Lessons From Jeremiah – Part 13 – The Lord’s Conditions For Those Of Jeremiah’s Time And In The Tribulation Series

LESSONS FROM JEREMIAH – PART 13 – THE LORD’S CONDITIONS FOR THOSE OF JEREMIAH’S TIME AND IN THE TRIBULATION

PART 13 - Jeremiah 4:1-2

CHAPTER 4

[A]. THE CONDITIONAL RETURN HAPPENS IN THE GREAT TRIBULATION

{{Jeremiah 4:1-2 “IF YOU WILL RETURN, O Israel,” declares the LORD, “then you should return to Me, and if you will PUT AWAY YOUR DETESTED THINGS from My presence, and will not waver, and you will swear, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, ‘As the LORD lives,’ then the nations will bless themselves in Him, and in Him they will glory.”}}

Chapter 4 continues from the previous chapter. As a quick revision, in Jeremiah 3:22, Jehovah appeals to the nation with this invitation, “Return, O faithless sons. I will heal your faithlessness.” Even on the eve of their deportment to Babylon, at least those who survived, the Lord still held out the hand of forgiveness.

Also in verse 22 we saw the people’s response, but we know it could not have come from Judah in Jeremiah’s time for they never did repent nationally and on that scale. The confession there will be enacted in the Tribulation when God takes up the Jews again after the times of the Gentiles has finished with the Rapture of His Bride, the Church. Jehovah calls His wife, Israel, back to Himself again, and she will respond, something the Jews have not done for at least the last 2500 years.

After the response of the people returning to the Lord at the end of chapter 3, at the start of chapter 4, the Lord then spells out a number of conditions governing that return, and there are 3 or 4 of these. It all begins with the first “IF” and these are serious conditions, because in the Tribulation period when the Jews again turn to the LORD (Messiah), it will not be a time for pretend commitment. To be true to the Messiah in those days, may mean forfeiting your life as saints are hunted down and killed for their testimony. Also, there must be steadfastness until the end as we see in this section about those days in the Great Tribulation, taught by the Lord Jesus –

{{Matthew 24:9 “Then THEY WILL DELIVER YOU TO TRIBULATION and will kill you and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.”}} In Matthew 24 we must note that these words, in fact the entire chapter 24, was spoken solely to His disciples and therefore must relate to what is Jewish. He is addressing the Jews of the future time, for all this chapter, except for the first 3 verses, is yet future and does not happen while the Church is still here. The disciples asked Jesus what was the sign of His coming (the Second coming) and the end of the age, and He answers them.

The end of the age will be His Second Coming when He comes to Jerusalem, to the Mount of Olivet. The World Leader and his False Prophet, the one I call Antichrist, turn against Israel three and a half years after making a treaty with them for seven years, breaking that treaty half way through, and the Jewish saints are hunted because this trilogy of evil: World Leader, False Prophet and Satan, as they hate anything to do with God. That is why this Matthew verse contains “all nations” because the World Leader’s dictates will be worldwide.

This is very significant, as right now at the end of February 2024 when Israel is in battle with Hamas and Hezbollah, and by default, Iran, no one knows where this might end (Christians who study prophecy do). We are so close to the Church being raptured and then this World Leader (sometimes called Antichrist) comes on the scene and solves the Middle East problem. He is the one on the white horse with the breaking of the first seal of Revelation 6. He makes this 7 year peace treaty covenant with Israel but he breaks it half way through. (Daniel’s 70 weeks – {{Daniel 9:27 “and he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering, and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”}}) He is looked on as a problem solver and the world runs after him. Keep your eye on the WEF and the WHO.

{{Matthew 24:10 At that time MANY WILL FALL AWAY and will deliver up one another and hate one another.}} The going will be tough and will sort the wheat from the chaff, the genuine from the pretend, and many will fall away. The Lord wants those who fight the good faith, not to surrender at the first opportunity or difficulty. The intensity of evil in the world will be great and betrayal and mistrust will be widespread. Add to that the other element that gains a foothold in repression, hate, and you have awful times. The Lord is warning his saints of the future, of the times they will face. Jeremiah uses the term that is used by God, “and not waver”. That means endurance, not giving up and falling away, or going backward because of doubt (wavering).