Watchman Radio Hour

David Shultz: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Shultz, your announcer. The Watchman Radio Hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker, Alex Dodson, to bring you this week's message from God's word.

Alex Dodson: For our scripture reading today, let us turn to Jeremiah chapter 31 and verses 7 through 14. I will begin reading in verse 7. Let us hear the word of God. This is what the Lord says. Sing with joy for Jacob, shout for the greatest of the nations, make your praises heard and say, “O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.” See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping. They will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations. Proclaim it in distant coastlands. He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd. For the Lord will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion. They will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord: the grain, the new wine, and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness. I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty, declares the Lord.

We are continuing today in our study of Jeremiah 31. This is a great chapter and a great prophecy. This is the chapter that looks forward to the new covenant. We find this chapter quoted in the New Testament. The Prophet Jeremiah was bringing encouragement to the people of God through this prophecy. Though the Jews were going into captivity and would leave their homeland, there was yet a future for them. We can find in this prophecy a looking forward to a time when God’s people would be blessed.

If we try to understand the exact meaning of this prophecy and point to one point in history or in the future when it will be fulfilled, we may run into difficulty. It’s not that easy to say that this prophecy points to only one event in the future, but rather the prophecy looks forward to a time of fulfillment in primarily three ways. It pointed to the time that the Jews would be restored to their homeland under Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel. We know that this actually happened. All we need to do is read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and we see its fulfillment.

Yet this is not all this prophecy refers to. It points to the time of the Messiah when the gospel would go out to all the nations and God’s people would be gathered in. The book of Hebrews, in referring to the new covenant, points to this prophecy as being fulfilled in the gospel age. Paul talks about the spiritual Israel in referring to the church in Galatians 6:16 where he says, “Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.”

A third fulfillment of this prophecy is what will take place in the future when the Jews as a whole people are converted to Christ. Paul speaks of the future conversion of Israel in Romans 11:25 through 27 where he says, “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of the mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’” This future conversion of Israel is yet to be, but it is certainly included in this prophecy of Jeremiah.

There is much in this prophecy that the church today can take comfort from. God has a plan for his people. In Jeremiah 31:17 it says, “So there is hope for your future.” As we study this chapter, let us be comforted and encouraged about the future for God’s people. Let us realize that God has a plan for his people and that he is carrying out that plan in history.

Let us see in the first place today a plan to gather them. Verse 7 says, “This is what the Lord says, sing with joy for Jacob, shout for the greatest of the nations, make your praises heard and say, ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth.” He’s going to gather his people together. There would be a gathering back to Israel. They did return from exile under Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel. They did return to their homeland. They did not all return, but a significant remnant did return.

Jeremiah was giving them hope for the future. But this prophecy also points to a gathering of the Gentiles under the gospel. We cannot limit this prophecy only to the return of the exiles to Israel after being captive in Babylon for 70 years. It seems that the prophecy looks forward to more than this return from exile. It speaks of their coming from the ends of the earth in verse 8. It talks of a great throng coming and returning. Matthew Henry writes this on this chapter, on this verse: “When God calls, we must not plead any inability to come for he that calls us will help us, will strengthen us. And though they seem to be diminished and to have become few in numbers, yet when they come all together, they shall be a great company, and so will God’s spiritual Israel be when there shall be a general rendezvous of them, though now they are but a little flock.” This great throng points to many being converted during the gospel age.

Again, verse 8 says, “Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers, women in labor, a great throng will return.” Paul talks of a time coming when all Israel shall be saved, a great conversion of the Jews. John Gill writes, “Three thousand were converted under one sermon in the first times of the gospel, and in the latter day, the nation of the Jews shall be born again at once. The number of the children of Israel shall then be as the sand of the sea and great shall be the day of Jezreel.”

It speaks of the blind and the lame coming, reminding us of Isaiah 35:5 and 6 where it says, “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped, then will the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” We see the fulfillment of this in Jesus’s ministry. In Matthew 15:29 it says, “Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. And then when he went up into the hills and sat down, great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb, and many others, and laid them at his feet, and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.”

They will come weeping and praying as they return, weeping for joy, weeping under conviction of sin. This applies to the gospel age as well as people who come to Christ under conviction of sin and weep with joy when they have their sins forgiven. In verse 10, there’s an invitation to the nations to hear the word of God proclaimed. It says, “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, proclaim it in the distant coastlands. He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.”

A command to proclaim the gospel to the islands is given there. John Gill, the great Bible scholar, applies verse 10 to the gospel age. He writes, “The Gentiles who are called upon to hear the word of the gospel, the word of peace, reconciliation, and salvation by Christ, sent among them by him for the calling and conversion of them, that they might believe in him and profess his name, and declare it in the isles afar off. Having heard, received, and embraced the gospel themselves, it became them to make it known to others, not only to those upon the continent and the isles adjacent, but to those afar off from it, such as these isles of ours of Great Britain and Ireland, where blessed be the Lord, this gospel has been declared to the conversion and comfort of many and to the glory of Christ.”

