Prophet Jeremiah Part 26

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, again, as we open up your word, we humbly come before you asking that you would help us to understand what you have revealed there, so that we may rightly believe, confess, and do according to your holy word.

We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, so last week we were working our way through the book of Jeremiah, and we got to a portion of Jeremiah that has eschatological implications, and there was some questions that were brought up in regard to how do we understand Israel, and so I'm going to kind of review that again as we look at these eschatological promises, because you'll note that the promise is made to the remnant of Israel, and you know, I don't have any notable Jewish blood in me, and probably a lot of you are the same.

You probably do not have any notable amount of Jewish blood. If you haven't figured it out, I'm pretty much a European mutt. Got some Irish in me, have a little bit of Scottish, some Welsh, some English, some German, and just a wee bit of Scandinavian, just a smidge of that, and all that being said, you know, how can I have hope if it's only Israel that is saved?

So I wanted to take the time here to kind of prep us again and look at how scripture defines these things, especially in the time of the New Testament, because when it says that all of Israel will be saved, or the remnant of Israel will be saved, you need to understand that it is those who have the same faith as Abraham that are counted as the sons of Abraham, and this is a major error that many evangelicals engage in when they fail to properly make this distinction, and they usually criticize guys like me, and accuse me of what is called replacement theology.

Replacement theology is this belief that the church has somehow replaced Israel, to which I would say there's no way the church replaces Israel. That's not what the scripture says, but as we look at some of these eschatological promises then that God is making, and speaking in terms where these eschatological pictures are being applied only to Israel, you need to understand your relationship as a Christian to Israel, at least the one that is of note.

So by way of review, Romans chapter 9 states, Paul says, I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.

Paul here is talking DNA, talking heritage. They are Israelites. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.

Amen. You see who he's talking about here, okay? People who are Hebrew, right? They speak Hebrew, right? But it is not as though the word of God has failed, and this is the important sentence. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.

So note there's a distinction being made here. And not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But, and then note he's quoting from the book of Genesis, through Isaac shall your offspring be named.

And that sentence, through Isaac shall your offspring be named, has to be interpreted the way the Holy Spirit interprets it for us. And that is that Isaac is the son of the promise. That being the case, you are only a child of Abraham through promise.

That's the point. So this means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God. Let me say that again. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

So note, the children of the promise are counted that's the same word that's used in the Greek, by the way, when it says that Christ's righteousness is accounted or credited to us, right? So we then are counted as offspring of Abraham.

I always like to tell the story that one time I was preaching a sermon on this topic and Mike DeGraw, he was present in the congregation and I congratulated everybody and said, congratulations, you are all Hebrew to which Mike then blurted out, Mazel Tov, right?

Which by the way, if you want to know how that translates, Mazel Tov means good stars, which is kind of a weird saying, okay? But anyway, all of that being said, then you'll note that the children of the promise are counted or credited as offspring.

For this is what the promise said, about this time next year I will return and Sarah will have a son and not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated.

So what shall we say then? Is there injustice then on God's part? By no means, for God says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

For scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whom he wills and then note here, he hardens whomever he wills.

And this is where we have to pay attention to what this passage reveals. This passage reveals that there are always a remnant of those who are genetically descendants of Abraham, whom God will call to repentance and have mercy on, and the remainder, they're hardened.

And there's a very specific reason why they're hardened. Because, well, if you were to think of it this way, if you read the prophet Amos, at least through the eyes of St. James at the council in Jerusalem, God chose the Israelites, the Hebrews, to receive the law and through them that they would have the Messiah.

But here's the thing, they were a stiff-necked people and they never kept the covenant. Ever. And so they basically despised the word that God had given them. Not in totality, but in such a huge amount of their populace that God has hardened them in judgment because of their impenitence and their persistence in evil and refusing to listen and hear and heed and obey his word.

So keep that in mind. So you will say to me then, well, why does he still find fault? Who can resist God's will? But who are you, man, to answer back to God? And boy, that's a question that'll make a drunk man sober, right?

Who are you to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to the molder, why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles, as indeed he says in the prophet Hosea, those who are not my people, I will call my people.

Listen to what Hosea says. Those who are not my people, you are not the people of God. Here at Kongsvinger, we've got a lot of Norwegians, all right? And I would note that Norway is a long way away from the promised land, all right?

