31:1 At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel and they will be my people. I, the Lord, affirm it!” 

 

“At that time” refers to the end of the Great Tribulation. “All of the clans of Israel” includes all of twelve tribes of Israel. The ten tribes of the northern kingdom had already been taken captive by the Assyrians. During the Millennial Kingdom, all twelve tribes will be rejoined. They will all be God’s people, because they will receive national salvation.

 

31:2 The Lord says, “The people of Israel who survived death at the hands of the enemy will find favor in the wilderness as they journey to find rest for themselves. 

 

During the Great Tribulation, two thirds of the Jews will be exterminated by the Antichrist. Every Jew who survives the Great Tribulation will receive national regeneration. They will be saved in the wilderness of Petra. They will “find rest” for themselves, because they will receive individual salvation. 

 

31:3 In a far-off land the Lord will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you. 

 

Israel will last forever, because God has loved them with an everlasting love.

 

31:4 I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, so that you will once again be built up. Once again you will take up the tambourine and join in the happy throng of dancers. 

 

Judah will be taken into captivity by the Babylonians just as Israel was taken into captivity by the Assyrians. However, Jehovah will bring them back into the land and make them the most powerful nation on earth. When God brings them back, then Israel will glorify God with music.

 

31:5 Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria. Those who plant them will once again enjoy their fruit.

 

Samaria was the ex-capital of Israel. It was the center of Israelite idolatry. At this time, Samaria had been in Assyrian hands for the last 120 years. God will return Samaria back to Israel during the Millennial Kingdom. She will return Samaria to her Garden-of-Eden type conditions.

 

31:6 Yes, a time is coming when watchmen will call out on the mountains of Ephraim, “Come! Let us go to Zion to worship the Lord our God!” ’ ” 

 

Ephraim was part of the northern ten tribes of Israel. After the divided kingdom, they were telling people to not go to Jerusalem. During the Millennial Kingdom, everyone including (Ephraim) will tell others to go to Jerusalem so that they can worship Jesus as the Messiah.

 

31:7 Moreover, the Lord says, “Sing for joy for the descendants of Jacob. Utter glad shouts for that foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard. Then say, ‘Lord, rescue your people. Deliver those of Israel who remain alive.’ 

 

Those who survive the Great Tribulation will enter into the Millennial Kingdom and sing praises to Jehovah. The Gentiles will also sing praises for Israel’s return. Jesus will not return until the Jews cry out "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord". Therefore, Jewish evangelism is critical to bring in world peace.

 

31:8 Then I will reply, ‘I will bring them back from the land of the north. I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth. Blind and lame people will come with them, so will pregnant women and women about to give birth. A vast throng of people will come back here. 

 

Jehovah will not only bring Israel back from the Assyrian Captivity, but He will bring Jews back from all of the distant nations of the world. Many of these distant nations had not even been discovered when this prophecy was written. The blind and lame will be healed and brought into the Millennial Kingdom. Jewish pregnant women will give birth to believing Jewish children during the Millennial Kingdom. Reproduction and population increase will be some of the blessings of this Messianic Age. Jews from all over the world will enter Jerusalem.

 

31:9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition. I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. I will lead them besides streams of water, along smooth paths where they will never stumble. I will do this because I am Israel’s father; Ephraim is my firstborn son.’ ” 

 

During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will return back to her land in tears. She will return in repentance, because she murdered and rejected her Messiah. She will return with national salvation.

 

31:10 Hear what the Lord has to say, O nations. Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea. Say, “The one who scattered Israel will regather them. He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.” 

 

There are many amillennialists, postmillennialists, cults, isms. liberals, skeptics, and atheists who like to spiritualize this passage and claim that God is through with Israel. God has a message for these unbelieving Gentiles. He will scatter AND regather Israel. God has promised to bring Israel back into her own land. All of Israel will sing praises to Jehovah. The Lord Jesus Christ will return and watch over His flock. 

 

31:11 For the Lord will rescue the descendants of Jacob. He will secure their release from those who had overpowered them. 

