30:18,19
This describes the nature of the restoration. The Lord will have compassion on both the people and their dwellings. We are right to oppose the so-called “prosperity gospel”, but we should also recognise that God’s salvation is material as well as spiritual. The material and the spiritual are part of God’s creation, of His universe. “The city will be rebuilt on her ruins”. There are those who place a wrong emphasis on physical Israel, but we must not go to the other extreme. The physical land of Israel and Jerusalem do matter. God will restore things to the way they are meant to be. We can apply this to our own lives as well. There may be parts of our lives (or even most or all of our lives) that are a ruin. God’s plan is to restore our lives.
30:20-22
Israel had been punished by her oppressors, the oppressors being used by God as an instrument of judgement, but now the oppressors would be punished. In verse 21 we then have a messianic prophesy. The leader is Jesus. He is “one of their own”, i.e by birth Jesus was a Jew, an Israelite. He is utterly devoted to the Father, and brings us near to God. “So you will be my people, and I will be your God”. This is the overriding purpose of the Bible.
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