In Jeremiah Jehovah promised to turn the captivity of Israel and bring them back to their land; God promises to turn the captivity of so His believers and bring them back to the full enjoyment of Christ as the all-inclusive good land.
This week in our crystallization-study of Jeremiah and Lamentations we come to an awesome crystal, that is, The Promise, the Prophecy, the Remnant, and the Recovery.
The children of Israel have forsook God as the fountain of life and hew out cisterns for themselves; they went the way of seeking other gods, and therefore they caused the wrath of God to come upon them.
God told them through Moses that, if they would serve and love Jehovah their God, they will prosper and be blessed, but if they go the way of the nations, if they take the way of abandoning Jehovah and becoming like those people around them, they would be taken captive and God will remove them from the land which He had given them.
And in Jeremiah we see that this took place in reality; what a terrible situation that was, for God’s testimony – the temple – was destroyed, the whole Israel was taken into captivity (and those who remained went to Egypt), and it seemed that God’s testimony was wiped out from the face of the earth.
But God promised to bring them back after seventy years; after He punished His own people at the hands of the Gentiles, He would return them to Jerusalem.
Based on that promise, Jeremiah spoke a prophetic word that in seventy years God would return them. The remnant who was scattered in Babylon received King Cyrus’ decree that would let them go back to their homeland and rebuild their house.
This took place seventy years after Israel was taken into captivity, and even though there were many Israelites scattered in the Babylonian Empire, only a remnant returned, those whose spirit was stirred up and who had a heart for God’s interest and testimony on earth.
There was a first wave of returning under Zerubabel and Joshua the priest, then a second wave with Ezra the priestly scribe, and some years later another wave with Nehemiah; they all returned to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, its walls, and also the temple.
God promised to have His people return to their land and the city of Jerusalem, He prophesied this through Jeremiah, He gained a remnant in due time to return, and He did a work of recovery in His people to have them restored to the land and be His testimony.
God’s heart is for His people; He is full of love toward them, and He cares for them, draws them to Himself, and wants to bless them and restore them.
In the book of Jeremiah in particular we see that Jehovah’s relationship with Israel is as one of a husband with a wife; it is altogether a matter of love, and when the people of Israel serve other gods, He considers them as a woman that has become adulterous, and their worship of idols is like following other husbands.
On one hand we want to see the promise, the prophecy, the remnant, and the recovery; on the other hand, we need to see this loving relationship between God and His people.
Even though His people failed Him, God promised to recover them, restore them, and bring them back not only to their land and to the city of Jerusalem, but back to Himself, that they would take Him as the fountain of living water, their everything, and they would love Him and serve Him with their whole heart.
God Promised to Bring His People from their Captivity to His Purpose, the Unique Ground, the Good Land, and to His House
The book of Jeremiah is quite comprehensive both in showing us the degradation and apostasy of the children of Israel, Jehovah’s punishment and chastising of them, and His promise to bring them back from their captivity.
In verse after verse, He promised to return their captivity and bring them back to the land which He gave to their fathers, so that they would possess it (Jer. 30:1-3).
He promised to heal their wounds and have compassion on their dwelling places (30:16-19).
He loved them with an everlasting love, He drew them with lovingkindness, and He will build them again and they will be built (31:1-9).
The history of the children of Israel is a type of the history of the church; we can even say that the children of Israel – as God’s chosen people of God in the Old Testament – are the greatest collective type of the church.
What we see that happened with the children of Israel is a type of what we see that happens with the church.
Therefore, we see that the church is chosen and redeemed by God, she enjoys Christ and the Spirit as the life supply, she builds God’s habitation, she inherits Christ as its portion, she degrades and is captured, she is recovered, and she awaits Christ’s coming.
In His old dispensation, God did a great work to prepare such an all-inclusive and great collective type of the church.
The Apostle Paul applies the history of the children of Israel to the New Testament church life, telling us that what happened to the children of Israel is a type of us (1 Cor. 10:6); the entire history of Israel is a story of the church.
What we have in the Bible, therefore, is the revelation of God’s economy concerning the church, with the type or picture of God’s economy in the Old Testament with the children of Israel, and the fulfillment of God’s economy in the New Testament with the church.
The matter of the return of the children of Israel from captivity speaks of the existing degradation and deterioration of the church as it is scattered in a land of idolatry and has become Christendom; God promises to bring back the captivity of His people and bring them back to Himself. He promises to turn their mourning into gladness and cause them to rejoice!
Praise the Lord, He is bringing us back to recover us, heal us, and return us to the proper place, to the city of God, the New Jerusalem!
We could say that this return from captivity has four main points: we return and are recovered to the purpose of God in His calling us, to the unique ground, to the enjoyment of the good land, and to the building of God’s house and His kingdom.
God wants His people to return and be recovered to the purpose of God’s calling of them; God called the people of Israel and marked them out to be the testimony of God on earth.
The first thing in the return is to recover the purpose of God’s calling; we were called to be separated from all the nations and be a special, peculiar people, the possession of God, so that God would dwell among us and be expressed through us.
We need to be returned to this, to God’s purpose being accomplished among us and with us. Secondly, we need to be returned to the unique ground of oneness.
The children of Israel had to be returned to the unique ground of Jerusalem for the rebuilding of the temple and for them to be one for God’s testimony.
Initially the whole Israel was one, but due to their going after gods, they became divided into two nations – Judah in the south and Israel in the north; they lost their oneness.
By the time they were exiled to Babylon, they lost the reality of their oneness, and they were scattered – some were in Assyria, some in Egypt, and some in Babylon.