 

The Antichrist will overpower the Jews, but God will rescue them.

 

31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion. They will be radiant with joy over the good things the Lord provides, the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil, the young sheep and calves he has given to them. They will be like a well-watered garden and will not grow faint or weary any more. 

 

When Israel returns to her land during the Millennial Kingdom, then the land will return to its Garden-of-Eden conditions.

 

31:13 The Lord says, “At that time young women will dance and be glad. Young men and old men will rejoice. I will turn their grief into gladness. I will give them comfort and joy in place of their sorrow. 

 

Instead of being killed by the Antichrist in the Great Tribulation, the Jews will enter into the Millennial Kingdom with great joy and gladness. Women will dance. Young and old men will rejoice. Sadness will turn to gladness. Instead of sorrow, God will give them joy.

 

31:14 I will provide the priests with abundant provisions. My people will be filled to the full with the good things I provide.” 

 

During the days of Jeremiah, Israel and Judah were no longer supporting their Levitical priests. These Levitical priests had to find secular jobs. They no longer had time to study the Word of God. During the Millennial Kingdom, the people will support the priesthood with abundant offerings. The people will also be prosperous, but without greed. It is important to note that many of today’s finest Bible scholars are not supported by the people. People will flock to shallow churches, but they will not support pastors who teach at the deepest level. Carnal Christians will pay for entertainment, but they will not support expository teaching. If a church is not teaching book-by-book and verse-by-verse from the original languages, then mature believers will not attend it. Carnal believers want entertainment. Mature believers want expository teaching from the original languages.

 

31:15 The Lord says, “A sound is heard in Ramah, a sound of crying in bitter grief. It is the sound of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are gone.” 

 

Ramah was north of Jerusalem. After the Babylonians destroyed the Jewish temple, they took many of the Jews back to Babylon. Ramah was one of the resting stops on the road back to Babylon. As the captive Jews were resting in Ramah during their deportation, then the Jewish mothers began to cry for their children. Their children were either killed or taken captive. The mothers knew that they would never see their children again.

 

Matthew quoted this verse as a reference to the slaughter of the babies of Bethlehem. Jeremiah used it to speak of the Jewish mothers who would cry during the Babylonian Captivity. Matthew implied that when Herod killed the babies around Bethlehem, that the Jewish women in Ramah cried just as the Jewish mothers had cried 500 years earlier during this Babylonian deportation.

 

31:16 The Lord says to her, “Stop crying! Do not shed any more tears! For your heartfelt repentance will be rewarded. Your children will return from the land of the enemy. I, the Lord, affirm it! 

 

Jehovah asked these Jewish women not to cry. During the Millennial Kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ will raise the babies from the dead and return them to the literal land of Israel.

 

31:17 Indeed, there is hope for your posterity. Your children will return to their own territory. I, the Lord, affirm it! 

 

Jehovah affirmed that He will raise these children from the dead and return them to the land of literal Israel.

 

31:18 I have indeed heard the people of Israel say mournfully, ‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. You disciplined us and we learned from it. Let us come back to you and we will do so, for you are the Lord our God. 

 

Verses 18-19 contain the national confession of Israel. At the end of the Great Tribulation, Israel will understand that God showed His love to her by His divine discipline. Parents discipline children in whom they love. The future Jews will learn from the discipline of the Great Tribulation. They will come back and serve God during the Millennial Kingdom.

 

31:19 For after we turned away from you we repented. After we came to our senses we beat our breasts in sorrow. We are ashamed and humiliated because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’ 

 

Future Israel will one day repent and turn back to God. They will be disgraced and humiliated, because they rejected Jesus as their Messiah.

 

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children. They are the children I take delight in. For even though I must often rebuke them, I still remember them with fondness. So I am deeply moved with pity for them and will surely have compassion on them. I, the Lord, affirm it! 

 

Jehovah will respond to Israel’s confession and repentance. Israel is the child of God. God loves His children, so He must discipline them. If Israel repents, He will always have compassion on her.

