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Okay, so if you look at Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse number 7. Verse number 7, a very famous verse that's used by brethren that believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. And verse number 7 reads, Alas, for that day is great, so that there is none like it, is even the time of Jacob's trouble. The time of Jacob's trouble is the title for the sermon this evening, The Time of Jacob's Trouble. Now, when you think of that phrase, the time of Jacob's trouble, can I just see a show of hands if you've heard that phrase before being preached in different churches, different sermons. Okay, what do you recall that being about, brother? Well, it's about the pre-tribulation rapture. So, yeah, about the tribulation. What about you, brother, have you? Tribulation, yeah. So, often, yeah, why the reason this verse is so popular is because it is often preached about the end times. Okay, and I'm going to show you just how wrong that is. Alright, and that's why I wanted to title this sermon The Time of Jacob's Trouble because there are some people, you know, this is obviously going to go on YouTube eventually, there are people that are looking on these topics and this is the only place in the whole Bible that refers to this period as Jacob's trouble. And again, when people are searching for this information, they're looking for end times, events. And so, I want to title it The Time of Jacob's Trouble so if someone accidentally comes across it, they actually can learn the truth of what this is about. Alright, so, let's start there in verse number one. Jeremiah chapter 30 in verse number one. It begins by saying, Now, I love how it just starts because that's exactly what the Bible is. That God has spoken to his prophets and he says, Well, write all the words that have spoken unto thee in a book. And we've got that book right here. Not only do we have the book of Jeremiah, but we have all the 66 books that make up the canon of Scripture. And so, what we're reminded of in this passage is that we are not placing our faith on the words of me men. Okay, these aren't the words of psychologists. These aren't the words of the men who may have the most wisdom and knowledge that you consider in this world. No, our Bible is made up of the Word of God and he has used faithful men to pen down those words. And what a blessing that we can hold that in our hands. What a blessing that we can read it and that we can learn from it. That's exactly what the Bible is. Write all these words that I, that's God, have spoken unto thee in a book. Can you please keep your finger there and turn to 2 Peter chapter one verse number 20. Go to 2 Peter chapter one and verse number 20. And while you're turning to 2 Peter chapter one, I'll read to you from 2 Timothy chapter 3 16 which says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So the Bible's telling us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. All of this is inspired by God. We cannot take the approach and say, well that's just how Jeremiah felt. That's just how that guy, he didn't like women. You know, boy, you know the Apostle Paul gets that bad rap. He just didn't like women. You know, he wasn't even married. That's why he didn't want women to preach in church. But that was his culture, that was just his idea. Those weren't really God's word. That's foolish. Foolishness. Okay. The Word of God that we've been given has been given directly to us from God. We read in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 20, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 20, which reads, Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. Now sometimes people read this and say, well that means that you're not going to come up with your own ideas when you read the Bible. And I think you can apply that as well. But the direct idea here is, these words are not the private interpretation of a man. Jeremiah just did not privately come up with his own thoughts and I'll pen this down and we can read this. No, they're not of private interpretation. Okay. It says this in verse number 21, For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And so you can see once again that the Holy Ghost is the one that moved men to write these things. If it's the Holy Ghost that has moved men to write these things, and we read back in Jeremiah chapter 30 verse 2, which says, Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, then we know that the Holy Ghost is the Lord God. Amen? You know, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost is not this inferior member of the Trinity. No, He is the one that used men to pen down God's Word perfectly. Okay. So the message is the same. The wonderful thing about the Bible, even though we have, you know, 40 different authors, the message is the same. You know, sometimes you can read the book and you can see the personality of the men being used. Even though it is God's Word, you can still see the character of the individual. This is why when you read, you know, the Epistles of Paul, they do sound a little different to say John. They do sound a little different from Peter. But they're not contradictive. They're teaching us the exact same message. You know, the very first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, was written by Moses. You know? And then we have the last book of the Bible, Revelation, written by John, the Apostle John. You know, the book of Genesis is estimated to have been written about 1400 BC. And then the book of Revelation would have been written in the first century. So that's about approximately 1500 years between Moses and John. And for the men that have been coming on Fridays, we've been looking at the book of Genesis, right? Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3. How many times did we go to the book of Revelation? Because it is so consistent. It is the same Lord giving the same message. You know, if I wrote something about God, about Christianity now, and in 1500 years someone else writes about it, you know, just from our own ideas, our own private interpretation, it's not going to be consistent. It's going to be completely different. You know, the fact that we have this consistent message proves to us that it is from God. From Genesis to Revelation, these things come across perfectly. Perfect alignment within the books of the Word of God. Back to Jeremiah, chapter 30 and verse number 3. Jeremiah, chapter 30, verse number 3. God says, that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it. Now Brethren, I just read verse number 3 to you. And we've been going through Jeremiah, chapter 1 to chapter 29, now chapter 30. We're not isolating chapter 30 all by itself, okay? Now when you read that about the Lord returned them to the land that He gave them, what are your thoughts in light of what we've just been covering in Jeremiah? Do you think it's more realistic to say this must be about the Babylon captivity? That they're going to return back to the land after the captivity? Or is it more, you know, realistic to say, well this must be about the end times all of a sudden? Even though nothing leading up to this has been about the end times, right? I mean if you just go back to, go back just the previous chapter in Jeremiah 29, verse number 10. Just the previous chapter, Jeremiah chapter 29, verse number 10. It says, So we just finished chapter 29 of the Lord returning them to the place from Babylon and then we're up to chapter 30 and the Lord's again saying He's going to cause them to return to the land. I mean the natural reader, without any bias, without any ulterior motives will read that and go, well this must be about Babylon again. And I would say, you're 100% correct, that's what it's about. It's not complicated. I was not confusing. But unfortunately our pre-tribulation brethren, you know, the dispensationalist will say, no, that's about future events. I want you to think about what would draw them to conclude that as they just read that one passage. What would draw them to conclude that? You know, obviously there would be an ulterior teaching and ulterior motive, that they're trying to force into the Bible. If you just take the natural reading, you know this is about Babylon. You know that Jeremiah has already taught that they were going to be in captivity for 70 years. Now look at verse number 4. Now verse number 6 is important. 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. So what are we seeing here? We're seeing that there's come in this time when there's going to be this great travail and the travail that's been referred to is like a woman giving birth, going into labor, this travail of a woman. Now why am I bringing this to your attention? Because as I've been going through Jeremiah chapter by chapter, haven't I told you pay attention every time it mentions a woman in travail? You may recall. I don't know if you recall that or not. So let's just remind ourselves about this. So let's go to Jeremiah chapter 4. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 4 and verse number 31. Jeremiah chapter 4 and verse number 31, which reads, For I have heard a voice as a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hand, saying, Woe is me now, for my soul is wearied because of murderers. And you may recall, I don't know, a long time ago now, but Jeremiah chapter 4, this travail was about the Babylon's coming and bringing persecution and taking them into captivity and bringing the wars and bringing the famines and bringing all these issues. That's what the travail was about. Now go to Jeremiah chapter 6. Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse number 24. Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse number 24, which says, We have heard the fame thereof, our hands wax feeble, anguish have taken hold of us, and pain as of a woman in travail. So you can see this is a common theme that's been brought up to us in the book of Jeremiah. Again, when we looked at that, that was about the Babylonian captivity, which took place in the past, not the future. Now go to Jeremiah 13, please. Jeremiah 13 and verse number 21. Jeremiah 13 and verse number 21, which reads, What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? For thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee, shall not sorrows take thee as a woman in travail? Once again, you can see that, and once again, if you recall, that was the context of the Babylonian captivity. Now go to Jeremiah 22. Jeremiah 22 and verse number 23. Jeremiah 22 and verse number 23, which reads, O inhabitants of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail. Okay, so we've got Jeremiah 4, travailing. Jeremiah 6, travailing. Jeremiah 13, travailing. Jeremiah 22, travailing as a woman who's about to give birth. Okay, and every single time, it's about the Babylonian captivity. So if we're just natural readers of God's word, and we get to Jeremiah chapter 30, and we see in verse number 6, at the end of it, which says, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness, that must be about the end times. It's crazy, but that's what they do. How is that? You know, God just told us four times leading up to this chapter what it's all about, and all of a sudden now it's just about something totally different. It's about the future rather than the past. Again, is that the natural reading of God's word, or people just trying to force their theology into the Bible? So again, as we read this, I'm just telling you, brethren, if we're just going to remain consistent, we're going to remain systematic in the way we read our Bibles, we're not going to try to force something, we're just going to read it naturally, we know immediately that as we read Jeremiah chapter 30, this is not about some future end time events, this is not about the tribulation, you know, or pre-tribulation rapture, this is about Babylon. This is about Babylonian captivity. So go back to Jeremiah chapter 30 now, and verse number 7. So now let's address the big verse that they like to use. Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse number 7, which says, 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. So they'll say, well, that's the seven year tribulation. The Bible never mentions a seven year tribulation. It never mentions it. How many times have you heard preachers behind the pulpit, the seven year tribulation, the tribulation of seven years, it's not in your Bible. Brethren, I've searched extensively, looking for that, hoping to find it, so I can believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. I've searched extensively every single, and I read this and I say, well, this, okay, this is what they're saying is seven years. But then God is saying, for that day is great. Hold on, is this about seven years? Or is this about a certain day, a specific day? How can you turn day into seven years? Who gives you that authority? You know what, at least in the Bible we have that, you know, a day is like a thousand years to God. At least we have something there. But where are you going to find that day is like seven years? Again, people are forcing their theology into the word of God. It's such a shame. So many pastors that even I love and look up to, okay, do the same thing. Why do they do it? You know, what was this movement of the Holy Spirit, and all of a sudden everyone read Jeremiah chapter 30, and everyone, oh yeah, there's a seven year tribulation. It's a day of Jacob's trouble. No. It's the Bible colleges. They've gone through their Bible colleges, they've read all the same books, they've all got the same teaching, and they come out of Bible colleges parroting the same things, regurgitating, vomiting out the same things that they've heard, rather than doing their own independent study with the Holy Spirit. I mean, they should have, before reading Jeremiah chapter 30, they should have read Jeremiah chapter 1 all the way to 29, before getting to chapter 30. So when in verse number 7 when it says, but he shall be saved out of it, again, what are we talking about? Well, again, it's the 70 years, right? The 70 years that were prophesied of Jeremiah, that at the end of those 70 years, they're going to be saved out of all that turmoil. You know, even in Jeremiah, I'll just read it to you, 25 verse 11, Jeremiah 25, 11 says, and this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years, and it shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation save the Lord for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. So we know at the end of 70 years, they're going to be brought back into the land. But the pre-tribbers, the dispensationalists, well, 70 years, no, let's make it seven years, seven years in the future, instead of 70 years in the past. What a difference, you know, what a difference in the way we read the Bible. You know, this is why you have to test the spirits. This is why when you listen to a preacher, you know, you can't just accept anything he says. Now, I hope I've given you a good track record. I hope, right, that, you know, over the years and over the time, you know, you've kind of said in your heart, well, Pastor Kevin is legit, and he loves the church, and he loves the Word of God, and he's preaching us truth. You know, I hope I've been able to sort of, you know, develop that track record so when you come to church, you have confidence in the preacher, okay? But even then, even then, okay, we're still human beings. Even then, we can still make mistakes. We can still make mistakes, okay? And you really need to put the preacher to the test and read the Bible yourselves and see whether it's really saying what they're saying it says, okay? And it goes for me as well. You know, you should be people that go back to the Word of God and establish is this truly what was taught to us from the Scriptures. In verse number 8 now, Jeremiah chapter 30, verse number 8. Now, look at this. This is, again, proves this is not about the future seven years. Again, this proves that it's about the past because it says in verse number 8, For it shall come to pass in that day, save the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck. What does that remind you of? And will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him. Is that about the future seven years? That God will break this bond off their necks? No, because if you remember Jeremiah, you know, just the chapters leading up to Jeremiah chapter 30, God had asked Jeremiah to put a yoke upon his neck to demonstrate how this was the captivity that would fall upon Judah. Can you please turn to Jeremiah 27 in verse number 2, Jeremiah chapter 27 in verse number 2, Jeremiah 27 verse number 2, which reads, Thus saith the Lord to me, that's to Jeremiah, Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck. So what was Jeremiah to make? Bonds and yokes. That was to symbolize the Babylonian takeover, Babylonian captivity. What did God say in Jeremiah chapter 30 verse number 