Jeremiah 31:1-30--The LORD Will Turn Mourning to Joy

Jeremiah 31:1-30
English Standard Version

The LORD Will Turn Mourning to Joy
31 “At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

2 Thus says the LORD:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
3     the LORD appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
5 Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
    in the hill country of Ephraim:
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the LORD our God.’”

7 For thus says the LORD:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ‘O LORD, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country
    and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come,
    and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
    in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
    and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
    and they shall languish no more.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the LORD.”

15 Thus says the LORD:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    because they are no more.”

16 Thus says the LORD:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
    and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the LORD,
    and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your future,
declares the LORD,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.
18 I have heard Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the LORD my God.
19 For after I had turned away, I relented,
    and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim my dear son?
    Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I do remember him still.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the LORD.

21 “Set up road markers for yourself;
    make yourself guideposts;
consider well the highway,
    the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
    return to these your cities.
22 How long will you waver,
    O faithless daughter?
For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth:
    a woman encircles a man.”

23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes:

“‘The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness,
    O holy hill!’

24 And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
    and the children's teeth are set on edge.’

30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

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Remember that we are talking about the coming kingdom when the Messiah rules from the throne of His father David.  The LORD says that in that day, He will be the God of all the tribes and clans of Israel.  They will all be united together again under a single King, and they will worship together as one people.  Though the people have not kept the covenant, the LORD has loved them with an everlasting covenant love.  He has remained faithful to them even when they were faithless.

He will turn their mourning into laughing and their weeping into dancing.  They will have joy once again.  They will have fruitful harvests of grapes, olives, and all kinds of fruit trees.  The whole Land will be fruitful--Ephraim and Samaria to the north and Mount Zion to the south.

The LORD will gather His people together from the furthest reaches of the earth.  We have already seen this happening in part as the Jewish people have a compulsion to go back to the Holy Land, even though they know it is dangerous.  Even the sick and the lame and the blind will return.  The LORD will watch over them and care for them for they are His sheep, and He is their Shepherd.

The LORD scattered His people to the uttermost parts of the earth and know He will cause them to return.  They will sing songs of celebration and thanksgiving to the LORD who is their Redeemer and their Good Shepherd.  Those who have given their lives in service to the LORD (the priests and Levites) will be satisfied, and the young and old will dance and sing together.  Every need that the LORD's people will have will be satisfied and they will be content because His goodness is enough for them.

​Not everyone is going to be happy though.  There will be women who mourn for their children who have died, but the LORD tells them they can stop their weeping, because He is able to bring the dead back to life again.  Those who were His throughout all the years who died waiting to see the consummation of this kingdom will experience the blessings of the covenant.  Though the Israelites (especially the northern 10 tribes) did much that the LORD had to correct them for, and He spoke many words of prophecy against them, He still loves them and will have mercy on them in the end.  He wants His relationship with them to be restored.

The people and the Land will be restored.  No more would the name of their people or their cities be a byword, but they would be names full of blessing that gave glory to the LORD.  However, the choice is set before everyone whether they want to choose the path of rebellion or the path of submission.  If they submit, they will be saved and have this eternal kingdom to look forward to of blessing and prosperity.  If they rebel, they have nothing but the fiery judgment of God to look forward to for all eternity.  The choice is theirs.  Their genetics and lineage will not erase the choice that they make.