 

31:21 I will say, ‘My dear children of Israel, keep in mind the road you took when you were carried off. Mark off in your minds the landmarks. Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. Return, my dear children of Israel. Return to these cities of yours. 

 

Jehovah asked Israel to return back to the ancient paths of the patriarchs.

 

231:2 How long will you vacillate, you who were once like an unfaithful daughter? For I, the Lord, promise to bring about something new on the earth, something as unique as a woman protecting a man!’ ”

 

The Hebrew word for “woman” is נְקֵבָ֖ה (nikivah), meaning a woman in her weakness. The Hebrew word for man is גָּֽבֶר (gibbor), meaning a man in his strength. Israel needs to quit acting like a weak woman prostitute and return to her strong husband. Jehovah the Husband is going to do something new in the earth. He is going to remarry His weak, unfaithful, and prostitute wife.

 

31:23 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, “I will restore the people of Judah to their land and to their towns. When I do, they will again say of Jerusalem, ‘May the Lord bless you, you holy mountain, the place where righteousness dwells.’ 

 

There was an ancient saying in Israel, which stated, “May the Lord bless you, your holy mountain, the place where righteousness dwells.” However, this saying was lost at the time of the divided monarchy. It had not been repeated since the days of David and Solomon. When God returns Judah back into her land during the Millennial Kingdom, then she will once again repeat this old saying.

 

31:24 The land of Judah will be inhabited by people who live in its towns as well as by farmers and shepherds with their flocks. 

 

When God prospers Judah during the Millennial Kingdom, then this ancient saying will return to the lips of His people.

 

31:25 I will fully satisfy the needs of those who are weary and fully refresh the souls of those who are faint. 

 

When Israel returns during the Millennial Kingdom, then there will be no poverty. God Himself will supply Israel with every material and spiritual need.

 

31:26 Then they will say, ‘Under these conditions I can enjoy sweet sleep when I wake up and look around.’ ” 

 

Jeremiah woke up from a sweet dream. Before this dream, the prophetic revelations of Jeremiah depressed him. After this dream, he saw the bright hope and future destination of Israel.

 

31:27 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah.

 

During the Millennial Kingdom, God will cause a population increase of people and livestock in both Israel and Judah. They will be combined into one united house once again.

 

31:28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted. I, the Lord, affirm it!” 

 

God uprooted Israel and Judah, but He will replant them and rebuild them.

 

31:29 “When that time comes, people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have grown numb.’

 

A popular proverb of that day was that Israel was suffering and producing sour grapes because of the sins of their fathers. However, the sons were repeating the same sins as their fathers, so they were being punished for their own sins as well.

 

31:30 Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb. 

 

During the Millennial Kingdom, the people will say a new proverb. They will say that everyone will receive divine instruction, so if they rebel, it will not be the faults of their fathers. During the Millennial Kingdom, everyone will learn about God.

 

It is interesting to note that in modern public education, everyone learns about the values, philosophies, and methods of the satanic world system. God is outlawed in public education so that satanism can be taught in its place. Secular humanism and multiculturalism are both satanic educational programs. Secular humanism teaches that there is no God. Multiculturalism teaches that all religions are equal. “The fool says in his heart there is no God” (Psalm 14:1), so secular humanism is foolish teaching. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6), so all religions are not the truth. Multiculturalism is a lie. 

 

31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

 

During the Millennial Kingdom, God will make a new covenant with both houses of Israel. Notice that this new covenant will not made with the church. The church did not exist at this time. Many Bible commentators will spiritualize this passage and teach that the church is receiving this new covenant. This is simply not the case. This kind of Biblical interpretation is heresy, because it is is adding to the Scriptures. When God says “Israel and Judah,” He means Israel and Judah. He does not mean the church.

 

31:32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord.

 

The old covenant was the Mosaic Covenant which God made with Israel after He delivered her from Egypt. Israel violated this covenant, so a new covenant will be needed. Jehovah was a faithful husband. He kept his part of the bargain, but His wife Israel did not.

