimed at.

But the promise, "they shall come back from the land of the enemy" and "your children shall come back to their own country," clearly shows that captivity is also meant. Rachel's children (Joseph and Benjamin, that is, Ephraim) will return from it after the final tribulation and weeping. Physical resurrection is not in view here. That is why the next verse speaks of Ephraim moaning and repenting. Then comes God's gracious answer: "Is Ephraim My dear son? — I will surely have mercy on him."

Then God will fulfil what is said here of the ten tribes: "Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth…" (verse 8). He will also fulfil what is said of the two tribes: "Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears… they shall come back from the land of the enemy… and your children shall come back to their own country" (verses 16 and 17).

Even this anguish points on to the nation's future birth pangs, just before their labour receives its reward (v. 16): the presence of Christ with them, their Messiah in resurrection life, the Man Child brought forth before their birth pangs (see Isaiah 66:7). All of this with Rachel and her children shows the comforting truth that joy comes in the morning, though weeping may last for a night.

Hope is the handkerchief that God puts into His people's hands. With it they wipe away the tears that their present troubles, and the long wait for expected mercies, draw from their eyes.

"Then He began to denounce the cities where most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent." Here was true grief, and fully felt as grief. There is no true grief except where there is no help around; and Jesus had none around Him. "Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they are no more" — the word to her was, "There is hope for your future."