Scripture Reading: Jer. 25:11; 29:10-11, 14; 30:1-3, 10-11, 16-19; 31:1-9, 11-13; 33:6

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 & DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 10　DAY 1　»

　　1 Cor. 10:1-3 …All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized…; and all ate the same spiritual food.

　　11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our admonition…

　　Jer. 29:14 …I will turn your captivity and gather you…, declares Jehovah, and bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.

　　In His old administrative arrangement God chose the children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, and made them His people as a type of the church (Rom. 9:11-13; Acts 7:38). In the Old Testament the church is not mentioned in plain words. However, there are types that portray the church. The children of Israel, as the chosen people of God, are the greatest, collective type of the church, in which we can see that the church is chosen and redeemed by God, enjoys Christ and the Spirit as the life supply, builds God’s habitation, inherits Christ as its portion, degrades and is captured, is recovered, and awaits Christ’s coming. What a work that in the old dispensation God prepared such an all-inclusive type of the church!

　　Paul applies the history of the children of Israel to the New Testament church life. In Hebrews and 1 Corinthians he points out clearly that what happened to the children of Israel is a type of us (1 Cor. 10:6). The entire history of Israel is a story of the church. The Bible, then, contains two histories—the history of Israel and the history of the church….The entire Bible gives us one revelation, the revelation of God’s economy concerning the church. In the Old Testament we have a type, a picture, of God’s economy concerning the church, whereas in the New Testament God’s economy concerning the church is fulfilled. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 156)

　　Jeremiah 30—33 is a portion concerned with Jehovah’s promise concerning the restoration of Israel.

　　Jehovah appeared to Israel from afar (from the wilderness where they followed Him—Jer. 2:2b). Jehovah said that He loved Israel with an eternal love (the bridal love—2:2a); therefore, He has drawn them with lovingkindness (31:3). Jehovah went on to say, “I will build you again, and you will be built, / O virgin of Israel. / Again you will adorn yourself with your tambourines / And will go forth in the dance of those who make merry. / Again you will plant vineyards / On the mountains of Samaria; / The planters will plant / And will partake of the fruit” (vv. 4-5).

　　Jehovah will turn the captivity of Israel and Judah and will bring them back to the land which He gave to their fathers, and they will possess it (30:3). In verse 10a Jehovah declared that Jacob, His servant, should not fear and that Israel should not be dismayed. He would save them from afar, and their seed from the land of their captivity. Then He promised, “Jacob will return and be undisturbed and at ease, / And no one will frighten him. / For I am with you, declares Jehovah, to save you; / For I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have scattered you; / But I will not make a full end of you” (vv. 10b-11a).

　　Jehovah promised to bring them from the land of the north and to gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth (31:8a). A great assembly will return to the land of Israel. This assembly will include the blind, the lame, the pregnant woman, and the travailing woman (v. 8b). They will come with weeping, and with supplications Jehovah will lead them. He will cause them to walk by the water-brooks in a straight way, in which they will not stumble; for He is a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is His firstborn (v. 9). (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 169-170)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 15; Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 24

«　WEEK 10　DAY 2　»

　　Jer. 31:11-12 For Jehovah has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him….And they will come and sing in the height of Zion, and they will flow forth to the goodness of Jehovah—to the grain and to the new wine and to the fresh oil and to the young of the flock and of the herd; and their soul will be like a watered garden, and they will not languish anymore.

　　According to Jeremiah 31:11 through 14, Jehovah will redeem Israel from the hand of one stronger than them. They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and they will flow forth to the goodness of Jehovah—to the grain, to the new wine, to the fresh oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be like a watered garden, and they will not languish anymore. Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old men together, and Jehovah will turn their mourning to gladness, comfort them, and cause them to rejoice after their sorrow. He will fill the soul of the priest with abundance, and His people will be satisfied with His goodness.

　　He who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them, as a shepherd his flock (v. 10). (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 170-171)

　　The restoration of Israel will take place after Jehovah’s chastisement (punishment) of Israel with justice (Jer. 30:11b). Jehovah has struck him with the striking of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, because of the greatness of his iniquity (vv. 14-15). All those who consume him will be consumed, and every one of them will go into captivity. Jehovah will bring him recovery and will heal him of his wounds (vv. 16-17).

　　Jehovah will turn the captivity of the tents of Jacob and will have compassion on his dwelling places (30:18a). The city will be rebuilt on its mound, and the palace will be inhabited after its own manner. Out from them will come thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry (vv. 18b-19a).

　　In 31:38-40 Jehovah declares that days are coming when the city of Jerusalem will be built unto Jehovah.