 

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. 

 

At the end of the Great Tribulation, God will return Israel back into her land. He will remarry Israel. He will make a new covenant with her. In this new covenant, God will not write His law on tablets of stone. He will write His laws on the hearts and minds of His people. All of Israel will be regenerated. She will receive a national salvation. When this national salvation occurs, then God will once again be the God of His people.

 

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.” 

 

The satanic world system censors or removes the teaching of the Word of God from most cultures by either outlawing it, ridiculing it, or persecuting it. When Satan is locked in the Abyss for the 1,000 years of the Millennial Kingdom, then all education will focus on learning more about the mind of God. 

 

Evangelism will not be necessary during the Millennial Kingdom, because everyone will know about the Lord. It will be the major focus of all education at every level. All of the Jews will become believers in Jesus. Not all Gentiles will become believers. Even under the perfect conditions of the Millennial Kingdom, the non-elect will know about Christ and they will reject Him.

 

The Hebrew word for “sin” is חַטָּאָה (chataah), which is a singular abstract noun, meaning to miss the mark. The singular sin that the Jews committed was rejecting Jesus as their Messianic King. The Millennial Kingdom was offered to Israel, but she rejected it and killed her own Messiah.

 

31:35 The Lord has made a promise to Israel. He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day and the moon and stars to give light by night. He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll. He promises it as the one who is known as the Lord who rules over all.

 

Jehovah is the covenant-keeping-promise-keeping God. Since He made a promise to Israel, He will keep it. His promise was that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would receive all of the land promised to the patriarchs. This means that God will have to resurrect the jewish believers from the dead and give them the land of Israel for the entire duration of the Millennial Kingdom.

 

There is no one who can stop Jehovah from keeping these promises. The Arabs cannot stop Him. The United Nations cannot stop Him. The Democrats and Republicans cannot stop Him. The Supreme Court cannot stop Him. The Amillennialists and Postmillenialists cannot stop Him. Not even Satan and all of his demons of the universe can stop Him. Jehovah will bring Israel back into her land.

 

The only way to stop God from keeping these promises to Israel is for someone to keep the sun from shining, keep the moon from reflecting the light upon the earth, and stop the waves from splashing all over the earth.

 

31:36 The Lord affirms, “The descendants of Israel will not cease forever to be a nation in my sight. That could only happen if the fixed ordering of the heavenly lights were to cease to operate before me.” 

 

Since no man has the capability of destroying the sun, the moon, or the stars, then no man will have the capability of destroying Israel. As long as the sun, the moon, and the stars exist, then Israel’s national survival is guaranteed. Israel will last forever.

 

31:37 The Lord says, “I will not reject all the descendants of Israel because of all that they have done. That could only happen if the heavens above could be measured or the foundations of the earth below could all be explored,” says the Lord. 

 

Since no man can measure the universe or the foundations of the earth, then no man can destroy Israel.

 

31:38 “Indeed a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt as my special city. It will be built from the Tower of Hananel westward to the Corner Gate.

 

Jerusalem will be rebuilt during the Millennial Kingdom. The Tower of Hananel was in the northeast corner of the temple grounds near the sheep gate. The Corner Gate was opposite of the Tower of Hananel.

 

31:39 The boundary line will extend beyond that, straight west from there to the Hill of Gareb and then turn southward to Goah.

 

The Hill of Gareb may have been a leper colony. If so, then this area would no longer be defiled.

 

31:40 The whole valley where dead bodies and sacrificial ashes are thrown and all the terraced fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far north as the Horse Gate will be included within this city that is sacred to the Lord. The city will never again be torn down or destroyed.

 

Human sacrifices were burnt at the Valley of Hinnom. This area will no longer be defiled. There will be nothing unholy about the New Jerusalem. 

 

The New Jerusalem will never be torn down or destroyed. Since Jerusalem was torn down and destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., then this prophecy must look forward to the Millennial Kingdom.