Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 30:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 30:8. I will break his yoke — That is, the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar.

Of him. — Of Jacob, (Jeremiah 30:7,) viz., the then captive Jews.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Disease, suffering and healing (30:1-24)

Although he has been prophesying the captivity of Judah, Jeremiah knows also that after seventy years the people will return to their homeland. A theme of hope and encouragement runs through the next few chapters (30:1-3).
The suffering of God’s people will almost be more than they can bear, but God assures them that it will not last indefinitely (4-7). He will release them from bondage and give them independence and peace under the rule of the Davidic dynasty again (8-9). Nations who have oppressed Judah will be destroyed, but God will not destroy Judah. He will discipline Judah because of its sins, but when the people repent he will re-establish them as a nation (10-11).
Nothing can save Judah from either the present distress or the greater distress to follow. The nation is like a person who has an incurable disease (12-13). As an immoral woman tries to win the favour of lovers, so Judah has tried to gain the help of other nations. But those she thought were allies will prove useless to her (14-15). The covenant God, Yahweh, is the only one who can restore his people. By his own power he will destroy Judah’s oppressors and heal her incurable disease (16-17).
Jerusalem will be rebuilt and its former power and prosperity will be restored. The population will increase to compensate for those slaughtered in the Babylonian destruction, and the streets of the city will be full of rejoicing again (18-20). The people will have their own kings to rule over them and they will worship God sincerely, as befitting those who belong to God (21-22). But before these glorious days come, God must punish the nation Judah for its wickedness (23-24).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more make him thy bondman; but they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished."

"Yoke from off thy neck" "Only in the most preliminary way can this refer to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar on the neck of Jacob. What is meant is the liberation of God's people from all foreign oppressors; and that could be accomplished only by the glorious intervention of Israel's Messianic king."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 561. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to the further exploration of that theme.

Caesar was the name of a Roman emperor; but the name, in time, became a title for many subsequent emperors. Among the Jews, the same thing happened. David was the name of one of their kings; but, in time, it came to be the title of Messiah himself, "The Son of David" (Matthew 1:1). "It is very significant that in the prophetic scriptures the resurrection of David himself is never predicted as an antecedent to the rule of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, on the Davidic throne."Ibid.

"They shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king" Note the parallelism. David their king, Messiah, is indeed God come in the flesh. Serving Christ is serving God. Some have missed the point here. Henderson noted that, "The prophecy that the Jews would serve Messiah has hitherto had only a very partial fulfillment, yet the time is coming when they all shall adore him as their Saviour and their King."E. Henderson, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (London: Hamilton, Adams, and Company, 1851), p. 164. Such a comment overlooks the truth that "All Israel," that is, "All the true Israel" are already serving Messiah. To construe this prophecy as a notion that all racial Israel shall ever adore Christ is a gross mistake.

"Jacob my servant" Theme of Jacob, or Israel, as God's servant is more fully developed in Isaiah in the series of passages called "The Servant Songs." (Isaiah 41:8-14; Isaiah 43:1-7; Isaiah 44:1-2; Isaiah 51:1 f; Isaiah 53, etc.).

"Full end of all the nations… not a full end of thee" Ammon, Moab, Edom, Assyria, etc. no longer exist; but the nation of Israel is still on earth. How do critics explain this without designating it a "predictive prophecy?"

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Bonds - See Jeremiah 27:2 note.

Shall no more serve themselves - i. e., shall no more exact forced labor of him Jeremiah 22:13.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Jeremiah proceeds with what he touched upon in the last verse, even that the Lord, after having chastised his people, would at length shew mercy to them, so as to receive them into favor. He says, in short, that their captivity would not be perpetual. But we must remember what we have before stated, that is, that deliverance is only promised to the faithful, who would patiently and resignedly submit to God and not disregard his paternal correction. If, then, we desire God to be propitious to us, we must suffer ourselves to be paternally chastised by him; for if we resist when goaded, no pardon can by any means be expected, for we then, as it were, wilfully provoke God by our hardness.