　　When Jehovah will turn again Israel’s captivity, they will say in the land of Judah and in its cities, “Jehovah bless you, O habitation of righteousness, / O mountain of holiness” (v. 23). Here habitation of righteousness refers to Jerusalem, and mountain of holiness, to Mount Zion. Judah and all its cities will dwell together in it, the farmers and they who wander with the flocks (v. 24).

　　Jehovah will satisfy the weary soul and fill every languishing soul (v. 25). Jehovah will sow the house of Israel with the seed of man and with the seed of beast (v. 27). This indicates that the living of everything will be rich in life. Jehovah also said that as He has watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy, and to bring evil, He will watch over them to build and to plant (v. 28).

　　Jehovah will multiply Israel, so that they will not be few. He will cause them to be honored, so that they will not be small (30:19b).

　　Jeremiah 30:5-8 reveals that there will be a great day, a time of distress, for Israel….Verse 7a says, “Alas! For that day is great, / And there is none like it; / And it is a time of distress for Jacob.” This great day, this time of distress, is the time of the great tribulation for three and a half years (Matt. 24:21; Dan. 12:7b; Rev. 13:5, 7a). Jeremiah 30 refers to the great tribulation during the last three and a half years of this age. Jeremiah 30:7b tells us that Israel will be saved out of this great tribulation (Dan. 12:1).

　　In Jeremiah 30:8 Jehovah promised that, in that day, He will break the yoke from upon Israel’s neck and tear off his bonds. The strangers will no longer make him serve them. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 171-173, 175)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 27

«　WEEK 10　DAY 3　»

　　Jer. 25:11-12 And this whole land will become a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after the seventy years have been fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation for their iniquity, declares Jehovah, as well as the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it an eternal desolation.

　　After Israel entered into the good land, they were not faithful to God….They forsook God and set up other worship centers in addition to the unique center at Jerusalem. The kingdom of Israel was captured by the Assyrians, and later the kingdom of Judah was captured by the Babylonians. At that time the city of Jerusalem was captured and was not returned to Israel until 1967.

　　At the end of 2 Chronicles, in God’s eyes the condition and situation of Israel were miserable. The land was usurped and taken over by pagans, and the people of Israel were given by God as captives to the heathens. Furthermore, the temple was burned and the wall of Jerusalem was torn down. The entire good land …was devastated.

　　When Jeremiah saw all this, sitting on the top of Mount Zion and looking down at Jerusalem, he lamented bitterly. All the leading ones and all the noble ones of his countrymen had been taken away to captivity in Babylon….Eventually, he himself was taken captive to Egypt and there he was put to death. What a pitiful situation!

　　While Jeremiah was lamenting, God came in to comfort him with the word that the captivity would not be forever but would last only seventy years (Jer. 25:11). (Life-study of Ezra, pp. 2-3)

　　God assured Jeremiah that the miserable situation of his country and his people, of the temple and the city, would last for just seventy years. Some of the captured ones, such as Daniel, would still be alive at the expiration of the seventy years….Therefore, God comforted Jeremiah by assuring him that just as He gave the people up to captivity, He would also bring them back from their captivity. God would bring them back, not as captives but as triumphant warriors. (Life-study of Ezra, p. 3)

　　[According to Daniel 9:2-4] Daniel understood God’s will for Jerusalem from the Scriptures and prayed for God’s will according to the Scriptures. Daniel knew how to pray because he knew how to draw near to God, to contact God, to absorb God, and to let God express Himself. Daniel’s preciousness was not related to his prophesying but to his ability to pray. He could prophesy because he knew how to pray. His prayers touched, contacted, absorbed, and expressed God.

　　Daniel was God’s co-worker on earth. He was considerate of God’s heart and contacted God. He lived in God and let God live in him. Daniel was a person in union with God. As a result, Daniel could co-work with God, coordinate with God, and be God’s expression when there was a great turn of events on earth. Daniel understood from God’s Word that the desolation of the children of Israel would last seventy years and that at the conclusion of the seventy years God would bring the children of Israel from the land of their captivity to the land of Israel for them to rebuild Jerusalem. He knew God’s intention and prayed for it with fasting. He knew God was about to move on earth, so he became God’s expression in order to coordinate with God through prayer. The extent to which Daniel prayed was the extent to which God worked. God did what Daniel prayed for. The return of the children of Israel to Jerusalem was God’s fulfilling of Daniel’s prayer. The children of Israel’s return from captivity was the issue of Daniel’s prayer. Hence, Daniel’s prayer co-worked with God, opened a way for God’s work, caused God to work, and led God’s work. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, “The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer,” pp. 244-245)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ezra, msg. 1; Life-study of Daniel, msg. 15; CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, “The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer,” ch. 3

«　WEEK 10　DAY 4　»

　　Jer. 23:3-4 Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their pasture; and they will be fruitful and multiply. And I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they will no longer fear or be dismayed, nor will any be missing, declares Jehovah.