8? I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds. So we see the bonds, the yoke about the Babylonians, then we see the yoke and the bonds now in chapter 30, oh, that's about the future. What in the world? How do you finish? How do you think that? How does that make any sense? Is that really how God has written his word to be complicated and confusing like this? Or does God have common sense? Does God have common sense, right? Look back to Jeremiah 27 verse number 12, Jeremiah chapter 27 and verse number 12, which says, I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah, according to all these words, saying, bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live. So again, who's putting the yoke upon the necks? The Babylonians. So then we read about the yokes once again in chapter 30. What's it about? The Babylonians. In the past, the 70-year captivity that took place. Please go to Jeremiah chapter 28, Jeremiah chapter 28 and verse number 13. The reason I'm showing you all these verses is because when we get to Jeremiah chapter 30, we shouldn't be like, I don't know what this is about. What could this be about? Is this some secret thing about the future? Future events, you know? The seven-year tribulation? No. If you just read your Bible naturally, you know, with no bias, it's simple. It's really not complicated, all right? Jeremiah 28 verse number 13. Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, thou hast broken the yokes of wood, but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, and I have given him the beast of the field also. So is this about the Antichrist persecuting the Jews in a future seven-year period? Or is this about King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon putting the yokes upon the people in the past during the 17-year captivity? You'd be the choice of that, you know? We're just reading God's Word, and I think if you have no bias, you have no, you know, you're not trying to force your theology, you will conclude, as I have, that this is definitely about the past, something that has already taken place. But then we've got verse number 9. So back to Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse number 9. So we do have to be clear about that. So we do have to be very thorough in these verses because I want you to be able to answer people when they try to push this idea that the day of Jacob's trouble, that's about seven years in the future, for the Jews only. Verse number 9. Well, they'll say, well, this is about the future because it says, but they shall serve the Lord their God, that's when they return back to the land, and David their king, whom I will rise up unto them. See? And sometimes, yeah, the Bible refers to Jesus Christ as David the king, sometimes David and Jesus Christ are kind of used interchangeably, and the reason for that is because Jesus came from the kingly line of David. Okay? And so they'll say, well, that must be about Jesus, and if this is about Jesus, this must be about the future. Yeah, but Jesus Christ is not the only one that's part of that kingly line. Okay? And what this is actually about is a man named Zerubbabel. Okay? Yeah, Zerubbabel, sorry, Zerubbabel. And I'll just show you this. So, again, keep your finger there and go to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1. This is about Zerubbabel, okay? Matthew chapter 1, please, and we're just going to look at the genealogy of Jesus Christ. And we know the genealogy is about Christ and it takes us all the way back to King David and so we have this lineage of Jesus to show that he did fulfil that kingly line following from King David. But in Matthew chapter 1 and verse number 1, Matthew chapter 1, verse number 1, it says, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. So we know the generation that we're about to read includes everybody from Jesus all the way through to David and Abraham. Okay? Now drop down to verse number 12. Matthew chapter 1, verse number 12. Look at this. And after they were brought to Babylon, this is about Babylonian captivity, Jeconias begat Salafiel and Salafiel begat Zerubbabel, okay? So we've got that name right there, okay? In other words, he's part of this kingly line. He's part of that line from David to Jesus Christ. So is this the man that's been referred to as they will serve the Lord their God and David their King, whom I will rise up unto them? And I would say it's absolutely him. And I'll prove that to you further as we keep going through this chapter. But go back to Jeremiah chapter 30 and while you're turning to Jeremiah chapter 30, I'm going to read to you from Ezra chapter 3 in verse number 2. Yes, it is a bit of a Bible study today, okay? But you go back to Jeremiah 30. I'm going to read to you from Ezra chapter 3, verse number 2. And if you know the book of Ezra, that's about them coming out of Babylon, right? And getting themselves back onto the land. But it says in verse number 2, So it's the same guy that we read about in the lineage of Jesus Christ. So what was he influential in doing? He was influential when they came back to the land to build an altar and to offer sacrifices unto the Lord. He was one of these key influencers to bring these people back in worship toward God. So when we read again, Jeremiah chapter 30 in verse number 9, Is that what they did? Absolutely. And David their King, whom I will rise up unto them, that was the rubel. That was helping them get back to that worship to the Lord God that they were needed on that land. Now I'm going to prove that to you further as we keep going through that chapter, okay? Let's keep going to verse number 10. Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse number 10, which says, I love these words there in verse number 10. Again, they're in captivity, all right? They're not comfortable in their new environments. But the Lord is basically trying to give them rest. He's trying to give them peace. He's trying to cause them to not be afraid. And it's good timing because once again, what do we see here? What do we see in Sydney? The new mandates once again, the new restrictions once again, all so quickly over one case apparently. One case, maybe two? I don't know. I haven't really kept up with the news lately, okay? But it's not many, okay? And what are they trying to do? They're trying to instill fear into the people. And God has told us, you know what? Even when we're facing these kind of pressures from these ungodly leaders and these ungodly governments, even if we're in captivity, the land of captivity, the Lord is the one that will give us rest and quiet. That's where we can truly be at peace, to be with the Lord God. I want to remind you back in Jeremiah chapter 29, if you can turn there, Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse number 7, just a reminder, Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse number 7, it says, And I just want to remind you once again, because when these things start to come up and they enforce this and enforce that, and have you been to this area? Have you been in contact with these people? It's all there to drive us to fear. You know, we can be at peace, brethren. We can be at peace. And just know that the Lord is seeing our situation, He knows what's going on in Sydney, He knows what's going on around this world, and brethren, it's our instruction to just seek peace in this place where it can sometimes not be very peaceful. But we are commanded to pray to the Lord that He would settle our hearts, that we would not be uncomfortable, that we would not be frustrated and upset, and just ask the Lord to settle us that we may live in accordance to His ways. Look at verse number 11, Jeremiah chapter 30, verse number 11. Say, see, this is about the future. They'll say, right? They'll say, look, God is not going to make a full end of them, of Judah. Therefore, even today, the people that live on that land, who hate Jesus Christ, are Christ-rejecting Jews, they believe in a false religion, when they die, they're going to hell, they'll say, they're still God's chosen people because God has not made a full end of them. Again, is God speaking about the future here? Or is He speaking about the past? That He would not make a full end of them in Babylon? Okay, because it was obviously their fear, that boy, we're going to be in captivity for 70 years, what's the king of Babylon going to do? Is he going to destroy all of us? God's given them comfort, He's not going to make a full end of you. You know, your descendants, your generations, they're going to come back to the land. God has given them that promise, He's given them that rest. This is about the past, okay? By the way, God did make a full end of that physical nation of Israel. Okay, He did. You know, Jesus Christ says in Matthew 21, 43, He says, Therefore, say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. So if God says, I've taken the kingdom of God away from that nation and given it to another nation, doesn't that mean God has made a full end of that physical nation? Hasn't He replaced that nation with another nation, which is that spiritual nation that's made up of God's people? Jews, Gentiles, of all types of people, okay? So while God has made a full end of the physical nation, it doesn't mean He's made a full end of an ethnic group though, okay? You know, yes, even Jews today, you know, before anyone goes wild with ideas and conspiracy thoughts, they can be saved, all right? If someone came to them with the gospel message, which is what we're commanded to do, you know, give people the scriptures, give people the gospel, they too, if they believed on Jesus Christ, they too will be saved. But they will then be made up of that spiritual nation, which is bringing forth the fruits thereof, and not that physical nation that God has made a full end of. So this is not, but you can see how people are trying to hold on, this must be about the future, you know, make sure let's go and bless the Jews because then we'll be blessed. It's ridiculous. It's an ungodly nation. It's a bunch of wicked people. They've got the biggest homosexual celebrations going on in that land, okay? The biggest festivals, they're a corrupt, wicked nation. Why should I as a Christian seek to bless that nation when I don't even want to bless my own nation because of the wickedness that I hear, right? You know, we're not here to bless physical wicked nations. We're here to bless one another, the people of God, and to have a love for the lost, give them the gospel, bring them into the kingdom of God so they can be made up of that spiritual nation as well. So this is not, brethren, about a physical nation. I'm going to read to you from Romans 9, 27. So listen, there are people of all nations, there is a remnant within all nations of people that are saved. You know, we make up part of that remnant in Australia. I'm sure there are Israelites that are saved that make up that remnant in that nation, but all nations have this remnant, but don't forget that remnant is made up of that spiritual nation, okay? The physical nation, God has finished with that. So to take this passage and apply it to the future, again, you know their purpose. We know it's so clearly about being brought back from Babylonian captivity, but they want to force that theology. No, it's about the end