He therefore says, in that day, that is, when the appointed time was completed. The false prophets inflamed the people with false expectation, as though their deliverance was to take place after two years. God bade the faithful to wait, and not to be thus in a hurry; he had assigned a day for them, and that was, as we have seen, the seventieth year. He then mentions the yoke, that is, of the king of Babylon, and taking another view, the chains The yoke was what Nebuchadnezzar laid on the Jews; and the chains of the people were those by which Nebuchadnezzar had bound them. At last he adds, And rule over them shall no more strangers The verb עבד, obed, is to be taken here in a causative sense; even the form of the sentence shews this, and they who render the words, “and strangers shall not serve them,” wrest the meaning; for it could not be a promise; and this is inconsistent with the context, and requires no confutation, as it is evidently unsuitable. If the verb be taken in the sense of serving, then “strangers” must be in the dative case. We have seen before a similar phrase in Jeremiah 25:14, where the Prophet says that neither kings nor strong nations would any longer rule over the Jews. The same verb is used, and the same form of expression. Strangers, then, shall make them serve no more; that is, they shall not rule over them so as slavishly to oppress them. ⁽⁴⁾

We now perceive the design of the Prophet; he exhorts the Jews to patience, and shews that though their exile would be long, yet their deliverance was certain. It follows, —

(4)  

I render the verse as follows, —

8.And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, That I shall break his yoke from thy neck, And thy chains will I burst: And make him to serve shall strangers no more: 9. But serve shall they Jehovah, etc..

The transition from the second to the third person, “thy” and “him,” and from the singular to the plural, “him” and “they,” is very common in the Prophets. On the last line in the 8^th verse (Jeremiah 30:8). — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 30

Now as we get into chapter 30, we enter into the future in these next four chapters. And this is now writing of the Great Tribulation period which is yet future. This is writing about this period of time, the final seven years in which God is going to be dealing with the nation Israel. For seventy sevens were determined upon the nation Israel, of which sixty-nine were fulfilled when Christ the Messiah came, leaving one seven-year cycle yet to be fulfilled which is yet future, which Jesus spoke to His disciples as being fulfilled during the time when the antichrist will be upon the earth. Now here in Jeremiah he speaks of this final seven-year period of God's dealing when He draws the Jews back into the land and He begins to deal with them. And thus, we are in this in yet future events of this final seven years. It is called here in Jeremiah the time of Jacob's trouble.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it ( Jeremiah 30:1-3 ).

And he's talking about the present re-gathering that you see in the nation of Israel, not the re-gathering from the Babylonian captivity. And if you notice the very last verse of chapter 30, in the very end of the verse it said, "In the latter days you will understand it or you'll consider it." You'll be able to understand this in the last days. So write it in the book. In the last days this will be understood. So as we see the nation Israel being re-gathered into the land, we can begin to understand now the words of this particular prophecy.

And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace ( Jeremiah 30:4-5 ).

Of course, the land hasn't really experienced peace since they've been re-gathered. And the people are beginning to live in fear. Quite an article in the paper the other day concerning the children from Kiryat Shemonah and the fear that they have of these Russian Katyusha rockets that are raining down upon them.

Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? ( Jeremiah 30:6 )

Does a man travail? Does a man go through labor?

why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in travail, and all of their faces are turned into paleness? ( Jeremiah 30:6 )

And so he sees, really, the anguish that is upon the men of Israel.

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it ( Jeremiah 30:7 ).

So God promises that He is going to save the people out of it.

For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them ( Jeremiah 30:8-9 ).

So God is going to break up the yoke of the antichrist and of the oppression as Jesus comes again. And they will serve the Lord their God, and David. Christ, after the seed of David, Branch out of the stem of Jesse, will be the king out of the "throne of David, to order it, and to establish it in righteousness and in judgment" ( Isaiah 9:7 ). "Whom I will raise up," God said, "unto them."

Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid ( Jeremiah 30:10 ).

This is when Jesus comes again. "Then shall He gather together His elect from the four corners of the world" ( Isaiah 11:12 ). And Israel would be brought back and recognize Jesus and acknowledge Him and serve Him.

For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee ( Jeremiah 30:11 ):

For all of Israel shall be saved, as saith the scripture, for a deliverer shall come out of Zion to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers when Jesus comes again.

though I make a full end of all of the nations where I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished ( Jeremiah 30:11 ).

You're going to be punished, but you're not going to be destroyed.

For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines. All of your lovers have forgotten thee; they do not seek you; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased. Why do you cry for your affliction? your sorrow is incurable for the multitude of your iniquity: because your sins were increased, I have done this unto you. Therefore all of they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all of your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and all of they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all they that prey upon thee will I give for a prey ( Jeremiah 30:12-16 ).

