THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE

Jeremiah 30:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, 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.

11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.

22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

Today and in the past there have been many attempts to locate a point in history past and future that the authors could relate to the above passage of prophecy called, “The Time Of Jacob’s Trouble.”

We will agree that the reason that this period in the history of future of Jacob is the subject of the prophecy. We can also agree that the reason it is called, “The Time Of Jacob’s Trouble” is because of the period in time and the likenesses in the patterns of the time in Jacob’s life that was considered a time of trouble to him. It is agreed that these patterns are there for a reason and that being for us to relate to them and thus see this time period for what it is.

So let us look at the prophecy and see what it says and where Jacob was and what happened to him as a result of this, “Time Of Trouble.”

One of the first things we learn from the prophecy is that someone has a yoke upon Jacob’s neck and that these bonds will be broken and the strangers shall no more serve themselves of him. So we know that this time period is one of servitude and that Jacob is the one doing the serving…..servant, slave, prisoners vs. 8 of Jeremiah 30.

The second thing for us to note is that their salvation shall come from afar and the people, and Jacob will return to their land vs. 10 of chapter. 30. So we have learned some important information about this time of Jacob’s trouble. First Jacob or the people of Israel are in bondage much as they were during the time of Egypt but much worse…for we are told that this is a time like no other before it. We have also learned that Jacob or Israel was in bondage outside the land and would be saved by someone or something from afar and then they would return to the land.

With just this much information we are already able to disprove all theories or doctrines that teach us that this time will come to Israel after she comes back into the land. We see that she will return only after the bondage is broken therefore all doctrines that teach about the Jewish people being left here upon the earth to suffer and fight while the good Christian’s are Raptured into heaven to watch is just not true.

Remember the reason that these comparisons are made to begin with is so that we can go back and read the original information and relate what did happen with what will happen. So let us go back to the time in Jacob’s history when he was in trouble and let us see what happened.

We know the story how that Jacob received the birthright and blessing and as a result his brother Esau sought to kill him. His father, Isaac sent him to live with the brother of Rebekah who was Laban the Syrian who dwelt in Padanaram.

Jacob finds Laban and then Rachel who was Laban’s daughter. Laban and Jacob make an agreement that Jacob will work for Laban for 7 years and then he will get to marry Rachel whom he loved very much. When the time cam for Laban to make good on his deal he tricked Jacob and gave him Leah to wed instead. Then Laban makes another deal for Jacob to work 7 more years and then he will be given Rachel. This would make 14 years of servitude.

When the 14th year was expired Laban gave Jacob Rachel to wed, but then he wanted Jacob to stay on more years and keep his flock for God was greatly blessing Laban by Jacob being there. Jacob, however, wanted to return to the land but agreed and he winds up working 6 more years making a total of 20 years when he decides enough is enough and he is going home. Genesis 29-30 chapters.

On the one had Jacob was worried about Laban behind him and he was also worried about his brother Esau in front of him but The HOLY ONE works all out to Jacobs betterment and he and his family return to the land. So for 20 years they are out of the land and he goes through three periods of suffering, 7 years, 7 years, and finally 6 years before he returns to the land.

So whatever we understand Jacob’s trouble to be in the future of past has to follow this same pattern. There is a 20 year period leading up to the return of the people to the land.

Now let us look at what else the prophet was told to tell us. The prophet is told to write these words in a book as they are being spoken to him. So it was important that the words be written and passed on as they were given. Jeremiah is told that the day would come that the captives of the people of Jacob would return to the land of their fathers. We are given this information right up front in vs. 3 so we will know that what is to happen will happen while they are outside the land and then they will return.

Jeremiah was told that this time period would be a time of trembling, fear, and not of peace. This indicates a time of war or fear of war and death to his people. The prophet is then told something quite interesting and very unusual. He says, “Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Why would the prophet ask such a question. Men do not have babies so this must mean something else. When we look at a woman who is about to have a baby though what we see most notable is that her stomach is very large and protruding in front of her. So the likeness must be a man who looks like he is pregnant with child. Then he says that every man has his hands on his loins as a woman would who is in great pain as the child’s birth grows nearer. Then Jeremiah was told that all of the faces are turned into paleness.