times. God's going to bring them back at the end of seven years, and they're going to be back to being worshipping God. No, they're going to take the mark of the beast and they're going to perish, those that reject Jesus Christ. Back to Jeremiah chapter 30, verse number 12. Jeremiah chapter 30, verse number 12. What's funny about this? And again, brethren, you know, I want you to know that I love my pre-treat brethren. I do. I love my pastors that taught me the pre-tribulation rapture. I love them, because they're my brothers in Christ. I'm not mad at them. All I see is a failure of a Bible college system that is not biblical. God did not create the Bible college. The institution that he created to be the pillar and ground of truth was the local church. And if we just stick to God's ways and we do things as best as we can, we're not going to be perfect, but we just do the best we can. It's going to work out for us. We're going to have a greater knowledge of God's word simply because we decided to just follow what God's word says, you know, listen to the Holy Spirit of God, rather than create these crazy institutions of learning that don't benefit anybody. There are people that have, I know people that have gone through the Bible college systems and they know nothing about the Bible. Or they've gone through the college systems and they want nothing to do with God anymore. They want nothing to do with their church anymore. What's the point? What am I up to? Verse number 12. So this is what they'll do. This is what they'll say, see, that was all about the end times. But then when we get to verse number 12, they don't want that to be about the end times anymore. Oh no, that's back to now Babylon. Okay, why? Because it says this, For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. So he goes, you cannot be cured. I mean, that flies in the face of the end times. They're going to be cured. They're going to come back to God. It's incurable. Verse number 12. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up, thou hast no healing medicines. They cannot be healed. They cannot be cured. Remember, the nation that was taken into captivity by the Babylonians was a reprobate nation. Okay, rejected by God. Now again, it was the generations that would be brought forth, that were born in Babylon, that would come back into the land, they would be the ones that would be blessed. But this generation, that was taken into captivity, it's not good for them. The bruise is incurable. You know, that generation, they're going to die in captivity. Okay? And so, again, the dispensation of don't want this about the end times because it doesn't work for them. Oh, no, that's back to Babylon. Okay? Verse number 14. All thy lovers have forgotten thee. They seek thee not, for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy. Of course we don't want that but to be about the Jews today. All right? We don't want God to say about them that he's wounded them as his enemy. So you can see why they changed tactics right now. That's not about the end times, right? Because we've got to bless them. They're not our enemies. They're not God's enemies. You know? With the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased. Verse number 15. Why Christ thou for thine affliction? Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased. I have done these things unto thee. Therefore all that devour thee shall be devoured, and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity. And they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. Again, brethren, this passage should give us comfort. You know? Again, you know, whatever wicked systems are in play right now regarding COVID-19 and their secret agendas, which are not necessarily so secret these days, right? One day, these people that are seeking to devour you, they're going to be devoured. They're going to be devoured. Okay? So again, I know this about Babylon, but we take the spiritual truths, we take the applications, and we can learn and apply this today. Jeremiah is the prophet to the nations. And so let this give you some comfort that the wicked will not continue in their weakness. They will fall in their own devices. The wicked attempts to destroy the things of God or the innocent, they're going to face that same consequence upon themselves. They're not going to get away with it. You know? Either on this life, definitely not in, you know, their eternal life. Well, eternal death is really what they suffer, you know, in hellfire. Verse number 17. Verse number 17. 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 seeketh after. So again, God is saying, I'm going to restore your health. Again, we know that's the end of the 70 years. We know that's with new generations that God will be dealing with. And again, what I like about this is that the people of God here are being considered outcasts. You know, we would use the term rejects. Rejects. You know, many times when I come across Christians and I talk to Christians, many times I'm dealing with rejects. Like, I personally felt like a reject. You know, when I was a teenager, I went to a Christian school. I felt like a reject. I'm like, these are different Christians. You know, I didn't know better because I'm young. I haven't really learned that much. And it's like, there's something different. There's a different spirit in these teachers. How can this teacher tell me that hell is not a place of fire? That's not what I read in my Bible. That's not what I understood from God's Word. This guy has a different spirit. And you know what? When you just stand for God's Word and say, well, you know what? The Bible seems to be saying here