You remember Jesus said in Matthew's gospel when He returns again, when the Son of man comes in His kingdom, then shall He gather together the nations for judgment. And He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will say to those on His right hand, "Come, ye blessed of the Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared from the foundations of the earth. Enter into the joy of your Lord. For I was hungry and you fed Me; thirsty and you gave Me to drink; naked and you clothed Me; in prison, and sick, and you visited Me." And to those on His left He'll say, "Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity into everlasting judgment or into Gehenna which was prepared for Satan and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not feed Me; thirsty and you did not give Me to drink; naked you did not clothe Me." "Lord, when did we see You hungry? When did we see You naked? When did we see You in these conditions?" And He said, "Inasmuch as you did it not unto My brethren, the least of My brethren, you did it not to Me" ( Matthew 25:31-36 , Matthew 25:41-45 ).

And Jesus is talking about the Jews and the treatment of the nations of the Jews. And the nations will be brought in judgment before God for their treatment of the Jewish race. That is why it is so important for us to maintain a strong pro-Israel position as a nation. God is going to judge the nations for their treatment of His brothers, Jesus' brothers, that is the Jewish nation. So here God is saying the same thing through Jeremiah that He will bring... "Those that devour you will be devoured. All of your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity, and those that spoiled you will be spoiled."

For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeks after. Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be built upon her own heap ( Jeremiah 30:17-18 ),

And the city of Jerusalem has been built over the heaps of the past ruins.

and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be as they were before, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them ( Jeremiah 30:18-20 ).

The glorious restoration of the nation Israel. Now there are Bible teachers today who deny this aspect of biblical truth. It is unfortunate, but there are many ministers who have been deceived into an anti-Semitic position. And I get tracts and all, letters from people with these tracts on anti-Semitism because they know my pro-Israel position. And they say, "God is through with the nation Israel. The church is now spiritual Israel. All of the promises that God gave to Israel now apply to the church and the church is now spiritual Israel, and God is through and forever finished with the nation Israel. As a people they are over. They had their chance. They ruined their chance. God has cast them out forever. They're gone, that's the end of it and all." Not so. These people are not scholars of the Old Testament. If they will read the Old Testament they would realize that God is making these promises to the nation Israel, to the seed of Jacob, and they do not and cannot apply to the church even in a spiritual way.

Now because these people misinterpret the scriptures and have such a lack of understanding of the Old Testament prophecies, they then make the second error and say that the church is going to go through the Great Tribulation. Because in the Great Tribulation God speaks of the saints. God speaks of the elect. And thus, if there are saints and elect in the Great Tribulation, they must be the church, because God is through with Israel and those promises, and all that apply to Israel are now all applicable to the church. Therefore, the other things that were applicable to Israel would also be applicable to the church, and thus, they see the church in the Great Tribulation. But it's only because of the spiritualizing of the church to become spiritual Israel and declaring that God is through once and forever with the nation Israel, the seed of Jacob. That is contrary to all of the prophecies.

As Peter spoke how that God spoke in all of the scriptures, he said, of the final restitution. Peter makes reference to how God in all of the scriptures spoke of that day when the final restitution of the nation Israel, of all things to the nation Israel. But these men either willfully or ignorantly overlook this fact and thus they fall into that tragic error of saying, "Well, the church is in the Great Tribulation because, look, here it speaks about the saints." What does it say about the saints? It says, "And the beast will make war against the saints, and overcome them" ( Revelation 11:7 ). Good luck, saints. You're going to be overcome by the antichrist. Doesn't that encourage you? In Daniel it speaks about the little horn, the antichrist, who makes war against the saints and prevails against them. Congratulations, saints, the antichrist is going to wipe you out. No, no, no, don't you believe that. Jesus said, "I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" ( Matthew 16:18 ). Then who are the saints who the antichrist prevails against? Israel.

In this final seven-year period the time of Jacob's trouble, and that's why Jacob is in trouble, because he has made a covenant with the antichrist. So anxious are they to rebuild their temple, that when the European leader comes along and says, "Look, we'll help you to rebuild your temple. After all, you've eliminated Russia and given us now this great rise to power, and so we like to show you a favor and we'll just put a wall along here and we'll separate the Dome of the Rock mosque from this area here and go ahead and build your temple right here." And they will begin to worship this man as the Messiah. But after three-and-a-half years he'll come to this temple and he's going to stand in the holy of holies and he's going to say, "All right, that's enough. Stop the prayers, the sacrifices. I am God; you must now worship me as God." And the people are going to flee down to the area of Jordan, Trans-Jordan, into the area of Petra where God is going to preserve them. The antichrist is going to send out an army after them. The earth is going to open up and swallow the army of the antichrist. And then he is going to just make war against the remnant of the Jews that is still in the land, eradicating them. Time of Jacob's trouble. But then deliverance is coming.