Long way away, all right? And Norwegians are sus too, by the way. We're all sus, right? But note here, God has called Norwegians and Swedes, people from Asia, people from Germany, people from around the world who were not his people, he calls them my people.

So when you take a look at people who are genetically descendants of Abraham, but refuse to believe that Christ is the Messiah, and say they are the people of God, even Hosea disagrees with you. If you do not have the same faith as Abraham, you are not the people of God, all right?

Those who were not my people, I will call my people. And her who was not beloved, I will call beloved. And in that very place where it was said of them, you are not my people, they will be called sons of the living God.

And Isaiah, he cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay, as Isaiah predicted.

If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and would have become like Gomorrah. So what shall we say then? That the Gentiles, and this is next week's epistle text, listen to what it says.

What shall we say then? That the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness, they didn't pursue it, they've attained it. That is a righteousness that is by faith. But Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.

Why? Because they didn't pursue it by faith. But as if it were based on works, they have stumbled over the stumbling block. And here again, we talk about the scandal of the gospel, the scandal of the cross.

People who were not even trying to be good have been declared forgiven and declared righteous by Christ. People who've been making an effort to fulfill the commands and establish their own righteousness by their obedience, they fail because they didn't pursue righteousness by faith.

Instead they pursued it as if it were a work. We do not obey God's commands in order to become righteous. We obey God's commands because we are already declared righteous. Does that make sense? Big difference.

And we are declared righteous by faith, not by words. Marilyn, you have that puzzled look on your face. You're about ready to raise your hand, aren't you? Cool. Yeah, exactly. So you'll note that Hebrews chapter 11, the great hall of faith passage, stands in contradistinction to those who try to establish their own righteousness by their works.

So the great hall of faith passage makes it clear that the saints of the Old Testament accomplished the things that they accomplished by faith. So Abraham had faith and it was credited to him as righteousness.

David did the things that he did by faith, right? And nobody can say of David that he was a righteous dude, that he really was keen on obeying God's law. He stands as one of the major flops of morality in all of the Old Testament, right?

And yet it is said of him that he is a man after God's own heart and he's an author of scripture. How can God uphold somebody as, well, horrible? An adulterous murderer like David? It's simple. David had faith and he received from God forgiveness just like you and I receive forgiveness.

So the idea then is that if we try to establish our own righteousness by law keeping, we ain't gonna make it. You can't, you will never obey the law perfectly enough in order to be saved by it. The law will always condemn you.

So you see the idea. And so the stumbling block then has to do with who Christ is. The Christ is.

The one who forgives the ungodly. Yes, Barb. So the faith, that faith is what saved them. Correct.

Trusting that Christ would come. So the idea then is that contrary to what dispensationalists teach, dispensationalists teach without any biblical merit, by the way, that there are different dispensations within human history and that each dispensation has its own salvation scheme.

Yet scripture is clear. Everybody who is saved, everybody is saved by God's grace through faith. Full stop. All right. That means that there was not a salvation scheme in the Old Testament that's different than the salvation scheme in the New Testament.

Instead, the idea then is that those who trusted the promises of God, which had yet to be fulfilled because Christ had not come yet in the Old Testament, their faith is reckoned to them as righteousness.

As it says about Abraham, Abraham believed God and it was reckoned or credited to him as righteousness. Same then with David and all the patriarchs who held the faith during the Old Covenant. And now in the time of the New Covenant, we look backwards to the fulfilled promises of God.

And you're going to note, there's still a portion of the promises that God has yet to fulfill. Are we presently in the new earth? No. I wish we were because this one seems like it's winding down and it's going to crash hard.

I don't like the direction that the world is heading in. I'm really kind of hoping to get off the bus before it hits the wall. You know what I'm saying? But all of that being said then, the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness, they didn't even try, they've attained righteousness.

That is a righteousness that is what? By faith. Israel, who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, they didn't succeed in reaching that law because they did not pursue it by faith. But instead, as if it were based on works.

So as a result, they have stumbled over the stumbling block. As it is written, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense, and whoever believes in him, watch, will not be put to shame.

You trust in Christ, you will not be put to shame. And don't sit there and go, but, but, but, but, but, you don't even know what I've done. I've been a pastor long enough, I have a pretty good idea, right?