Two important clues, paleness is usually caused by lose of blood or nourishment and the only reason the stomach would protrude is because of lack of food and nourishment. So we are looking for a time prior to Israel coming into the land that is like no other they have experienced to that date and they would be pale in the faces and their stomachs resembling a pregnant woman. We know that immediately after they are saved from afar that they then return to the land of the fathers.

These clues should help us to see that this is the time of the holocaust which happened in a time of war and not peace. When they were held captive and killed and were starved to death and very malnourished. They were saved by a nation that came from afar, the United States, and then it was this same nation who first recognized this people as a reborn nation called Israel.

Sure does look like the pieces fit. Well what about the two seven year period years and the 6 year period? Let us look at this issue a little closer. We do know that Israel’s instructions were to count ever seven years and then seven times seven years for 49 years and this year to the 50th was the Jubile.

What the author also knows it that this period of 50 years is also divided into two periods of 20 year and that of 30 years. More on that is a few. The United Nations on November 29, 1947 voted to partition the land then called Palestine into a national homeland for the Jews and Arabs. The Jewish people agreed and the Arabs did not and sought to kill all the Jews. But then on May 14, 1948 the people of Israel with David ben Gurion as their leader proclaimed the rebirth of nation in that same day.

The words of the prophet Isaiah echo in my ears when he said, “Who hath heard such a thing? Who hat seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Isaiah 66:5

This time of bring forth started some 50 years before. It was in Basil, Switzerland that Theodore Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress and during that Congress proclaimed that there would be a Jewish homeland in 50 years. Was he right? Well it goes without saying that he was on the mark. From this starting point we can see some interesting aspects of the numbers we have been speaking about.

From 1897 fifty years later was 1947 and this saw the United Nation make their proclamation that the Jewish people would have a national homeland. Now let us go back and see this 20 year and 30 years cycling within the 50 year cycle. If we start again at 1897 and add 20 years to that we come to 1917 and it was this year that saw the Balfour Declaration that said there would be a nation homeland for the Jews.

Going forward from 1917 and adding 30 years we come to 1947 the year we just spoke of and we have seen what it represented. Still forward from 1947 and adding 20 years we come to 1967 and it was this year that saw the Six Day War and Israel now has its ancient Capital of Jerusalem again after 1897 years and that from 70 A.C. to 1967 A.D. By the way 1897 is exactly 271 X 7 or 271 periods of seven years.

Then we come forward from 1967 A.D. (let us remember here they were given back Jerusalem and more important they were given the Temple mount which they gave away.) continuing 30 years forward to the year 1997 and this year we witnessed the nation of Israel giving away the town and area of Hebron. What is so important about this town and area? It was the burying place of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs.

It was as their birthright and they gave it away too. Then coming from1997 twenty more years in the future we come to the year 2017 A.D.

So you ask what is important about this date? The Messiah told us a parable about a fig tree and we are told the fig tree represents the nation of Israel. The Master tells those who see this fig tree when his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh and that the generation who sees this and the things He has mentioned and those mentioned by the prophets would not come to a close until all these things be fulfilled. For the time that the nation of Israel while yet tender started to put forth her branches and put forth leaves in 1947-1948 this generation had begun. You might also note above that He speak of Summer being nigh. Well it was the beginning of the summer months of May when Israel declared themselves a nations.

In the Psalm 90:10 we are told about this generation and given the time period. “The day of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Here we are told this last generation is one of 70 years and adding this time period to 1947 brings us to 2017 A.D.

Now I mentioned that we need to find a time period that fit the example given us and we have found information that seems to suggest the holocaust. Let us look back at 1897 A.D. again and come forward in 7 years increments. 1897 A.D. + 7 = 1904 +7 = 1911 + 7 = 1918 = 7 = 1925 + 7 = 1932 + 7 = 1939 + 6 = 1945 A.D. Here we have an exact match starting from 1925 and coming forward to 1932 and then to 1939 and then to 1945 when the war ended and the Jewish people were saved from afar and they started the process of coming back into the land. (7+7+6=20). If one will go back and look at these dates in history you will see the rise to power of Adolf Hitler who was the one to take peace from the earth and persecute and kill the Jewish people.

I think it is worthy of note that no other time period in the history of the Jewish people have the suffered so much and thought that their hope was lost only to be saved out of it and then find themselves blessed with coming back into the land of their forefathers.