Today we notice Jeremiah 50:4-5, a short Text.

“In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”

When has this ever been the case with Israel, historically? And literally? Surely it is yet future.

Observe that here “Israel” and “Judah” are again reunited! No longer is there a Divided Kingdom. Masses returning to “Zion” (the Holy Land, Jerusalem, the Temple Mount) for one reason, “to seek the Lord their God!”

And, knowing their “unfaithful” history, they need (and long for) a “perpetual” covenant! (In Hebrew “olam,” translated “ever” 272 times in the Old Testament! As in “evermore.”)

Sounds like Peace to me!

Sounds like Romans 11:16 as well … “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”

Sounds like what the Bible elsewhere calls the Millennium, which simply means “the thousand years.”

When Jesus comes to earth again!

Israel, the very “Apple” of God’s Eye!

A warning to any Jew-haters … “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.” Zechariah 2:8

Plain enough …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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The Prophet Jeremiah, though not as much as Isaiah, certainly tells about the Millennium.

Today’s Paragraph is a prime example …

“36 And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; 37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: 38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: 39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. 42 For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.” Jeremiah 32:36-42

God’s judgment on His people, clearly seen!

But ultimately followed by God restoration and blessings!

All He has promised, He will do!

“This city,” Jerusalem of course.

Verse 36 contains “history written in advance!” Also known as Bible “prophecy!”

Jeremiah wrote these words prior to Judah’s fall to Babylon. And to Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) it did fall!

Verse 37 depicts the regathering of Israel! Miraculously, from the corners of the earth. Diaspora, reversed! (“This place,” still Jerusalem I suspect.)

Then in verse 38 it happens … the salvation of Israel! Has to be … “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” A nation “born again,” as it were.

A redemption that lasts for generation upon generation! “And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” Verses 39-40, King James Version. (“Fruit that remains,” Jesus would say.)

Then come the blessings … “Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” Millennial Blessings abundantly provided, verse number 41.

Lastly … “For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.”(Verse 42)

Every Promise!

“This great evil,” the Babylonian captivity.

“All the good,” the (as of today) yet future Millennium!

A thousand years of blessings!

“Showers of them,” Ezekiel 34:26.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

“And I (the Lord) will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” Ezekiel’s words!

Amen!

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Yes, I am preaching this week in a Revival Meeting. Psalm 83, verse by verse. And today’s “Millennium Text” will become part of this evening’s Sermon, the Lord willing.

Specifically: “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.” Verses 35-37 of Jeremiah 31.

This is a powerful Statement!

God just guaranteed the longevity of Israel as a Nation! Perpetually so, looks like!

As long as the sun shines and the moon waxes and wanes!

As long as the stars twinkle and the sea roars!

Israel will never cease from being a nation!

Then comes the same truth worded a different way …

If every square inch of the earth (all the way to the core, to the molten fire there) could be examined thoroughly (searched out) … then Israel might be in danger! (A feat that will never happen, not by mortal man! Too deep, too dark, too hot, too far!)

Or if the heavens above (not just could be mapped) could somehow be distributed/rearranged (one valid meaning of the verb “measured”) by any human being … then Israel might be in jeopardy! (Another impossibility, we have not even seen all the universe out there! And now it is believed that it is expanding so rapidly we shall never see it all!)

So I conclude, deduce … “the seed of Israel” … is eternally part of God’s Plan, as a Nation! (Much as the Church is too, as the Bride of Christ Jesus our Lord!)

One amazing Lesson today!

Thank you Jeremiah.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

No matter what “they have done” implies forgiveness too! Everlastingly pardoned!

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Jeremiah 31 is truly one of the great chapters of the Bible. With the Millennium being front and center …

“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, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; AFTER THOSE DAYS, saith the LORD, 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. and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall ALL know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”Verses 31-34 of Jeremiah 31.

Wow!

Holy Ground!

What needs to be said?

Old Covenant … in the days of Moses. And the people broke it into smithereens!

New Covenant … in the days of Messiah, His Second Coming to earth! And it will be kept, obeyed diligently!

“After those days,” meaning the horrors of the Tribulation, I think. Yes, Israel will trust in Jesus.

Do you see why it’s called the Golden Age? With Jesus as Saviour of the whole world! “THEY SHALL ALL KNOW ME!”

I thought that last Line was interesting. A “parallelism” likely. Read it again: Where the Lord promises “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

So then … forgiveness of sin equates to God’s remembering our transgressions no more!

The verb “forgive” (in Hebrew “salach”) used here means “to pardon.” And the verb “remember” (spelled “zakar”) can at times mean “not even to mention!”

Amazing Grace!

A new world indeed!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Not quite perfect yet, as we shall learn. But “new” anyway. I say that because the Lord God yet is going to create a “new earth,” Revelation 21:1. This is after the Millennium, too.

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I have now decided to write the Bible Study Lessons only five days a week, Monday through Friday.

Saturday is most often a travel day for us, journeying to the next Revival Meeting. And Sunday is a “preaching” day for sure, delightfully so!

But these past two nights of Revival have been special. In Andrews, North Carolina.

My Grandson Andrew (whose Dad died unexpectedly April 15th) has been my “driver,” giving Debbie some well deserved time at home. What sweet fellowship we have enjoyed!

And too, I have had the privilege of preaching for a precious young Pastor, one eager to serve the Lord.

I have added a couple of new pictures on the “Standing with the Bagwells” Page if you’re interested.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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