For as the antichrist then begins to move with his European forces to conquer Africa, and he passes through Egypt, comes to the borders of Ethiopia, and he's moving down in a conquest of Africa, he'll hear the news that the forces of China and Russia have combined together and are moving across the Euphrates in a mass invasion of Europe. And he will return from his invasion of Africa, and he'll meet these combined forces of China and Russia in the valley of Megiddo there in Israel. And there the final great conflict will be fought. And while these armies of the world, the vast millions of people pour into this area where this holocaust and the blood is running to the horses' bridle through the space of the whole valley, then the Deliverer shall come out of Zion. Behold, He comes with ten thousands of His saints and He sets His foot upon the Mount of Olives which perpetrates an earthquake that splits the Mount of Olives in two. One part towards the north, one part towards the south, forming a new valley down to the Dead Sea area. And underground springs will be opened up and a river will come gushing out from Jerusalem and flow on down towards the Dead Sea. A part of it will branch off and go to the Mediterranean and when the waters come in to the Dead Sea, the Dead Sea will no longer become a Dead Sea, but will become alive and active. And they'll begin to have a fishing industry in the area of the Dead Sea and Engedi will be a place of drying fishers' nets.

And all of this God has predicted and told in advance. And when Jesus returns, by the brightness of His coming and by the word that goes forth out of His mouth, He's going to destroy this man of sin, the antichrist, this false Messiah. And He is going to sit upon the throne of David. He's going to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth and He will rule over the nation with the rod of iron. And He has said to those who overcome that they shall rule and reign with Him over the nations. And we shall reign with Him as kings and priests as He establishes God's kingdom here on the earth. And our prayer, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven" will be consummated as we see the glorious day of God's kingdom here on earth. "And they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: and they will study war no more" ( Isaiah 2:4 ). "And the lion will eat grass with the oxen and the wolf and the lamb will lie down together and a little child will lead a lion around by its mane" ( Isaiah 11:6-7 ). For there will be no more wars. There will be no more violence in God's kingdom. It will be a kingdom of righteousness and joy and peace. And that's the kingdom where we share because of God's grace and love to us through Jesus Christ.

So Jeremiah is now moving ahead to this Kingdom Age in his prophecy. He's going out beyond the darkness. There's going to be a period of darkness, period of captivity. But then, there will come foRuth (in verse Jeremiah 30:19 ) the "thanksgivings and the voices of those that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also glorify them, and they will not be small. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all that oppress them."

And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD. And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days [you'll see it come to pass] ye shall consider it ( Jeremiah 30:21-24 ).

You'll understand it. As in this tribulation like a whirlwind from God until it has accomplished God's purposes. And then the kingdom shall be established. The book of Revelation closes with the words, "And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let him who is athirst come. And drink of the water of life freely" ( Revelation 22:17 ). And Jesus said, "Behold I come quickly." And John responded, "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus" ( Revelation 22:20 ).

Oh, how I long for that day when Jesus shall come and establish His righteous reign over the earth. How I long for that day when we will see the world that God intended and God wanted from the beginning. A world that is cleaned up of its pollution, physical and spiritual. Where we live together in His love, in His righteousness, in His peace, in His glory. I'm so thankful that God has ordained that I should have a place and a part in that kingdom. Even if it is just picking up coconut on the beaches in Hawaii to keep them clean. Great! Love it. Keep my section of the beach clean.

May the Lord cause His Word to be established in each of your hearts and lives. And may you grow in grace and in knowledge of Him. And may He with His cords of loving-kindness just draw you unto Himself that you may ever experience a richer, fuller, deeper comprehension of that love that God has for you, His child. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jacob’s distress and deliverance 30:4-11

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

At that time, Yahweh would set His people free from all those who restrained and enslaved them (cf. Exodus 7:16). The Israelites were not slaves in Assyria or Babylon. This points to a future deliverance (cf. Ezekiel 34:23; Hosea 3:5).

". . . the judgment described in these verses cannot possibly be restricted to the downfall of the Babylonian monarchy, but is the judgment that is to fall upon all nations (Jeremiah 30:11)." [Note: Ibid., 2:6.]