that we can't, you know, have tattoos. God does not want us to put these images into our skin. And then you go to a Christian school and they're all having tattoos. They all think it's wonderful. Let's put Jesus on our arm or something like that. That's a different spirit. That's not what I see in the Word of God. And so what does that make you? Even an outcast amongst Christians. And often when I meet people and get to know people, I realize a lot of us are outcasts. You know, we've believed in Jesus Christ and that maybe made us an outcast. Or before you believed in Christ, before you were saved, you were kind of already a bit of an outcast. You were kind of already been rejected by people and that process may have caused you to come seek in the comfort of God, come to seek for a Savior and you've been able to find Jesus Christ through that process. You know, the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 2, verse 9, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation. Remember that spiritual nation that's made up of all believers? And then it says, A peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him who have called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. So you know what? If people say, you're a bit different, you're peculiar, you're a bit of a reject of society, you're a bit of an outcast, you're a bit of an outcast. Praise God! That's exactly what I'm called to be. That's exactly what we're called to be. You know, citizens of heaven making up this spiritual nation. Verse number 18, Jeremiah 30, verse 18. 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 builded upon her own heap and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. So we know that they're going to rebuild the buildings and all that kind of stuff and they come back 70 years later. And then it says this, 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. Again, as I'm reading through this and studying and thinking about what to cover, when I looked at verse number 19, I thought, wow, this is us. This is Blessed Hope Baptist Church saying in what way? Well, we've been going through this whole COVID thing for the past year or so. A lot of inconveniences, you know, the singing, the masks, going to my place to just have services, you know, whatever else issues that have come up, right? And it's all frustrating and I've been telling you guys, you know, consider this, think about this as Babylon, as a spiritual Babylon, a takeover because I can see just way too many parallels. But then I think about the fact that, you know, we've been in the house of God and praising him and worshiping him and when he says in verse number 19 and I will multiply them and they shall not be a few, I got thinking about how God has increased in our church just in the last few weeks, in the last few months. You know, I've counted that we've had 14, okay, we've had a few families basically join our church, you know, 14 new visitors that are here on a regular basis. You know, some of them are here tonight, okay, that's 14 new, right? And you know, when I came here down from Sunshine Coast, I ordered these chairs, right? We ordered 64 chairs, I think it was and I thought, oh man, because it was quite expensive and I just thought, did I just waste a lot of money here on these chairs? But I was kind of hopeful, we'll fill them up, you know, well, God's going to have to have to fill them up. Let's just get the chairs and then God can sort it out. You know what? And God has added to our church. You know, on Sunday, there was barely an empty seat on Sunday, okay, there was 64 and we only have 64 chairs. Oh, because my kids were sitting at the front. A lot of my kids, half my family were just on the floor, okay. Praise God for that, brethren. Well, you know what? We just try to live a life in accordance to God's word. You know, we just try to patiently deal with the frustrations that are in this world and God will multiply us. God will see our faithfulness, God will see us trying to walk in His ways and God will multiply us. What a blessing. You know what? And we still had a few families miss him on Sunday. If we had those families come, I don't know, we would have to open the door and meet up, we'd have to go somewhere else. Praise God. What a beautiful problem to have that we don't have enough seats for people. What a beautiful problem. And again, I look at this passage and I go, well, thank you, Lord. Thank you for your blessings. Thank you for honouring your word. Thank you for being a God of your word that follows, you know, we can see what you have to say and we can apply it to our lives today. Verse number 20. Their children also shall be as a full time and their congregation shall be established before me and I will punish all that oppress them and their nobles, now this is important, and their nobles shall be of themselves and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them. So what God is saying here, instead of the nobles or the governors being from a foreign land, you know, the Babylonians or whatever, it's got to be your own people that make up these, you know, have these positions. And again, you know, for us, we're not going to realise this on this earth, but we know there's coming a time when our people, believers, are going to be the governors, are going to be the nobles on the land when Christ comes back and rules and reigns for a thousand years. All right. But who is this governor in verse number 21 and their governor, so you can see it's a singular name, singular person, right, 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? Sayeth the Lord, and ye shall be my people and I will be your God. So this governor that God is speaking about here is someone who's drawing himself to the Lord. Okay. And the Lord sees this, right, and he recognises, well, this is a godly man. And I told you this man, you know, when we looked at who that David was in that lineage was Zerubbabel, okay. So if you can please keep your finger there and go to the book of Haggai, go to the book of Haggai, Haggai chapter 1, Haggai chapter 1. I just want to prove to you that Zerubbabel is this governor, okay. Haggai chapter 1 and verse number 1, Haggai chapter 1 and verse number 1, it says, So who was it? It was him, right. Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. The Bible is consistent, okay. It's the same time frame. We know it's King Darius that would allow them to return back to the land. Now go, jump into verse number 14 in the same chapter, Haggai chapter 1, verse number 14. There it is again. Why would God need to tell us twice that he's the governor of Judah? I think because God's told us about the governor that he would raise in Jeremiah chapter 30, okay. It says, So you can see that he's an influential person in getting people to come back and worship God when they came back into the land of Judah. Go to chapter 2, Haggai chapter 2 and verse number 2. Haggai chapter 2 and verse number 2. It says now, So God really wants to hammer this home the third time, right. So brethren, I love the Bible. It doesn't matter which man wrote it. It doesn't matter which man God used. It doesn't matter which man the Holy Spirit was working through. It's consistent. It's one voice. It's the word of God, right. So when we take these things and we compare scripture with scripture, we go to Jeremiah chapter 30, it's not a difficult chapter. It's definitely not about the end times, okay. You just compare everything that we've seen. This is clearly about the Babylon captivity. You know, if we just had a heart to just love the Lord and to love his word, that would be your natural conclusion. Back to Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse number 23. Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse number 23. I hope I've proven to you that the king that was referred to as David was Zerubbabel. He followed that kingly line that led up to Jesus Christ. So this is about the past, not about seven years of tribulation, which doesn't exist in the Bible, by the way. Verse number 23. 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 hath done it and until he hath performed the intents of his heart. In the latter days ye shall consider it. I love that. In the latter days ye shall consider what? The fury of God. What is this about? Once again our pre-treat brethren will say, well, see, that's about the end times. It's the latter days, see? When did the latter days start, though? Where did they start? Well, we've got one more passage to turn to and then we'll close for the sermon tonight. But please turn to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse number 1. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse number 1. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse number 1. Hebrews chapter 1 verse number 1 reads, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past, in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, look at verse number 2, he, sorry, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, the answered heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. So brethren, when did the last days begin? Well, you can see in the time of Hebrews, the first century, right, when Christ has come into this world, it says, hath in these last days. So when did the last days begin? Is that still a future last days to come? No, it's about since Christ came into this world, when God came to speak to us through his son. These are the last days. We are living in the last days. I'm not saying that we're living in the end times, but we're living in the last days. These already are the latter days. So when we read in Jeremiah chapter 30 verse number 24, which said, in the latter days ye shall consider it, well then what are we commanded to do as people? What are we doing right now? Aren't we looking at Jeremiah chapter 30 in these latter days and considering what we're learning, what happened, what transpired with the people of God, with Judah, with Babylon, the promises to come of God, that they would be returned into the land? Well when we look at that story, again, let's not go, well that's just the past and that's got nothing to do with us now. No, we're to consider. We're to look at that and say, Lord, wow, what can you teach me today? How can I apply Jeremiah today? And once again, brethren, I think we have a wonderful situation. You know, honestly, just this whole thing. I think it's been a wonderful situation to really just put into test the things that we're reading in Jeremiah. I mean, how often do we get the opportunity to test things out directly as we're learning things from the book of Jeremiah? What an honor. I personally think it's a wonderful honor. You know, I've already learned so much. You know, just studying Jeremiah, preaching for Jeremiah. Of course, I've read it multiple times, but you don't really learn as much as you do until you really dig in deep and you prepare something for God's people. I think it's a beautiful blessing that in these latter days we've been able to stop and consider Jeremiah, the book of Jeremiah, and Jeremiah 30. So, brethren, the total for the sermon was the time of Jacob's trouble. Now you guys know what it is. It's not some mystery future event. Seven years, one day. No, it's about the time of the Babylonian captivity. Okay, let's pray.