R U Woke? Part 20
Jeremiah / Lamentations
Sermon by Pastor Jim Jester
January 22, 2023
SCRIPTURE READING: Lamentations 1:8, 10, 12
8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.
12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
INTRODUCTION
My comment: Haven’t we seen the heathen enter into our sanctuary (our land) in a most recent tidal wave under the “O’Biden” regime? While verse 10 applied to the “sanctuary,” meaning the temple, this principle also applies to the land, which the Bible has revealed on many occasions; “They shall not dwell in thy land…” (Ex. 23:33) Will America be replaced by non-Adamic peoples? It’s happening! We in America have rejected God’s commands just as Jerusalem did in Jeremiah’s day. America is fast becoming no longer the land of the covenant people, but rather the land of the heathen people.
Jeremiah asks, “Is it nothing to you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like mine.” The judeo-Christian world passes by Christian Identity racial truth everyday because they are led by false prophets. They refuse to recognize the racial realities of the Bible; and hence, it means nothing to the majority of churched people that heathen races are competing with them in the workplace, in the goods they buy (including homes), and in the places they live. They seem to be oblivious that they are being replaced — just sheep being led to the slaughter. Surely, at times, some of us may have felt like crying as we see what is happening to our land.
The book of Jeremiah (as well as Lamentations) comes from one of the great prophets of the Old Testament. Sometimes known as the “weeping prophet,” he lived to witness the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity. The book has outpourings of rage against sin and deep agony of soul; descriptions of personal and national crises, and beautiful affirmations of hope and deliverance. He was faithful to God, but the revival of his people’s faith did not come in his day. Instead, after forty years of ministry, he saw the people slaughtered and the Holy City destroyed. Much of his sorrow is expressed in the book of Lamentations.
JEREMIAH’S CALL
Jeremiah’s call was a little different than some of the other prophets. You may recall that Isaiah’s call was voluntary: “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isa. 6:8) Many pastors have had this type of call. But Jeremiah’s call from God was from birth:
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. (Jer. 1:5-10)
Notice, we might call Jeremiah’s mission “international” in scope. International would mean in the sense of Israel nations, not inclusive of non-Israel nations. Also, that the Lord touched his mouth, just as He did Isaiah’s mouth (q.v. Isa. 6:7). God was to make Jeremiah instrumental in pulling down to destroy political establishments, and building up to plant new ones. More on this later.
The preaching of Jeremiah included these words; “Yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.” (Jer. 14:9) What is the name referred to here? We can say that Christians are called by the name of Christ. But what did Jeremiah mean in his day? A brief study of the word “Israel” can shed light on this question. The breakdown of the word: ish (man), ra (king or rule), and el (God) — he will rule with God. How easily we often gloss over this word without realizing the great responsibility inherent in the name Israel. God chose these people to be rulers with Him.
Humanism and universalism puts the darker races on an equal footing with God’s family in ruling the nations of the world. This is absurd, for history proves that these other races are a total failure in establishing and keeping any semblance of a Christian civilization or even a kingdom world-view.
ADULTERY
In chapter 23 of Jeremiah, the prophets (the clergy) are guilty of not teaching the truth, and are themselves involved in interracial relationships; hence, there is no repentance among the rest of the population.
“…In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” (Jer. 23:14, RSV)
This is the same with America and the west today — race mixing is rampant. The adultery spoken of here is not simply the unfaithfulness of the marriage vow, but is much worse; “like Sodom and Gomorrah.” The common use of the word “adultery” meaning husband and wife infidelity cannot be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, for those cities had every kind of sexual perversion possible. Therefore, it must have a different meaning in this case, and that is, the same age-old problem of race adulteration by miscegenation.
Furthermore, what “lies” were these prophets of Jerusalem living in? Could one of those lies have been the same falsehood that is told today by the modern prophets that race-mixing is acceptable? Of course! And the Bible here calls it “a horrible thing;” and they encourage evildoers so that no one repents from wickedness. Verse 15 confirms this conclusion, “for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness[pollution] gone forth into all the land.” Referring to these false prophets, God said;
But if they [the pastors] had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. (Jer. 23:22, RSV)
What counsel did God have? His counsel is found in His Word; and nearly everywhere in the Book we find that His holy seed is to remain pure.