Today Christians are scattered and divided, but God promises to return them to the proper ground of oneness for them to be one testimony of God.
Third, the people were to return to recover the enjoyment of the portion of the good land; they had to return to their home land, the land flowing with milk and honey, which typifies Christ.
Today in all the divisions in all the Christendom there is this and that doctrine, this and that teaching, but they lost Christ.
God promises that His people will return to the enjoyment of Christ as the all-inclusive good land; God has nothing else for His people but Christ as God’s centrality and universality.
We need to return to Christ and enjoy Him, possess Him, live Him, and be filled with Him; here we are built as His dwelling place and become His kingdom.
May we all be returned to the enjoyment of Christ on the genuine ground of oneness! Fourth, God’s intention is to have His house built and His kingdom established on earth.
When the children of Israel returned to their land and rebuilt the city of Jerusalem and the temple, God had a testimony on earth.
Today in the Lord’s recovery in all the local churches we are for nothing else but Christ and the building up of the house of God, the Body of Christ, the church, to establish the kingdom of God on earth as the reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
May so many believers in Christ hear the Lord’s promise to return them from any captivity to the fulfillment of His purpose, to the unique ground of oneness, to the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ, and to the building up of the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God!
Thank You Lord for the promise to bring Your people out of any captivity for the fulfillment of Your purpose that they would be Your people and You would be their God. Amen, Lord, thank You for promising us to return us to the genuine ground of oneness so that we may be one testimony of God. Thank You for promising us to bring us back to the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land. Hallelujah, God promises to bring us back to the building up of the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God! Lord, may so many of Your genuine seekers scattered in Christianity would hear Your promise and return to the fulfillment of Your purpose, to the genuine ground of oneness, to the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ, and to the building up of the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God!
God Promises to Turn the Captivity of His People and Bring them Back to the Enjoyment of Christ as their Good Land
In Jeremiah we see how Jehovah promised to turn the captivity of Israel and bring them back to their land (see Jer. 16:15; 30:1-3, 10-11, 16-19; 31:1-9, 11-13).
In verse after verse He has so many sweet, wonderful, and dear promises to His people, to bring them back to their land and to end their captivity. He promises to restore the nation of Israel.
Jehovah appeared to Israel from afar – from the wilderness, where they followed Him (Jer. 2:2).
He told them that He loved them with an eternal love – the bridal love; therefore, He has drawn them with lovingkindness (31:3).
He promises them that He will build them up again and they will be built; they will adorn themselves with their tambourines, and they will go forth in the dance of those who make merry, they will plan vineyards again, and the planters will plant and partake of the fruit (Jer. 31:4-5).
Jehovah promises to turn the captivity of Israel and Judah and bring them to the land which He gave to their fathers, so that they would possess it (30:3).
He declared taht Jacob, His servant, should not fear and that Israel should not be dismayed 9v. 10).
He will save them from afar, and their seed will be saved from the land of their captivity.
Jehovah promised that Jacob will returned, be undisturbed, and at ease, and no one will frighten him, for He is will them to save them, and He will make a full end of all the nations to which He has scattered them – but He will not make an end of them (vv. 10-11). How sweet are God’s promises!
We need to take these promises in faith and pray over them, for God promises to return the captivity of His people and bring them back to the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as their good land.
God promises to bring His people from the land of the north and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth (Jer. 31:8).
There will be a great assembly returning to the land of Israel, and this assembly includes the blind, the lame, the pregnant woman, and the travailing woman (v. 8).
They will come with weeping, and with supplications Jehovah will lead them; He will cause them to walk by the water-brooks in a straight way, and they will not stumble (v. 9).
God knows the thoughts that He thinks about us, thoughts of peace and not for evil, to give us a latter end and a hope (Jer. 29:11). Hallelujah!
How intimate this is; no matter how bad or unfaithful we may be, God’s thoughts are still about us, and His thoughts are not thoughts of evil but of peace, giving us hope at the end! He loved us with an eternal love, and He has drawn us with lovingkindness (31:3).
Hallelujah, God will turn our captivity and He will gather us from all the nations where He has driven us, and He will bring us to the place from where He sent us into exile (Jer. 29:14).
He promises to build us up again and cause us to be full of joy as we return to the enjoyment of Christ as our good land. Amen!
Thank You Lord for having good thoughts of peace toward us – thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give us a latter end and a hope. Thank You for loving us with an eternal love and You have drawn us with lovingkindness. Amen Lord, turn our captivity and gather us from all the places where we are scattered, and bring us to the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as our good land! We say Amen to Your word, Lord, and we stand one with You for a full recovery and restoration of Your people! Amen, Lord, bring us out of any captivity and back to the enjoyment of Christ and the fulfillment of God’s purpose for the building up of the church!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 24 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations, week 10, The Promise, the Prophecy, the Remnant, and the Recovery.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Sing aloud your praises to the Lord of all, / Now He is dwelling in Jerusalem. / Tell among us all His doings great and small, / His throne, the heavens, yet He walks with men. / Oh, the salvation out of Zion comes; / He brought us back from our captivity. / Now we rejoice and are exceeding glad. (Hymns #1222)
– When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, / We were like them that dream, / We were like them that dream. / Then was our mouth filled with laughter, / And our tongue with singing: / Then said they among the nations, / The Lord hath done great things, / The Lord hath done great things for them. (Hymns #1337)
– In tenderness He sought me, / Weary and sick with sin, / And on His shoulders brought me / Into His flock again. / While angels in His presence sang / Until the courts of heaven rang. (Hymns #1068)
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