Instead of suffering captivity, the Israelites would serve their God and David their king, whom the Lord would raise up for them. This probably refers to a successor to David rather than King David himself (cf. Jeremiah 23:5; Isaiah 55:3-5; Ezekiel 34:23-25; Ezekiel 37:24-25; Hosea 3:5). [Note: Dyer, "Jeremiah," p. 1168, viewed this as referring to David himself (cf. Ezekiel 34:23-24). He later wrote, in The Old . . ., p. 618, that it could refer to David or to Christ.]

"The Targum, though interpretative, is correct in identifying this ideal King as ’Messiah, the son of David.’ Among the Jews the name David came to be used of royalty, much as Pharaoh, Caesar, or Czar, but only in the highest and final sense." [Note: Feinberg, p. 561.]

"They [Jeremiah 30:8-9] deal with the whole people of Yahweh in messianic times." [Note: Thompson, p. 556.]

In view of later revelation, we know that this successor to David is Jesus Christ (Luke 1:69; Acts 2:30; Acts 13:23; Acts 13:34; Acts 13:38).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts,.... When the time is come for Jacob to be saved out of his trouble:

[that] I will break his yoke from off thy neck; not the yoke of the king of Babylon, but of antichrist, and of all the antichristian states, by whom the people of God have been oppressed; so the Targum,

"I will break the yoke of the peoples (the antichristian nations) from off your necks.''

Jarchi interprets it of the yoke of the nations of the world from off Israel; and Kimchi of the yoke of Gog and Magog, or of every nation:

and will burst thy bonds; by which they were kept in bondage, both with respect to civil and religious things; but now he that led into captivity shall go into captivity himself, Revelation 13:10;

and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him; this shows that this prophecy cannot be understood of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; because, after this, strangers did serve themselves of the Jews, and they were servants unto them; as to the Persians, and Grecians, and especially the Romans, by whom they were entirely subdued and ruined; and to this day all nations almost serve themselves of them; but when they shall be called and converted, as they shall be free from the yoke of sin and Satan, and from the yoke of the ceremonial law, and the traditions of their elders, in a religious sense; so from the yoke of the nations of the world, in a civil sense.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,   2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.   3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.   4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.   5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.   6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?   7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.   8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:   9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

      Here, I. Jeremiah is directed to write what God had spoken to him, which perhaps refers to all the foregoing prophecies. He must write them and publish them, in hopes that those who had not profited by what he said upon once hearing it might take more notice of it when in reading it they had leisure for a more considerate review. Or, rather, it refers to the promises of their enlargement, which had been often mixed with his other discourses. He must collect them and put them together, and God will now add unto them many like words. He must write them for the generations to come, who should see them accomplished, and thereby have their faith in the prophecy confirmed. He must write them not in a letter, as that in the chapter before to the captives, but in a book, to be carefully preserved in the archives, or among the public rolls or registers of the state. Daniel understood by these books when the captivity was about coming to an end, Daniel 9:2. He must write them in a book, not in loose papers: "For the days come, and are yet at a great distance, when I will bring again the captivity of Israel and Judah, great numbers of the ten tribes, with those of the two," Jeremiah 30:3; Jeremiah 30:3. And this prophecy must be written, that it may be read then also, that so it may appear how exactly the accomplishment answers the prediction, which is one end of the writing of prophecies. It is intimated that they shall be beloved for their fathers' sake (Romans 11:28); for therefore God will bring them again to Canaan, because it was the land that he gave to their fathers, which therefore they shall possess.