A BASKET OF FIGS
Most commentaries are silent on the two baskets of figs. Why such silence? Because we are taught to be “color blind” from an early age. Therefore, even when race is the obvious implication before us, we fail many times to see it. It goes to show, that without the racial context, the Bible cannot be understood.
The fact that there are two baskets of figs tells us that God is a divider, not just a unifier only. To mix the figs together would only ruin the good figs. This analogy of figs is a lesson against race mixing. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Eph. 5:11)
Judah was so corrupted by race mixing that they were compared to figs that could not be consumed. This is further evidence that the “adultery” mentioned in the previous chapter is speaking of interracial mixing of seed (true adultery, which is fornication in the ultimate sense), not marital infidelity.
One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. (Jer. 24:2)
The “good figs” represent the captives of Judah taken to Babylon, those whom God promised would return to Judah. The “bad figs” represent the evil king Zedekiah and those left in Jerusalem, including those who had fled to Egypt.
We should remember that King Nebuchadnezzar was used by God to bring punishment to His people. It would seem that God was angered by those Israelites who escaped the punishment either by staying in Jerusalem or by escaping into Egypt. It angered Him so much that He put upon the “bad figs” (mixed race Judeans) the following curse in chapter 24:
And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. (Jer. 24:9-10)
God’s representation of good and bad figs refers to two groups of Israelites: one group would return to Him with their whole heart, and the other group would become a terror and an evil to everyone else on the planet. And they would eventually be destroyed. This is a terrible curse for Israelites! What was the real sin behind this drastic measure? It was that Ahab and Zedekiah had prophesied falsely in God’s name, “…and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives…” (Jer. 29:23)
This was not husband/wife infidelity; but again, it was the mixing of Israelite blood with foreign blood. It wasn’t the escaping from captivity that was so wrong, but it was the polluting of blood with strangers that brought the curse. This latter group of “figs” would eventually become known as “Jews.”
Some figs were mixed, others were pure in race, just like the west today. Are we about ripe for judgment?
Thus, the kingdom of Judah was destroyed, but the throne of Judah was transplanted somewhere else.
PROPHECY OF MAN AND BEAST
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. (Jer. 31:27)
Both of these terms, “seed of man” and “seed of beast,” have a negative connotation — the beast is wrong as well as the wrong kind of man. This is a future prophecy for both houses of Israel. This is happening to western nations today, just as what Jeremiah saw in the house of Judah. Miscegenation causes violence in our cities and towns. There is a solution for the humanism that has turned our nation into chaos. That solution is for every white Christian person to abandon the universal church he or she attends, and start believing what God has told us repeatedly about keeping ourselves separate from races that are not of the family of God. Then our Father will lift this curse of humanism from us; and drive out the aliens. Then our people will be able to walk the streets of New York or Chicago without fear of the “man” or the “beast” that has been sown among us. God drove out the inhabitants of the land for the Israelites of old. He will do it again when we recognize the problem and ask Him to do so, in repentance.
The very next verse of this future prophecy about the Israel nations is this:
And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy[the kingdom], and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD. (Jer. 31:28)
This passage is nearly an exact translation of the commission of Jeremiah in chapter one, except, that God is watching over His people on both ends of the time spectrum (both past and future). Our destruction is coming too! But then follows the replanting and rebuilding of the kingdom! Lord, we know you are watching America today. Will they be weighed in the balances and found wanting soon? It sure looks like it.
God saw that civilization was so corrupted that it had to be destroyed before a new kingdom could be rebuilt. This was the end of the Davidic throne in the original land given to Israel/Judah. Now that it was destroyed, what did Jeremiah plant? This is a legitimate question since it was a part of his commission in chapter one.
The Throne of Britain: Its Biblical Origin and Future
[Excerpts from a PDF by the United Church of God, 2003. Note that the word “Jew” used in this article should be “Judean.”]
