Sad to say, Jacob’s trouble is coming soon.
Not saying they haven’t had a double portion of trouble throughout the centuries, but this time trouble is meant to bring them to their knees before God, their savior. God divorced the house of Israel, because she was an adulteress. The covenant was broken. The Great I AM was a husband and a father to them. Ephraim was his firstborn. He loved them. This is why they are being punished.
“Hear the word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” (Amos 3:1-2) Can you sense the emotion? “You only have I known.”
The house of Israel was decimated, only one-tenth survived. Those who lived would be sent into captivity. (Amos 5:3) A dark and terrible day would befall the house of Israel. It would be like “the mourning for an only son.” (Amos 8:10) There would be famine, not of bread and water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. (Amos 8:11-12)
“Behold, the eyes of the LORD are on a sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,’ says the LORD, For surly I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. all the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘the calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.'”(Amos 9:8-10) The prideful perish.
God entered into a covenant relationship with a nation who would be His “treasured possession above all people.” (Exodus 19:5) They broke the covenant. The remnant were scattered and shaken in every nation, but not lost to God. I wonder how He will call them to return?
Rejected by the house of Judah.
The Almighty God of Abraham sent His Son, Jesus, to those of Judah and was rejected by the nation.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who has killed the prophets, and stoned them who are sent to you, How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see me again, till you say, ‘Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matthew 23; 37-39)
Well, the nation hasn’t said that yet. “I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek My face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” (Hosea 5:15) What must the nation acknowledge? That they, as a nation, are guilty of rejecting the messiah Jesus, the Son of God. In affliction they will seek Him.
This trouble to come will affect the descendants of all of Jacob’s children. The house of Israel and the house of Judah will experience a time of distress. Since most of the tribes have long ago lost their identity I’m curious to discover who they might be. This we can be sure of, God will hear their cry of distress.
“These are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: Thus says the LORD: We have heard a cry of panic, of terror, and no peace.
Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale?
Alas! That day is great, so that there is none like it: It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jeremiah 30:4-7) God is dealing with two houses whom He will join together under one king, David. He will save them. They will be His treasured possession and He will be their God.
We have come this far step by step. Only last things remain. What will Jacob’s trouble look like? What about the church? Will we clearly see God’s prophesy as a sequence of events? What is life going to be like during the millennum? What about the new heavens and earth? The prophets will have some answers.
To be continued.
His Family Table 