Jeremiah 30:2-7 - How awful that day will be

30:2,3

First, God tells them to write all of the words He gave to Jeremiah in a book. They were all to be recorded, and Paul tells us that all of God’s word is useful for our instruction. All of Jeremiah comes from God, and we need all of it. even, perhaps especially, the bits we don’t like! God tells them that one day He would bring His people, Israel and Judah, back to the land He gave to their ancestors. The mention of “Israel and Judah” is significant. The land would be united. Now, remember that the false prophets were prophesying a return, but there were two things wrong with their prophecies. They predicted an immediate return, and they neglected the reality of Judah’s sin. Any talk of God’s love that ignores the reality of man’s sin is just so much hot air.

30:4-7

There seems to be some ambiguity here. The section ends with our being told that there will be turmoil, a day of trouble for Jacob, “but he will be saved out of it”. Yet we know that it is referring (at least in the immediate context) to the downfall of Babylon. The reference to “every strongman” being doubled up in agony would seem to refer to previous oppressors being in agony.