God had a special commission for Jeremiah that would preserve David’s royal line and transfer his throne.
After Judah’s princes threw him in prison, Jeremiah was released at Nebuchadnezzar’s command when Babylon overtook Judah. But somehow, amid the confusion during the fall of Jerusalem, he had been led away in chains with the other captives.
Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian captain of the guard, found Jeremiah in Ramah and again released him. Just as Nebuchadnezzar had promised, Jeremiah was given free rein to go wherever he pleased (Jer. 40:4). Not only that, Nebuzaradan gave Jeremiah, who was left with nothing, food and gifts (v. 5).
Jeremiah found favor with the Babylonian Empire because of the unique commission God had given him regarding David’s throne. Judah’s enemy ended up helping God’s prophet—giving him incredible favor (Jer. 39:11-12). And most people have absolutely no idea why!
After his release from captivity, Jeremiah headed straight to Mizpah—a town located northwest of Jerusalem in the land of Benjamin (Jer. 40:6). Why Mizpah? This is where God preserved a small band of lowly Jews (v. 7). And in Jeremiah 41:10, we are told that among this band of misfits were the king’s daughters. Now we see why Jeremiah went to Mizpah!
King Zedekiah, remember, would die while still in Babylonian captivity. All his sons and nobles had been killed. Every possible heir to David’s throne had been put to death—except for the king’s daughters!
Why did God preserve them? It has to do with the second part of Jeremiah’s mysterious commission. God charged him with the mission of rooting out and throwing down that Davidic throne—and then planting and building up that same throne in another place! (Jer. 1:10).
After Jeremiah arrived in Mizpah, infighting broke out among the leaders of this small band of Jews God had preserved (Jer. 41). They became fearful that the Babylonian king would return to Judah and kill the survivors, so they decided to flee to Egypt (v. 17-18).
These Jews then approached Jeremiah, seeking God’s direction on the matter (Jer. 42). But they had already decided to go to Egypt and simply wanted God to bless their decision—they weren’t really interested in received direction from God. They wanted to go their own way.
Fall of Israel and Judah
Because of Solomon’s disobedience, God split the nation into two kingdoms following his death in about 930 B.C. (1 Kings 11–12). The tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south (with many from Levi)—as the kingdom of Judah—continued under the throne of David, beginning with Solomon’s son Rehoboam.
The northern 10 tribes, however—as the kingdom of Israel—went through a number of different dynasties. And because of the northern kingdom’s continual idolatry, God finally had its people taken into captivity around 733 and 722 B.C. by the Assyrians, who resettled the 10 tribes in what is now northern Iraq and Iran (2 Kings 15, 17). Subsequently, as centuries passed, the 10 tribes were seemingly lost.
Around 20 years after Israel’s final fall, the nation of Judah, following repeated cycles of idolatry and reformation, was invaded by Assyria as well, reducing Judah “to a shadow of its former self, at least two thirds of the population perishing or being carried away captive” (“Judah,” The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1980, Vol. 2, p. 825). Thus, a great number of Jews, Benjamites and Levites were also taken away to join the Israelite captivity.
The Davidic line had continued all the way to this point, with Zedekiah now reigning over Judah. But according to Jeremiah, the Babylonian forces took the Jewish king to Nebuchadnezzar, who—after killing Zedekiah’s sons in front of his face and slaying “all the nobles of Judah” to ensure that no heir to the throne remained—put out Zedekiah’s eyes and threw him in a dungeon in Babylon, where he eventually died (39:1-7; 52:1-11).
To Build and to Plant
The obvious question now is: Did the Davidic dynasty come to an end with the death of Zedekiah and his sons—or did it somehow survive? In searching for an answer, we begin with the prophet Jeremiah, to whom God had given a mysterious commission: “See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:10, NRSV). Oddly enough, even though Judah was the only nation or kingdom in the Promised Land at this time, notice that Jeremiah was set over “nations” and “kingdoms”—plural.