And I'm sure not even that is going to condemn you, right? Because you will not be put to shame. Christ has bled and died for all of your sins. Now I'm going to jump forward to chapter 11, which continues with the thought properly.

In Romans 11 says,. So I asked then, has God rejected his people? That's a legitimate question. Has God rejected his people? Who are his people again? Okay. He says by no means. Here's what Paul says.

I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. So do you not know what the scriptures say of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?

Lord, they've killed your prophets. They've demolished your altars. I alone am left and they seek my life. Elijah wasn't talking about the Amorites. Elijah wasn't complaining about the Philistines. He was complaining to God about his fellow Israelites.

But what is God's reply to him? I have kept for myself 7 ,000 men who have not bowed the need to all. So too, at the present time, there is a remnant which is chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.

Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. So what then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect though have obtained it and the rest, they were hardened. As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see, ears that would not hear, all the way down to this very day.

You don't believe this text? Just try preaching the gospel on the streets of Jerusalem and see how long it is before the Hasidic Jews have you shut down or punch you in the face for daring to speak positively of Jesus and calling people to believe in him on the streets of Jerusalem today, right?

David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs forever. So I asked them, did they stumble in order that they might fall?

And this is an important bit. No, by no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. Listen to what God's thinking is on this. Remember that parable about the king who's going to put on a big wedding feast for his son, right?

And he sends out the invitations to all the A-listers and it says, everything's prepared, come to the wedding feast. And what did they do? They made excuses. Oh, I just bought a new cow. I've got to check it out.

I just bought a new field. I have to go and take a look at it. I just got married and so me and the wife, we're too busy. And none of them said yes. In fact, in one version of that parable in one of the gospels, they roughed up the king's guys who were sending out the invitations and even killed some of them, all right?

So what does the king say? Fine, you don't want to come. We're going to invite everybody. Go out and invite, bring them all in. And so as the parable goes, I mean, we're talking like the town hookers show up, the riffraff, the druggies, the people, you know, who are middle-class hard workers.

Everybody's invited and when they show up, they're giving wedding clothes, right? So the idea here is that their rejection of Christ means that we all Gentiles are now invited, right? So if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, well, how much more will their full inclusion mean?

So now I'm speaking to you Gentiles. Pay attention. This is to us. In as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles and I magnify my ministry in order that somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them.

For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough that was offered as firstfruits is holy, and it is, so is the whole lump.

And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off and you Gentiles, although a wild olive shoot were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches.

If you are, remember it is not you who supports the root, but the root that supports you. So note the imagery here. Israel is likened to what? A big old olive tree and the branches that were not bearing any fruit, who were basically impenitent in unbelief.

Christ has come and broken those off and in their place he has grafted in wild olive branches. That's you Gentiles. That's me, right? We've been grafted in. So we are part of Israel. Again, mazel tov.

Congratulations. You are all now Israeli, right? See, I can say ani israeli, ani israeli, and you women can say, you can say ani israelit, right? You are Israelis, all of you, because of Christ. You've been grafted in.

So then you will say, branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. That's true. They were broken off because of their unbelief. But you stand fast through faith so that you do not become proud, but fear.

For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. So note then the kindness and the severity of God. Severity towards those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness.

Otherwise you will be cut off. Note here what we are to continue in. Kindness, right? The thing that seems to be missing in our world today. Otherwise you will be cut off, and even if they do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted in.

For God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree if they believe?

So you'll know the genetic descendants of Abraham, according to this passage, are not the children of note. Everybody who has the same faith as Abraham, they are, and they are the children of Abraham because they're children through the promise, and we've all been grafted in.

The church does not replace Israel. The church is grafted in to Israel, and once you see that, then when we get to a passage like I hopefully wanted to get to today, Jeremiah 31, where we begin to see some of these eschatological promises being made.

In Jeremiah 31, we almost get a little bit of a in this small portion of Jeremiah where God goes from threatening constantly for their idolatry, their adultery, their unjust treatment of the poor, and all the sin and just muck that's going on in Judah.

Instead, in this little respite portion of Jeremiah, we get promises that are eschatological in nature, and we as Christians have to interpret these promises through Romans 9, 10, and 11, so that we see that these eschatological promises do not exclude us, but they include us because we have been grafted into Israel.