　　The prophet Jeremiah prophesied concerning Jehovah’s promises to restore Israel (Jer. 23:3-8)….Jehovah said that He would gather the remnant of His flock out of all the lands where He had driven them and would bring them back to their pasture. He also said that they would be fruitful and would multiply (v. 3). “Therefore indeed, days are coming, declares Jehovah, when they will no longer say, As Jehovah lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, As Jehovah lives, who brought up and led back the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where I had driven them, that they might dwell in their own land” (vv. 7-8). These are promises concerning the restoration of Israel. (Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 2, p. 158)

　　Although the Lord has accomplished much with regard to Israel to prepare her for His return, He must also prepare the church as His bride….I believe that it will be impossible for the Lord to prepare His bride in today’s Christianity as a religious system with all its traditions, rituals, and forms. I also doubt that those entrapped in Christianity will be able to do much to prepare the bride that will bring our Lord back.

　　The Lord’s first coming depended on the return of God’s people from their captivity in Babylon to the Holy Land. According to Micah 5:2, Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, which was near Jerusalem. Therefore, in order for this prophecy to be fulfilled, God’s people had to be in the Holy Land to enable Christ to come the first time. Without God’s people in the Holy

　　Land, Christ would have had no way to come to the earth through incarnation. After seventy years of captivity in Babylon, God commanded His people to return to the Holy Land. The majority of the people remained in Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon, but a remnant of the people returned to the Holy Land. The Lord Jesus was born of this remnant of returned captives. Without the return of this remnant to the Holy Land, it would have been impossible for the Lord to come the first time.

　　Likewise, Christ’s second coming depends on the return of a remnant of His New Testament believers from their captivity in the religious Babylon, degraded Christianity (Rev. 17), to the proper ground of oneness for the recovery of the building of the church, God’s spiritual house (1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 2:5). We should ask ourselves where we are. Are we still in captivity in Babylon, or are we among those who have returned to Jerusalem, the unique ground of oneness? (CWWL, 1971, vol. 1, pp. 328-329)

　　The independent groups and the scattered seeking ones are like Jews who left Babylon but did not come all the way back to Jerusalem. Today the majority of Christians remain in captivity; only a small remnant have returned to the proper ground for God’s building. (CWWL, 1971, vol. 2, p. 359)

　　Some Christians hold the concept that the entire church will be prepared for the Lord’s second coming. They may pray that the Lord would revive the entire church throughout the earth. However, such a worldwide revival will not happen. This is because the Lord’s way is not to revive the entire church but to call a remnant of His people as the overcomers who will be willing to pay the price to follow Him for the fulfillment of His purpose and to be built up as a part of His Body and be made ready as His bride for His coming. (CWWL, 1971, vol. 1, p. 333)

　　Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 2, lsn. 33; CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 4: Other Crucial Matters concerning the Practice of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 11

«　WEEK 10　DAY 5　»

　　Jer. 30:17 For I will bring you recovery and will heal you of your wounds, declares Jehovah; because they have called you an outcast, saying, She is Zion, whom no one searches after.

　　33:16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely; and this is the name by which she will be called: Jehovah our righteousness.

　　The word recover means to obtain again something that has been lost, or to return something to a normal condition. Recovery means the restoration or return to a normal condition after a damage or a loss has been incurred. When we speak of the recovery of the church, we mean that something was there originally, that it became lost or damaged, and that now there is the need to bring that thing back to its original state. Because the church has become degraded through the many centuries of its history, it needs to be restored according to God’s original intention. Concerning the church, our vision should be governed not by the present situation nor by traditional practice but by God’s original intention and standard as revealed in the Scriptures.

　　The recovery of the church is typified by the return of the children of Israel from their captivity (Ezra 1:3-11)….The entire history of the nation of Israel is a full type, an all-inclusive type, of the church. The nation of Israel began with the exodus….Eventually, the people of Israel crossed the Jordan and entered into Canaan, the good land. After conquering the people and gaining the land, they built the temple….However,…mainly due to the failure of Solomon, the temple was destroyed, and the children of Israel were taken to Babylon as captives. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2447-2449)

　　Spiritually speaking, the church, due to its degradation, has been in captivity. God’s people have been divided, scattered, and carried away from the proper ground of unity to a wrong ground….In a very real sense, the believers today are more scattered than the children of Israel were. Therefore, we need to be recovered. We need not only revival but also recovery.

