Jeremiah 30:7

Jer 30:7 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.

Ver. 7. Alas! for that day is great,] i.e., Troublesome and terrible, somewhat like the last day, the day of judgment, which is therefore also called the "great day," because therein the great God will do great things, &c.

It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble.] Such as never befell him before. Those very days shall be "affliction," so Mark expresseth the last desolation; {Jer 13:19} not "afflicted" only, but "affliction" itself. But though it be the time of Jacob’s troubles, let it be also the time of his trust, for there will be shortly a day of his triumph.

But he shall be saved out of it.] Not from it, but yet out of it; the Lord knoweth how to deliver his: {2Pe 2:9} and though Sense say it will not be; Reason it cannot be; yet Faith gets above and says it shall be; I see the land.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer_30:7

It is even the time of Jacobs trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Jacobs trouble

There is not a malady in human life, but we find its antidote in the Bible; not a wound, but we find its balm; not a spiritual sickness, but we find its remedy there. If there is no time of trouble to Jacob, what deliverance could Jacob want? Of what use is a promise of rest to the weary and heavy laden, unless a man finds himself burdened and oppressed? A promise of salvation is only of value for those who feel their need of it; and an assurance of deliverance is only precious to such as are made sensible of their danger. The language of our text relates primarily and literally to the languishing state of the Church--to the captivity of Israels tribes--to Jacobs trouble on account of the desolation of their city, and the destruction of their temple; and it is not only promised to them that their trouble should be blessed to them, but also that they should be saved out of it. We notice, first, the time of Jacobs trouble; secondly, the timely deliverance promised, He shall be saved out of it; and thirdly, the evidence and display of the truth and faithfulness of God towards Israel and Jacob.

1. Some may inquire why the truth and faithfulness of God should be brought forward. I do not intend to present you with a catalogue of Jacobs troubles; they are too numerous. I will, however, mention a few.

(1) The trouble here spoken of is of a public nature. In its literal sense, it was the distress, calamity, degeneracy, of the Lords people--the scattering and desolation of His inheritance by captivity. I have but a sorry opinion of that mans spirituality who is not troubled for Jacobs, not grieved for Josephs, not afflicted for Zions low, degenerate, sunken, miry condition. It is to my mind, amid all the enjoyments of my soul in Christ, a source of daily trouble. But this degeneracy is not the worst feature in Jacobs trouble. There is such an awful determination evinced to unite the Church and the world, to amalgamate two whom God has separated in His Word, purposes, and dispensations, with the highest and broadest wall of separation.

(2) But Jacobs trouble is not only of a public character; it is also of a personal nature. There is spiritual trouble when a man is first awakened--when the Lord Jesus convinces him of sin, and discovers the spirituality and extent of the Divine law. This is, indeed, a time of trouble; but here is the mercy--he shall be delivered out of it. He that melted your heart will form Christ there, the hope of glory. He that gave you the knowledge of your sins will also give you the knowledge of His Son. Again, it is a time of trouble when the soul is in legal bondage. What a time of trouble, of fear, sorrow, anxiety, dread, gloom, and dismal forebodings do souls in legal bondage pass through, till the Son of God comes Himself and makes them flee. Again, it is a time of personal trouble when the soul is led into the field of battle, and foiled by the enemy. Again, it is a time of personal trouble when we are called to walk in darkness.

(3) Again, there is a time of providential trouble. It was a time of providential trouble to Joseph when sold by his brethren, falsely accused by his mistress, thrown into a dungeon by his master. It was a time of providential trouble to David, when he was hunted by Saul, betrayed by Doeg, threatened to be stoned by his own people, when Ziklag was burned, when driven into the wilderness as a fugitive, and expelled from his throne, family, and palace by his wicked son--but he shall be saved out of it. There were times and troubles to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Paul, and all the apostles.

2. The timely deliverance. He shall be saved out of it. There is a threefold method in which God saves Jacob out of his trouble. Sometimes by causing his troubles to terminate with a word. He speaks the word, Peace, be still, and not s wave rolls, nor s wind breathes. Sometimes He causes their troubles to terminate by taking the sons of Jacob out of them to glory, and raising them above the reach of them for ever. Sometimes by teaching them how to trust and triumph in Himself; as David says, Though I walk in the midst of trouble Thou wilt revive me. What a marvellous deliverance God effected for His people in the days of bloody Mary. Then there were multitudes of godly men in prison, under sentence to the fire, and expecting the faggots every moment to be kindled, when God suddenly summoned that cruel queen into His presence. Elizabeth succeeded, and His people were rescued Remember, whether trial is domestic, personal, spiritual, temporal, or circumstantial, a Fathers wisdom directs it, a Fathers love superintends it, and a Fathers word will scatter it. And remember, whatever method God may adopt to save you out of your trouble, you, as a son of Jacob, will be enabled to say, It is good for me that I have been afflicted. Sometimes He delivers them by teaching them how to trust Him, and triumph in Him in the midst of troubles. Look at Gideon and his conquest over the Midianites, without a spear, a bow, dart, javelin, sword, arrow, lance, or any weapon of war--with nothing but lamps and pitchers he overcomes them. How different are the troubles of Jacob and Esau, of Isaac and Ishmael, of the Christian and the worldling, of a child and an enemy. The troubles of the worldling are not few. He is liable to all the calamities of life. He has no God to flee to, no sympathising High Priest. Place a Christless man in my circumstances, despair and anguish will be his portion; but s man that shall be saved if he has my God. Is there any relation to, any likeness to, Jacobs sons to be found in you? Is there any distinction between you and Esau? Is there any personal, spiritual difference between you and the world? Can you give an affirmative answer to these questions? If so, the promise and oath of God are on your side; and, however deep or long your troubles may be, you shall be saved out of them. (J. Iron.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30:7 The time of trouble was the Babylonian capture and the final destruction of Judah in 586 BC.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, that the time of their captivity should be grievous.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

great--marked by great calamities (Joe 2:11, Joe 2:31; Amo 5:18; Zep 1:14).

