“In that day,” declares the LORD Almighty,
Jeremiah 30:8-9 NIV
“I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
no longer will foreigners enslave them.
Instead, they will serve the LORD their God
and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them.”
Jeremiah wrote during the last days of the kingdom of Judah. And his message was primarily one of coming judgment against the nation. They were going into exile in Babylon. But throughout his writing, there is a look to a time beyond exile. A time when God would bring back his people from captivity and restore them to their homeland (Jer. 30:3).
In that day, the yoke of their captivity would be broken, no longer to be enslaved. Instead, they would serve the Lord, and a new David would be raised up to be their king. They would be the people they had always been intended to be.
Who was this written to? At one level, it is a prophecy that offered hope to the ethnic nation of Israel as they were going into exile. But it takes on greater significance when we read it in light of Jesus’ fulfillment of the law and prophets (Matt. 5:17).
Jesus has freed us from our slavery and bondage to sin, breaking the yoke that enslaved us. And he has made Jew and Gentile into a new humanity (Eph. 2:11-22), one that serves God under the lordship of King Jesus (Luke 1:32).
I am thankful to be living in that day Jeremiah was looking forward to. A time when I can experience deliverance from sin and freedom to serve the Lord as a part of his kingdom. And I look forward to the day his rule is more fully realized in the coming age. What a wonderful time that will be.
