The Time of Jacob's Trouble*

   

     This past week marked the Memorial of the Holocaust. Despite undisputable evidence, there are those who deny that the holocaust ever occurred. On October 7th, another attempt was made to destroy God's chosen people. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. We need to remember that Jesus was a Jewish rabbi, and God sent His Son through the seed of David to die for all people. 

     The prophet Jeremiah reinforced God's covenant promise to bring His people back from the nations to return to and possess the land that God gave them (Jer. 30:1-3). We saw the nation of Israel re-established in 1948, as God promised. After this return to the land, Jeremiah prophesied about a time of trembling and fear, and not of peace: "Alas! for that day is great, so that there is none like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day...that I will break his yoke from off thy neck...and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them...I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid....For I am with thee...to save thee..." (v. 5-11). Though there will be a time of great trouble, God will save His people. God has indeed brought His people to victory in several wars and attacks from neighboring countries since Israel was re-established. The Word of the LORD above refers to "David their king" whom God will "raise up". This is referring to the raised up Messiah, because David is dead at this point. Regarding the nations who bring this terrible fear and trouble to Israel, the LORD promised: "...though I make a full end of all nations, whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee..." (v. 11). Israel, Jeremiah prophesied, was wounded because of her increased sins, and because it trusted in others to save it, rather than trusting the LORD (v. 12-14). Though they are wounded, the LORD promised His people: "...I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds...because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after." (v. 17). Jeremiah prophesied of an outcry against Zion, and we see that today as people and nations condemn "Zionism", or those who desire to return to the land of Israel. As the LORD deals with these enemies of His covenant people with His fierce anger, He says that this will be "in the latter days", and "ye shall consider (bin - understand, consider, perceive, discern, study, show oneself attentive) it" (v. 24, also see 2 Tim. 2:15). The nations who attack God's chosen people and support the terrorists whose agenda is to drive Israel into the sea, better listen to what the Word of God is saying.

     At the same time that the LORD promises vengeance against the nations that attack Israel, He uses this hatred and violence against His people to repeat His promises over Israel, and to add to them. Jeremiah continued: "At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people...Hear the word of the LORD. O ye nations, and declare it afar off, and say, He that scattereth Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock....Behold the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake (we also have broken covenant), although I was a husband unto them, saith the LORD; But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days...I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jer. 31:1, 10, 31-33). Each one would know the LORD, Jeremiah wrote, and He would forgive them and remember their sin no more. The LORD said that in the same way that His ordinances over the sun and the moon could not be broken, so His ordinances will stand with the seed of Israel (v. 34-36). 

     The prophet Zechariah also prophesied against the nations, and all peoples, that would gather against Jerusalem, and be burdened with it as bothersome. The LORD promises to defend and save the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "And it shall come to pass in that day (meaning the last days), that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." (Zech. 12:1-9, excerpt). Here again, we see the LORD open up a new revelation for His people as well: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (v. 10). The Messiah, Jesus, the One pierced, shall be revealed to them, keeping in mind that Jesus is not returning to be crucified again. He is returning as King and Lord to rule the nations.

     There are extreme so-called Christian groups, who are not Christian at all, who stir up the antisemitic hatred against the Jewish people by claiming a falsehood that is termed "Blood Libel". It is the false accusation blaming all of the Jewish people for the crucifixion of Jesus, but it is the blood of the Passover Lamb that cleanses us from sin. We read above of God identifying Himself as being like a shepherd with His flock. Jesus said of Himself: "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep...As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of the fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (Jn. 10:1-18, excerpt). Five times Jesus declared that He lays down His life, and no one takes it from Him. This is the Good Shepherd. As Jesus spoke about His other sheep not from the Jewish fold, we see today, many from other cultures and religious backgrounds receiving revelation and dreams of Jesus as Savior, and who have come to belief in Him even at the risk of their lives.

     The apostle Paul wrote that God is not finished with the Jewish people: "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew...but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?" (Rom. 11:1-2). Israel was blinded, Paul said, for our sake: "...blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved..." (v. 25-26). This is God's covenant with them - "when I shall take away their sins...for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (v. 27-29). The remnant of Israel who have already received the revelation of Jesus as Messiah is a remnant according to the election of grace (v. 5-7). That all Israel should be saved is the (new) covenant that Jeremiah prophesied above. God will not break His own covenant. We are seeing the time of the Gentiles as having been fulfilled as of 1948 when Israel became a nation again after 2,000 years. This time of the Gentiles being fulfilled is one of the signs of the end times, and the return of Christ (Lk. 21:24). This end time is also the time of the Great Tribulation, as Jesus referred to it. This great tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble, is so severe that: "...except those days be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (Mt. 24:21-22). 

     The Book of Revelation tells us that the worshipping congregation in heaven is made up of a great multitude, impossible to number, before the Lamb of God, from "all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues...clothed in white robes..." (Rev. 7:9-10). John is told that this group of worshippers of the Lamb who are wearing white robes: "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (v. 13-14). They wear the clean white linen which is the righteousness of the saints, and the power of the blood of the Lamb.

     Don't believe the lying spirits and the false prophets. which are meant to divide the people of God, and deceive the very elect. Instead, prepare, because the Bridegroom, the returning Jesus, is coming. For the Jewish people, it is the time to look upon Him who was pierced for all, as God restores His flock, and keeps His promise to Israel.

           *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 1/28/24 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free ebook now available in several languages, go to TheShroudofTurin.org/http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.