So Jeremiah 31 .1, a little bit of review from last week, at that time declares Yahweh, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people. Now note, when Jeremiah wrote this, how many clans of Israel were left?

Think about it for a second. What happened to the northern kingdom before Jeremiah wrote? God acted in judgment and dispersed them into the nations in the north, well north of Damascus. They became part of the Diaspora, and we kind of, you might kind of mythically talk about them, or in legendary terms, as the 10 lost tribes of Israel, right?

They're already gone. They're long, long, long gone. So when God says, at that time declares Yahweh, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people, this is eschatological. So note, what he's saying here then, is that all my people who are now scattered throughout the earth, he's going to gather them into the eschatological kingdom, right?

So we're part of that Diaspora. So thus says Yahweh, the people who survived the sword, they found grace in the wilderness. When Israel sought for rest, Yahweh appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

And again, I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel. Now wait a second here. That modifier, the word virgin, in conjunction with the word Israel, that don't make no sense, because you'll know Israel has been acting anything but virginish, right?

In fact, everything we've read in Jeremiah has been describing Israel in terms of whoredom, prostitution, and unfaithfulness. Virgin Israel, all right, let's kind of work through that then, all right?

How can Israel be made virgin again? By Christ and his shed blood on the cross. By the way, this gives you a little bit of a hint on how to interpret that parable from Matthew chapter 25 about the 10 virgins, all right?

Let me show you this, because this is kind of a fun one that a lot of people get wrong, because they don't let scripture interpret scripture. So Matthew 25, all right? Here's the parable. The kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

Five of them were foolish, five were wise, for when the foolish took the lamps, they took no oil with them, and the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps, and as the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.

But at midnight there was a cry, and here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.

But the wise answered, saying, since there will not be enough for us and you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves. And while they were going out to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with them to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.

And afterward the other virgins came, also saying, Lord, open to us. And he answered, truly I say to you, I do not know you, watch therefore, for you know neither the day or the hour. Now, people mishandle this text constantly, and I mean constantly.

And so, usually the punchline goes something like this, you better be obeying God's word, because otherwise your lamps are going to run out. You need to make sure you have enough oil, right? As if salvation is by works.

But it's not, okay? So let's talk about this for a second. Ten virgins? This talks about the fact that Christ has died for the sins of who? The whole world. And this then talks about the foolishness of unbelief.

We're saved by grace through faith. So what is the oil? Faith. Faith is the oil, all right? What's lack of oil? Complete unbelief. When they fell asleep, what is that? Death. They died, all right? When they are risen, when the bridegroom comes, what is that?

The general resurrection of the dead, when Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. Everybody is raised from the dead. Are everybody raised? Are they virgins? Yep. Did Christ bleed and die for all their sins?

Yep. Does everyone believe? Nope, right? Not everyone believed. And so you can see the foolishness then of unbelief, because everybody, though their sins be as scarlet, Christ shed blood, makes you white as snow.

But if you want to persist in unbelief and you don't want to be forgiven, fine, have it your way. Seems kind of foolish to me, right? You get the idea. So here then, back in Jeremiah, O virgin Israel, and I get, I will build you and you shall be built, O virgin Israel.

The the word virgin here is again hinting at the fact that God is going to pardon all of her prostitution, her whoredom, her idolatry, her, you get the idea. Again, you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

And again, you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria, and the planters shall plant and enjoy the fruit. And there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim, arise and let us go up to Zion, to Yahweh our God.

For thus says, no, it says Zion, doesn't say Jerusalem, that's again eschatological. For thus says Yahweh, sing aloud with gladness for Jacob. Raise shouts for the chief of the nations. Proclaim, give praise and say, O Yahweh, save your people, the remnant of Israel.

Behold, I will bring them from the north country, gather them from the farthest parts of the earth. Among them, the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman, and she who is in labor together, a great company, they shall return here.

And by the way, this is not talking about God re-establishing the nation of Israel in 1948. That's not what this is referring to, okay? This is actually referring to Christ calling all of Israel out of the nations when Jesus returns.

With weeping they shall come, with pleas for mercy I will lead them back. I will make them walk by brooks of water in a straight path in which they shall not stumble. For I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn.