Setting that fact aside for now, based on Jeremiah’s life after the prophecy was given, it is easy to ascertain what God meant by plucking up, pulling down, destroying and overthrowing. This great prophet repeatedly warned the Jews to repent of their disobedience—but they scorned him. So God used him to pronounce judgment on the nation: the people and the kings of David’s line would be overthrown in the Babylonian conquest and uprooted—to Babylon.
The latter part of the prophet’s commission yet remained: “to build and to plant.” But what did this involve? From Jeremiah 45:4 we can see that building and planting in this context originally entailed God’s planting His people in the land and building a kingdom of them there—now to be pulled up and destroyed. So the commission would seem to involve planting people in another place in order to establish a kingdom elsewhere. But did this have anything to do with the house of David?
Intriguingly, Jeremiah did prophesy regarding David’s dynasty, as we have already seen and will soon see more of. And a prophecy from Ezekiel will answer the question of who was to be planted—and where. Yet first note this amazing fact: Following the carrying away of Judah’s people, a remnant left in the land included the “king’s daughters” (41:10)—who were evidently young girls since their father Zedekiah was only 32 when he died (compare 2 Chronicles 36:11).
But could the royal line continue through a daughter? According to Israel’s law of inheritance, the answer would certainly appear to be yes (compare Numbers 27:1-11)—though Nebuchadnezzar may not have realized this initially. (In fact, if kingship could not pass through a woman then it could not have passed through Mary to Jesus Christ.)
According to the Bible, the Jewish remnant took with them “men, women, children, the king’s daughters and . . . Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch”—the last name referring to Jeremiah’s secretary or scribe (Jer. 43:6). The majority of these would die by sword or famine (42:15-16). But a few would escape and some would return (44:12-14, 28). We know that Baruch and Jeremiah, who did not go to Egypt by choice, survived (compare 45:2-5). And, as we will see, so did at least one of the king’s daughters.
To Be Planted in Israel
The very fact that Jeremiah was outside the country in the company of the king’s daughters, the only apparent successors to the Davidic throne, with a commission “to build and to plant” should give us pause. This was no mere coincidence—especially when we consider the unbreakable covenant God had made with David.
God had even said that if the Jewish remnant stayed in Judah as He told them to, He would have used Jeremiah to replant and build up the kingdom right where they were (Jer. 42:10). But, as we’ve seen, they instead went to Egypt—where God had explicitly said not to go.
So now that they were being driven out of Egypt, where would Jeremiah go at this time with the king’s daughters? They weren’t supposed to be where they were. And indeed, it is quite possible that they had already left Egypt even prior to Hophra’s death. In either case, to where did they travel?
Through the prophet Ezekiel, contemporary with Jeremiah, God fills in more details. Prior to Jerusalem’s fall, he posed a riddle to the house of Israel (Ez. 17:2)—again, not Judah—which He afterward explained. “A great eagle . . . came to Lebanon and took from the cedar the highest branch” (v. 3). Meaning: “The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its kings and princes” (v. 12). Then: “He cropped off the top of his young twigs” (v. 4). Meaning: “And he took of the king’s offspring” (v. 13).
Having explained these symbols, God, through Ezekiel, gave the following clear parable: “I will take also (a sprig, NRSV) of the highest branches (Zedekiah and princes) of the high cedar (Judah) and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs (Zedekiah’s children) a tender one (female), and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain (a great kingdom). On the mountain height (top of the kingdom—the throne) of Israel (not Judah), I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort (all manner of peoples) . . . And all the trees of the field (nations of the earth) shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree (Judah) and exalted the low tree (Israel)” (v. 22-24).
Here, then, is what the latter part of Jeremiah’s commission was all about. Remarkably, he must have been responsible for transplanting the throne of David to Israel by taking a daughter of King Zedekiah to the 10 lost tribes. Yet where did the Israelites live at this time?
Only One Place to Go
We now have a plausible explanation as to how God’s promise of the scepter being retained by Judah was fulfilled—through the line of Zerah. Judah’s Zeraite heirs, through Trojan and Milesian descent, would reign over the nations of Europe—particularly over Israel in the British Isles, as the high kingly line of Ireland would eventually be transferred to Scotland and later to England.