The Lord watches as a shepherd over the people, and he brings them back. He leads them by streams of water and on a level path. Verse 9: “They will come with weeping, and they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son.” The Lord shepherds over his people who follow him. In John 10:14, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as the father knows me and I know the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them, and they too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

Verse 11 looks forward to the cross. It says, “For the Lord will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.” The Lord will pay a ransom for his people. First Timothy 2:5 through 6 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.” In Mark 10:45 it says, “For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The Lord redeems his people from the strong man or from the enemy.

In Hebrews 2:14 and 15 it says, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” The Lord Jesus Christ delivers us from Satan and his power over us. He delivers us from sin, Satan, and death. John Gill, in commenting on this passage, says, “Christ is stronger than the strong man armed. He is the redeemer that is mighty and has taken the prey out of his hands and has led captivity captive. And this he has done not only by power and conquest, spoiling Satan and his principalities and powers, but by paying a ransom price for these captives into the hands of God, and which is no other than his precious blood, his life himself, and so must be a sufficient ransom for them. This redemption was typified by the deliverance of the Jews out of the hands of the Chaldeans, a mighty nation and stronger than they, and is the ground reason and foundation of the restoration of that people in the latter day.”

The Lord did bring the Jews out of Babylon, and he brought them back to their homeland. Yet that deliverance was only a foreshadowing of a greater deliverance yet to come when Jesus Christ died on the cross to deliver us out of the hands of Satan, the strong man. And then secondly, let us see that there is a plan to bless them. Verse 12 says, “They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion. They will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord: the grain, the new wine, and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, they will sorrow no more.”

In verse 14, “I will satisfy the priest with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty, declares the Lord.” A time of blessing and joy for the Jews who would return is prophesied here. When the Jews returned to the land of Israel, they rejoiced. It was a time of great joy. In Ezra 3:11 through 13 it says, “With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord. ‘He is good, his love to Israel endures forever.’ And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads who had seen the former temple wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping because the people made so much noise and the sound was heard far away.”

The people were praising God for the rebuilding of the temple. It also brought back memories to those who had seen the first temple with their eyes. It was both a time of weeping and a time of rejoicing. In Psalm 126:1 through 3 it says, “When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. And then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.’”

Let us see there is blessing and joy for all who come to Christ. In Isaiah 55:1 and 2 it says, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” When we come to Christ, we find blessing and joy. We have great spiritual blessings in Christ. What a joy to know that our sins are forgiven and that we are made right with God.

In the great revivals of the past, there was widespread conviction of sin. People came under conviction of sin and they wept. They realized their lost condition and then they found Christ and rejoiced and received great blessing. Great revivals have occurred in this country in the past. Most today don’t realize what wonderful outpourings of the Holy Spirit have happened in America in the past. The gospel has come in times past in mighty power. Great crowds of people have come under conviction of sin, and multitudes have rejoiced in finding salvation in Christ.

A great revival began in America on the frontier in the late 1700s and continued on into the 19th century. J. Edwin Orr in his book The Eager Feet: Evangelical Awakening 1790-1830 writes about what happened in Kentucky. He says at Red River in July 1798, the Lord’s Supper was celebrated, and the accumulation of prayer together with the powerful preaching produced a great solemnity. The boldest and most daring sinners were reduced to tearful conviction. On the last Sunday in August, Reverend McGready was assisting John Rankin at Gaspar River, and many hearers were prostrated, groaning in their conviction.

The spirit of conviction ebbed and flowed for a couple of years at the same time that the widespread awakening in New England was raising up intercessors for the West. The winter of 1799, said McGready, was for the most part a time of weeping and mourning with the children of God. During the summer of 1800, all previous revivals in the area seemed nothing more than a few scattering drops before a mighty rain. The Great Awakening in the West had begun, changing the frontier and the nation.

In July 1800, families of settlers arrived from their farms and tethered their teams while they camped for a few days to listen to the preaching of the word and to share in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Soon these camp meetings multiplied, and a whole new way of worship and evangelism was rediscovered. Barton Stone studied carefully the cycle of conviction, confession, forgiveness, and testimony, all so spontaneous. He concluded that whatever the accompaniment, it was the result of the operation of the spirit of God.

Later that year in August of 1801, a memorable meeting was held at Cane Ridge, Kentucky. The roads were crowded with wagons, carriages, horses, and men on foot, proceeding to a camp meeting. Military observers estimated that 25,000 people, more or less, were assembled. As many as five preachers addressed the crowd simultaneously on different parts of the encampment. Methodists and Baptists and Presbyterians cooperated in the ministry, all of one mind for the salvation of sinners, and multitudes were converted.

When the Holy Spirit comes in power, people are convicted of their sins and see their need for a savior. Oh, would such conviction come back again to this nation. Oh, let us hope that it will and that multitudes like in times past will be converted and come to Christ. And then thirdly, let us see that God has a plan to comfort them. In verse 9, it says this: “They will come with weeping, they will pray as I bring them back, and I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son.”