　　The recovery of the children of Israel was not only from Babylon but back to Jerusalem, the God-ordained unique ground. Jerusalem was the place the Lord had chosen (Deut. 12:5). Jerusalem, therefore, was the center for God’s people to worship Him, and this unique center preserved the unity of the people of God. Without such a center, after the children of Israel had entered the good land, they would have been divided. Foreseeing this problem, God repeated the commandment again and again concerning the place of His choosing (Deut. 12:5, 11, 13-14)….God’s choice became the center of the gathering of His people, and this is the unique ground of unity. For this reason, it was necessary for God’s people in the Old Testament to be brought back to Jerusalem, the unique ground ordained by God.

　　Today’s Babylon has not only captured God’s people but also robbed all the riches from God’s temple. The vessels, signifying the riches of Christ, have been carried away. This is the reason that in Roman Catholicism and in the Protestant denominations very little is said, if anything, concerning the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). The believers are not encouraged to eat Christ, to drink Christ, to feast with Christ, to enjoy Christ in full. The reason there is little or no enjoyment of the riches of Christ is that all the vessels in the temple have been carried away by Babylon the Great. Now the Lord wants to recover the experience of the riches of Christ. He wants not only to call His faithful people out of Babylon and back to the proper church life, but also to recover and bring back all the different aspects of Christ which have been lost. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2449, 2451-2453)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 230; Life-study of Ezra, msgs. 2-3; CWWL, 1969, vol. 2, “The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City,” chs. 1-2

«　WEEK 10　DAY 6　»

　　Ezra 1:3 Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him; and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and let him build the house of Jehovah the God of Israel—He is God—who is in Jerusalem.

　　11 There were five thousand four hundred vessels of gold and silver in all. Sheshbazzar brought up all of them with those of the captivity who were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

　　The captivity of the children of Israel was due to their degradation. Because of their degradation, they were carried away to captivity in Babylon. The church also became degraded and eventually was brought into captivity by Babylon the Great, Christendom, which is a prostitute in the eyes of the holy God. The recovery of the church, therefore, involves a return from the capturing and divisive ground signified by Babylon.

　　Those who went back to Jerusalem from Babylon brought with them all the vessels of the temple of God which had been captured to Babylon (Ezra 1:5-11). These vessels, which were of silver and gold, signify the experiences of Christ and the riches of Christ….The people of God were scattered, and all the spiritual experiences were carried away. That was a shame to them and to God. Even today, some dear Christians have real experiences of Christ, but they are in Babylon….The experiences are right, but the place is wrong, for the vessels are right, but they are the vessels of the temple of God in the temple of idols. Therefore, all the vessels of silver and gold must be brought back to Jerusalem. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2451-2452)

　　The recovery of the church is typified in the Old Testament by the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:11, 17). After the recovery of the building of the temple, there was still the need to build up the city….The temple, the place of the Lord’s presence, needed protection. The wall of the city was the defense to the temple.

　　Ephesians 2:19 and 1 Timothy 3:15 speak of the church as the house of God. But in the last two chapters of Revelation, there is a city, and in this city there is no temple (Rev. 21:22), because the city has become the enlargement of the temple.

　　In order to understand the relationship between the house and the city in the New Testament, we need to realize that the church is the enlargement of Christ and the increase of Christ. All the believers are parts of Christ and members of Christ. All these parts put together are the increase of Christ. The church, therefore, is the fullness of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23) because Christ has been increased and enlarged into so many members. The first step of the enlargement of Christ is the church as the house. The second step of this enlargement is also the church, not as the house but as the city….Eventually, the whole church becomes the city. Because the temple has become the city, Revelation 21:22 tells us that there is no temple in the city of New Jerusalem. The city is the tabernacle, the dwelling place (Rev. 21:2-3). Hence, the city is the enlargement of the temple, the development of the house, to the uttermost.

　　The building of the house and the city is the center of God’s eternal purpose. This building is actually the mingling of God with man. The church, therefore, is the mingling of divinity with humanity. When this mingling is enlarged and consummated to the fullest extent, that is the city.

　　With Christ’s second coming, if there is no recovery of the church life, that is, no return of God’s people from Babylon the Great to the church life, there will be no way for Christ to carry out His second coming. This is the reason that the Lord, at the end time, is working to have a recovery. I believe that this recovery will be a preparation and a base for Christ’s coming again. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2453-2455)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Nehemiah, msg. 1; CWWL, 1969, vol. 2, “The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City,” chs. 7-8