«　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