In one sense there were many options as where to go since the bulk of the northern 10 tribes were now scattered from east of the Caspian Sea all the way into eastern Europe, pressing westward—while a sizable vanguard of Israel had already colonized western Europe. Yet for a God who foretold the future—and would reveal it to his servants the prophets, including Jeremiah (see Amos 3:8)—there was really only one place to go. Of course, this assertion requires some explanation.
David’s descendants, as we’ve seen, were to rule over Israel and become the “highest of the kings of the earth” (Psalm 89:27). God further said of David’s dynasty, “I will set his hand [or authority] also in the sea” (v. 25). This is very much like the unofficial anthem of the British people: “When Britain first at Heaven’s command, arose from out of the azure main; this was the charter of the land, and guardian angels sang this strain: Rule, Britannia. Britannia, rule the waves . . .” Indeed, no nation has ruled the sea—nor the land for that matter—as has Great Britain. Clearly, the monarchy of David must be one and the same with the monarchy of Britain.
Following the primary line of descent of the British throne back to the time of Jeremiah leads us to Ireland. God, of course, knew that the Irish royal line of Jeremiah’s day would eventually become the British monarchy. Logically, then, that is where He would have directed the steps of Jeremiah with at least one of Zedekiah’s daughters in tow—to marry her into the royal line of Zerah and thereby perpetuate the throne of David.
Ollam Fodhla and Company
Irish tradition lends support to what happened. Let’s continue in the Larne Times article quoted earlier: “Many centuries ago three people arrived on the shore at what is today Carrickfergus (Northern Ireland). It was around 582 B.C., and the three were an aged man called Ollam Fodhla (the Lawgiver), his secretary, and a beautiful princess called Tamar. With them they brought a large, rough stone” (more on this stone later).
“According to some religious scholars,” says the Larne Times article, “the aged man who landed at Carrick many centuries ago was the Prophet Jeremiah.” And there is a strong tradition in Ireland to support this notion. That would seem to make Simon Breck Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch (Berekh in Paleo-Hebrew), who perhaps was also named Simeon. In any case, both names are certainly Hebrew.
And Tamar or Tea-Tephi would be Zedekiah’s daughter. As the same article further reports, the tradition also states, “Princess Tamar married the High King of Ireland and . . . all the kings of Ireland and Scotland are descended from their royal line.” Says Gerber, “Teamhair is the Irish for her name—mutated, through usage, to ‘Tara’”—the name of the ancient seat of the high kings of Ireland just northwest of Dublin (Gerber, p. 49). Yet it should be mentioned that some believe the name Tara is derived from the Hebrew Torah, or “law”— Tara being the seat of the Law perhaps brought by Jeremiah.
The name of the high king she married is sometimes given as Heremon, Eremon, Erimionn or something similar and sometimes as Eochaidh—the latter being not a name but simply the word for “prince.”
If Heremon or Eremion is the Irish form of Jeremiah, this could give us another possible origin of the name Eire or Ire-land. Indeed, it could explain why Ireland has been called Jeremy’s Land. For Ireland would actually mean “Jeremiah’s Land”—the land of Jeremiah! Yet it must still be kept in mind that the name Heremon became attached to the first Milesian king of Ireland, whether or not that was his actual name.
Tea-Tephi or Scota?
Concerning the names Tea, Tephi and Tamar, while they may refer to the same person at the time of Jeremiah, it is also possible that they do not. In favor is the fact that these names are sometimes linked together in old Irish poems. Moreover, these appellations, meaning what they did in Hebrew, could possibly have been applied to a Hebrew princess accompanying Jeremiah even if they were not her actual names—stories about her, then, may have confused her with other women. Also in favor, is that if the other names mentioned were aligned with Jeremiah, she would fall into place as well.
