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Prophets and Kings
Humbled in the sight of the nations, those who once had been
recognized as favored of Heaven above all other peoples of the earth
were to learn in exile the lesson of obedience so necessary for their
future happiness. Until they had learned this lesson, God could not do
for them all that He desired to do. “I will correct thee in measure, and
will not leave thee altogether unpunished,” He declared in explanation
of His purpose to chastise them for their spiritual good.
Jeremiah
30:11
. Yet those who had been the object of His tender love were not
forever set aside; before all the nations of earth He would demonstrate
His plan to bring victory out of apparent defeat, to save rather than to
destroy. To the prophet was given the message:
“He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shep-
herd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed
him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they
shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to
the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and
for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as
a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.... I will
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turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them
rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with
fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the
Lord.”
“Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall
use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when
I shall bring again their captivity; The Lord bless thee, O habitation
of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah
itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that
go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have
replenished every sorrowful soul.”
“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