Verse 13 says, “Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness, and I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.” The Lord would comfort the returning Israelites. They had mourned over their captivity, but now they would be comforted. God would comfort his people and bring them back from captivity. The prophet was showing the people that their captivity would not be the end. There would be a time of rejoicing yet to come. The people could be comforted by this prophecy of Jeremiah.

Let us also see that the coming of Christ would be a time of comfort for God’s people. In Isaiah 40 and beginning in verse 1 it says, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all mankind together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’”

God’s people would be comforted because their sins would be forgiven. Isaiah announces the coming of Christ not only to pay for the sins of the Jews, but for all people. Let us see that comfort comes to the sinner when he comes to Christ. Matthew 5:4 says, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” Conviction of sin precedes this comfort. We need to know our sin before we can experience the comfort that comes from the Lord. One thing is lacking today in this nation is conviction of sin. In times of great revival, there is always times of great conviction of sin.

J. Edwin Orr described the great revival in New England at the turn of the 19th century. He writes, “In the months before the awakening at Granville, a town in Massachusetts, great stupidity prevailed, and youth had become addicted to sinful diversions according to their minister Dr. Timothy Cooley. In 1798, praying people began to intercede for blessing and before long, the work was manifest among the young people, overtaking them with conviction, even during their revels. Some of the most gay and thoughtless became promising converts, while whole families repented. There were no outcries under conviction, no rants of joy after receiving comfort. The glorious work spread rapidly through the parish. The spiritual influences at work in Massachusetts and Connecticut began to be felt in Vermont and New Hampshire before and after the year 1800. Nominal Christians awoke from stupor in Halifax, Vermont, and a visible shaking of dry bones was reported, followed by outright conversions. There were no disorders. In Rutland, after 18 years of deadness, surprising manifestations accompanied the work of grace. Similar reports came from Rupert and other towns, telling of days of prayer and fasting followed by a general conviction of sin. Without extravagant outcry, the town of New London, New Hampshire, consisted of about 50 families when a work of grace began. Conviction of sin became so powerful that the busiest men and women set aside their business affairs and sought for spiritual counsel. Within a year, the church of 18 members had welcomed another 100 converts of all ages from 8 to 70 years old having been admitted, including 37 couples. In Newport, the pastor of the local Baptist Church baptized 29 in four weeks.”

Orr continues to describe the revival in New England, and he says, “In 1807, another great awakening began in Newark, described by Edward D. Griffin, later President of Williams College, as a deluge of blessing. It was marked by an intensity of intercessory prayer. Whole congregations affected, even the little children. A hundred in tears as affecting as it was unexpected. Among the 240 converts in his congregation were drunkards, infidels, apostates, with children under 10, oldsters over 70, and many poor negroes. The revival was provoked by news from nearby Elizabethtown, New Jersey. There were two godly brothers serving as Presbyterian ministers, William McDowell of Morristown and John McDowell of Elizabethtown, both of them happily involved in revival movements.”

Orr goes on to write, “In 1807, the Presbyterian congregation of Elizabethtown was swept by revival which went on for 18 months, Christians being challenged to greater dedication and 120 outsiders added to the church. Five years later, a similar movement added another 110. The conviction of sin was accompanied by sobbing in some cases and by a trembling and faintness in other occasional instances.”

When the great revivals of the past came, they were accompanied by conviction of sin. Today this is lacking in this nation. Where is the mourning over sin? How can we be comforted if we’re not convicted of our great sins? We don’t know our sin. God sends great judgments our way and we wonder why. We fail to realize that we’re a sinful people and a sinful nation. Our sins are piled up to heaven and God sees them. Until we start mourning over our great sins, revival will not come. But when we see the morning star, then we will know that revival is coming to us as a nation.

The Jews failed to mourn over their sins. They thought they were all right and then judgment came upon them, and they wondered why. Jeremiah knew. He knew it was because of their sins as a people and their refusal to repent. Today let us pray that our nation will see its sin and turn back to God. Maybe even now, you who are listening can sense that you have sinned greatly against God. The Holy Spirit is bringing conviction into your heart. You know you’ve broken God’s law, that you have rebelled against God in thought, word, and deed.

What must you do? You must repent and believe the gospel. Turn to Christ now. Come to the foot of the cross and receive the forgiveness that only Christ can give. Only then will you receive the great comfort that Christ will put in your heart. Come to Christ. Come mourning over your great sins and you will find comfort. Our Father in heaven, we do pray, O Lord, that this day that you will bring conviction of sin to many hearts and that many this day will turn to Christ. And we pray for the nation, that you will pour out your spirit in great convicting power all over this land and that we will see a great awakening, a great revival in this nation. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

David Shultz: Thanks for listening to the Watchman Radio Hour. We invite you to come again next week to hear another timely message from God’s word. We are Watchman Radio Ministries International, reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.