Standing on God’s Word
The point in going through all this is threefold: To show that 1) there are myriad problems in pinning down exactly what happened in the transfer of the throne from Judah to Ireland and in specifically identifying those involved; but that 2) be that as it may, problems in identification do not negate the possibility that Jeremiah saw to it that Zedekiah’s daughter married into the Milesian line that ruled or would rule Ireland. And 3) the fact that the information available to us can fit any number of workable scenarios actually strengthens the likelihood that Jeremiah did carry out his commission in the way we are generally postulating that he must have according to Scripture.
Whatever we do, we must be careful not to treat the chronicles of Ireland or those of other nations as Scripture too—expecting them to be infallible. On the contrary, they may contain major blunders and even be all mixed up as we’ve seen. Some of Ireland’s history derives from bardic oral traditions. It is just not reasonable to place too much stock in everything they have to say.
Yet it should encourage us that, in sifting the information, it can be reconciled with the general understanding we have. And what is that? In this case—based on scriptures explaining Jeremiah’s commission and extrapolating backward from clearly fulfilled Bible prophecy regarding the identity of Israel today—that Jeremiah must have gone to Ireland, that he took one of Zedekiah’s daughters at least part of the way, and that she must have married into what was or what became the Irish royal line (either in Ireland itself or in Spain or somewhere else in the process of transferring the throne to Ireland).
The important thing to realize is that the prophet was there—and that Zedekiah’s daughter did marry into the Milesian royal line. Otherwise Jeremiah went to a great deal of trouble for no reason at all. Moreover, God said through Ezekiel that it would be done—and He used the same language as that in Ezekiel’s prophecy to describe Jeremiah’s commission. We may safely assume then—if we believe God—that Jeremiah completed the transfer of the Davidic throne from Judah to Israel. And if we accept the prophecy about the three overturns as valid, then Jeremiah must have secured the marriage of Zedekiah’s daughter into the royal lineage of Irish kings.
Our proof rests on God’s Word and verifiable history. We must accept these sure facts as a solid foundation. Irish traditions and fragmentary historical details can then be viewed in this light—and that indeed does seem to fill in some interesting and supportive details.
Eternal Destiny
Is the British monarchy, David’s throne, in danger of passing away? Is God’s promise to David still fulfilled in the British monarchy?
Consider that David’s dynasty has continued unbroken for 3,000 years—and that it was promised almost 1,000 years before that. God has gone to great lengths to ensure the continuance of this throne—and to safeguard the inviolability of His promises.
We should realize, that there have been at least three interregnums during David’s dynasty, where his descendant was not actually ruling. One happened when the evil queen Athaliah usurped the throne of Judah for about six years (2 Chr. 22-23). Another has constituted much of this publication—the time between Zedekiah being deposed and the rule of the Davidic line being reestablished in Ireland. And the third occurred when King Charles I was beheaded in 1649. For 11 years, Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth ruled until the throne was restored under Charles’ son, Charles II, who had been living outside the country in France.
While these vacancies might seem to violate God’s promises to David, such temporary gaps, as mentioned earlier, were actually well within the scope of God’s specific promise that David would have a descendant sitting on his throne in “all generations.” Therefore, such a minor gap in the occupation of the throne can occur at any time. But we may rest assured: If the monarchy disappears tomorrow, a generation will not pass before it is restored.
(©2003 United Church of God, an International Association)
CONCLUSION
Jeremiah announces the New Covenant in chapter 31:
31 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: 32 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: 33 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. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. (Jer. 31:31-36)
In other words, God will never cease being the Father of His people; and they will never cease being a people for His own possession. When this truth is finally known to all the earth, and God’s choice declared to all, then will peace and harmony begin to spread among all people.
This New Covenant Jeremiah predicted is also quoted by the book of Hebrews (8:8-13). This covenant is not for all races as most of Christendom tries to claim. It is only for Israel nations — the same race that was under the Old Covenant; which covenant is now gone, having been replaced by the New.
The “bad figs” (jews) are left out; the seed of man (non-Adamic) and beast are left out. They will not be a part of God’s kingdom.
The racial context of the book of Jeremiah is evident.
