Notice that this is at the time of the punishment of the false shepherds, as prophesied in Ezekiel 34, when Israel shall be gathered, and a covenant of peace made with them. Of the nature of this covenant and the time of the making of it, we have the clearest information in the book of Jeremiah, especially when read in connection with the scriptures already quoted. A brief sketch of two chapters will suffice to make the story complete, so far as our present study is concerned.
We begin with chapter 30: —
“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying. Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” Verses 1-3
Here we are on familiar ground. These verses mark the time when the things later spoken of shall take place when God brings His people back to their own land. So we proceed: —
“And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him; but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David My servant, whom I will raise up unto them.” Verses 4-9
Compare with this Daniel 12.1: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall he delivered, every one that shall be found a written in the book.” Although God’s people are to be delivered in the time of trouble that immediately precedes the coming of the Lord, so that no evil shall befall them, nor any plague come nigh their dwelling (Psalm 91), yet it is impossible that they should behold and see the reward of the wicked without themselves being filled with fear and trembling; for it is no small thing when God arises. Therefore He says: —