And boy, is that a statement, okay? If you know your history of the northern kingdom, it was the tribe of Ephraim that plunged the northern kingdom into idolatry. They were kind of the first to really go off the religious rails and engage in rank idolatry.

And here God is eschatologically saying that Ephraim now is my firstborn. They have the preeminence when in Israeli history they have, well, the infamy. So God reverses all of that through his mercy. So hear the word of Yahweh, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away.

Say, he who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. God is the one who scattered them for their unbelief. Again, this is talking about northern kingdom, but he's going to gather them again.

Has anyone ever been able to gather the lost tribes of Israel? No. The three primary tribes that are left that people can trace their heritage to, people who live in Israel today and claim to be Jews, is going to be the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Benjamin, and the tribe of Levi.

And you can always tell a Levite, by the way, because they have the last name of Cohen. Cohen in Hebrew means priest. So they've kept the last name of Cohen as a way to remember who the Levites are. So keep that in mind.

So only God can gather the lost tribes, and he does. And so if you'll note, we've all been grafted into Israel, right? I do not know which tribe I'm in. You don't know which tribe you're in. So you might be part of Ephraim.

You might be part of Manasseh. You might be part of, well, you get the idea. I legitimately do not know where on the olive tree my branch has been grafted in, neither do you. That's going to be kind of one of the big reveals at the end, right?

So hang on. For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and he has redeemed him from the hands that are too strong for him. They shall come, and they shall sing aloud on the height of Zion. Again, Zion is not, we're not talking Jerusalem.

This is something way different. This is talking eschatologically, the mountain of salvation. They shall be radiant over the goodness of God, hinting at when we are raised again on the last day, that scripture describes the saints after the resurrection as shining like the sun, all right?

So I don't know if we're going to be like fireflies or not, but you kind of get the idea. There's going to be some sense in which we will reflect the glory of God, and we will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh, over the grain, the wine, the oil.

Note here, food in the new earth, right? Grain, wine, oil, over the young of the flock and the herd, their life shall be like a watered garden. They shall languish no more. Thank God, because right now I'm languishing, all right?

Only getting older by the minute. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.

I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares Yahweh. This clearly has not happened yet. This is something we're looking forward to. This is Jeremiah's way of talking about what's in Revelation 21.

So thus says Yahweh. Now, a little bit of a turn. This is a dark turn. Thus says Yahweh, a voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children, for she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.

Now, in the midst of all of this glorious kind of eschatological promise, we get a thunderclap, and just bam, this one hits hard. And you've heard this text before. You've heard this one before. So let me show you what the cross reference is, and then we'll put into a little bit of a bigger context.

Matthew chapter 2. Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, Where is he who was born the king of the Jews?

For we saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for it is written by the prophet, And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.

So then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.

After listening to the king, they went on their way and behold the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy and going into the house, they saw the child with Mary and his mother and they fell down and they worshiped him.

You'll note this is the biblical text for the epiphany, right? The revealing of Christ. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts and gold and frankincense and myrrh and being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.

And he rose and he took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet out of Egypt I have called my son.

Then Herod when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men became furious, sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under according to the time he had ascertained from the wise men.

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. A voice was heard in Rama weeping in loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they are no more.

So this is a prophecy that finds its fulfillment in the death of the innocents, the death of those children of Bethlehem. And again, the question then might come up, why does it mention Rachel? Rachel weeping for her children, what is that a reference to?

And here's your historical reference on this. In Genesis 35, remember Rachel died while she was giving birth to Benjamin. Benjamin was the brother of Joseph and Rachel was the beloved wife of Jacob of Israel.

And she died while giving birth. In fact, Benjamin had just been born and she named him Ben-Oni, which means son of my affliction. But his father changed his name to Benjamin, which is kind of interesting.

But here's what it says, Rachel died, she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. And so the reference to Rachel weeping is a reference to the tomb of Rachel, who died giving birth to children.

So that little color, that little flare there in Jeremiah then makes sense. A voice is heard in Rama lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted because they are no more.

That's a reference to Rachel's tomb, which is near Bethlehem. Does that help a little bit? So thus says Yahweh, keep your voice from weeping, your eyes from tears. There is a reward for your work, declares Yahweh, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.