none like it . . . but he shall be saved-- (Dan 12:1). The partial deliverance at Babylon's downfall prefigures the final, complete deliverance of Israel, literal and spiritual, at the downfall of the mystical Babylon (Rev. 18:1-19:21).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. Alas! for that day is great] When the Medes and Persians with all their forces shall come on the Chaldeans, it will be the day of Jacob's trouble-trial, dismay, and uncertainty; but he shall be delivered out of it-the Chaldean empire shall fall, but the Jews shall be delivered by Cyrus. Jerusalem shall be destroyed by the Romans, but the Israel of God shall be delivered from its ruin. Not one that had embraced Christianity perished in the sackage of that city.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Prophet goes on in this verse to describe the grievousness of that punishment for which the people felt no concern, for they disregarded all threatenings, as I have already said, and had now for many years hardened themselves so as to deem as nothing so many dreadful things. This, then, was the reason why he dwelt so much on this denunciation, and exclaimed, Alas! great is that day: “great” is to be taken for dreadful; and he adds, so that there is none like it It was a dreadful spectacle to see the city destroyed, and the Temple partly pulled down and partly consumed by fire: the king, with all the nobility, was driven into exile, his eyes were put out, and his children were slain; and he was afterwards led away in a manner so degraded, that to die a hundred times would have been more desirable than to endure such indignity. Hence the Prophet does not say without reason, that that day would be great, so that none would be like it: and he said this, to shake away the torpidity of the people, for they thought that the holy city, which God had chosen for his habitation, could not fall, nor the Temple perish, he further says, that it would be a time of distress to the people. But at the end of the verse he gives them a hope of God’s mercy, even deliverance from this distress. We now, then, see the design of the Prophet in these verses. — There will be no Lecture tomorrow on account of the Consistory.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

7. that day] The expression “the day of the Lord,” in an eschatological sense, is found first in Amos (Jer_5:18), and is adopted by later prophets. Its meaning is developed in two directions according to the teaching which the individual prophet desires to convey. Jehovah, they taught, will some day manifest Himself, it may be in executing terrible judgement upon the sin either of His own nation or of others; but it may also be in the restoration of the former to the privileges which they had forfeited. The description is modified in each case by the occasion; e.g. Isa_2:12 ff. directs the judgement against the material wealth and luxury acquired in the days of Uzziah. Joel (Jer_2:1 ff.) illustrates the punishment by a recent scourge of locusts. Cp. Zep_1:7; Zep_1:14 ff. Here, and in later prophecy in general (see above for the date of this section), the Day results in Israel’s deliverance, a deliverance reached, however, only through suffering.

so that none is like it] The Heb. may be rendered, Whence is any like it? Cp. Jer_10:6.

he shall be saved out of it] Here we have the transition to the joyous note which dominates the rest of the prophecy.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Alas! for that day is great,.... For sorrow and distress:

so that none is like it; such were the times of Jerusalem's siege and destruction by the Romans; and which was an emblem of those times of trouble from antichrist in the latter day; see Mat 24:21;

it is even the time of Jacob's trouble: of the church and people of God, the true Israel of God; when Popery will be the prevailing religion in Christendom; when the outward court shall be given to the Gentiles; the witnesses shall be slain; antichrist will be "in statu quo"; and the whore of Rome in all her glory; though it shall not last long:

but he shall be saved out of it; shall come out of those great tribulations into a very happy and comfortable estate; the spirit of life shall enter into the witnesses, and they shall live and ascend to heaven; the vials of God's wrath will be poured upon the antichristian states; the kings of the earth will hate the whore, and burn her with fire; the Gospel will be preached everywhere; the Jews will be converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles be brought in; and an end be put to all trouble; of which there will be no more, nor any occasion of it: or, "therefore he shall be saved out of it" (r); as the effect of the divine compassion to him in such great trouble.

(r) "ideo ex eo servabitur", Schmidt.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That day - i. e., the day of the capture of Babylon.

It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble - Rather, and it is a time of trouble to Jacob, i. e., of anxiety to the Jews, for the usages of war were so brutal that they would be in danger when the enemy made their assault.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Great, and terrible for this city, the outer walls of which shall be demolished, (Berosus; Calmet) and all its glory perish. (Haydock) --- Of it. Cyrus liberated the Jews, 1 Esdras i.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

It is no wonder that there is such a trembling upon all hearts, such a consternation and great complaining; for it will be a time of no ordinary calamity, but of great evil and misery, in the same sense as it is called a great day, Joe 2:11, great and terrible; and Zep 1:14, &c.; there never was such a day before. It will be a day of trouble to those that are the posterity of Jacob, both good and bad; they shall not be delivered from it, but they shall be delivered out of it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. That day — Namely, of the captivity of Babylon. Comp. Joe_2:11; Amo_5:18.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That day; i.e. "the day of Jehovah," the day of the great judgment upon the world, of which the fall of Babylon is regarded as the opening scene. It is even the time of Jacob"s trouble; rather, and a time of distress shall it be (even) to Jacob.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

that day The day of the assassination of Belshazzar and the downfall of Babylon. Another explanation: the day of the downfall of Gog.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.