      II. He is directed what to write. The very words are such as the Holy Ghost teaches, Jeremiah 30:4; Jeremiah 30:4. These are the words which God ordered to be written; and those promises which are written by his order are as truly his word as the ten commandments which were written with his finger. 1. He must write a description of the fright and consternation which the people were now in, and were likely to be still in upon every attack that the Chaldeans made upon them, which will much magnify both the wonder and the welcomeness of their deliverance (Jeremiah 30:5; Jeremiah 30:5): We have heard a voice of trembling--the shrieks of terror echoing to the alarms of danger. The false prophets told them that they should have peace, but there is fear and not peace, so the margin reads it. No marvel that when without are fightings within are fears. The men, even the men of war, shall be quite overwhelmed with the calamities of their nation, shall sink under them, and yield to them, and shall look like women in labour, whose pains come upon them in great extremity and they know that they cannot escape them, Jeremiah 30:6; Jeremiah 30:6. You never heard of a man travailing with child, and yet here you find not here and there a timorous man, but every man with his hands on his loins, in the utmost anguish and agony, as women in travail, when they see their cities burnt and their countries laid waste. But this pain is compared to that of a woman in travail, not to that of a death-bed, because it shall end in joy at last, and the pain, like that of a travailing woman, shall be forgotten. All faces shall be turned into paleness. The word signifies not only such paleness as arises from a sudden fright, but that which is the effect of a bad habit of body, the jaundice, or the green sickness. The prophet laments the calamity upon the foresight of it (Jeremiah 30:7; Jeremiah 30:7): Alas! for that day is great, a day of judgment, which is called the great day, the great and terrible day of the Lord (Joel 2:31; Jude 1:6), great, so that there has been none like it. The last destruction of Jerusalem is thus spoken of by our Saviour as unparalleled, Matthew 24:21. It is even the time of Jacob's trouble, a sad time, when God's professing people shall be in distress above other people. The whole time of the captivity was a time of Jacob's trouble; and such times ought to be greatly lamented by all that are concerned for the welfare of Jacob and the honour of the God of Jacob. 2. He must write the assurances which God had given that a happy end should at length be put to these calamities. (1.) Jacob's troubles shall cease: He shall be saved out of them. Though the afflictions of the church may last long, they shall not last always. Salvation belongs to the Lord, and shall be wrought for his church. (2.) Jacob's troublers shall be disabled from doing him any further mischief, and shall be reckoned with for the mischief they have done him, Jeremiah 30:8; Jeremiah 30:8. The Lord of hosts, who has all power in his hand, undertakes to do it: "I will break his yoke from off thy neck, which has long lain so heavy, and has so sorely galled thee. I will burst thy bonds and restore thee to liberty and ease, and thou shalt no more be at the beck and command of strangers, shalt no more serve them, nor shall they any more serve themselves of thee; they shall no more enrich themselves either by thy possessions or by thy labours." And, (3.) That which crowns and completes the mercy is that they shall be restored to the free exercise of their religion again, Jeremiah 30:9; Jeremiah 30:9. They shall be delivered from serving their enemies, not that they may live at large and do what they please, but that they may serve the Lord their God and David their king, that they may come again into order, under the established government both in church and state. Therefore they were brought into trouble and made to serve their enemies because they had not served the Lord their God as they ought to have done, with joyfulness and gladness of heart,Deuteronomy 28:47. But, when the time shall come that they should be saved out of their trouble, God will prepare and qualify them for it by giving them a heart to serve him, and will make it doubly comfortable by giving them opportunity to serve him. Therefore we are delivered out of the hands of our enemies, that we may serve God,Luke 1:74; Luke 1:75. And then deliverances out of temporal calamities are mercies indeed to us when by them we find ourselves engaged to and enlarged in the service of God. They shall serve their own God, and neither be inclined, as they had been of old in the day of their apostasy, nor compelled, as they had been of late in the day of their captivity, to serve other gods. They shall serve David their king, such governors as God should from time to time set over them, of the line of David (as Zerubbabel), or at least sitting on the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David, as Nehemiah. But certainly this has a further meaning. The Chaldee paraphrase reads it, They shall obey (or hearken to) the Messiah (or Christ), the Son of David, their king. To him the Jewish interpreters apply it. That dispensation which commenced at their return out of captivity brought them to the Messiah. He is called David their King because he was the Son of David (Matthew 22:42) and he answered to the name, Matthew 20:31; Matthew 20:32. David was an illustrious type of him both in his humiliation and in his exaltation. The covenant of royalty made with David had principal reference to him, and in him the promises of that covenant had their full accomplishment. God gave him the throne of his father David; he raised him up unto them, set him upon the holy hill of Zion. God is often in the New Testament said to have raised up Jesus, raised him up as a King, Acts 3:26; Acts 13:23; Acts 13:33. Observe, [1.] Those that serve the Lord as their God must also serve David their King, must give up themselves to Jesus Christ, to be ruled by him. For all men must honour the Son as they honour the Father, and come into the service and worship of God by him as Mediator. [2.] Those that are delivered out of spiritual bondage must make it appear that they are so by giving up themselves to the service of Christ. Those to whom he gives rest must take his yoke upon them.