Anciently, when God instructed a prophet to speak to a person or a nation the prophet would deliver the message immediately and in person. If he was not able to speak directly to the people he would send God’s Words in the form of a letter printed on parchment, animal skin, clay tablets or some other material that, over time, would wear out and be cast aside. The message would involve only those to whom it was addressed who were living in that generation. But the Almighty does not always stick strictly to the script. This study is one such instance.

The subject of this series is a message God instructed the Prophet Jeremiah to send to the tribes of Israel. However, the method of recording and delivering the message, along with the time element involved in its delivery differed greatly from the norm. As was the Lord’s message to Israel through the Prophet Daniel, little about this situation would fit the mold normally used when He communicated with His most prized creation–man.

Four unique factors made Jeremiah’s message to the tribes of Israel very unusual. One, the prophet had no idea where the Israelites were at the time God told him to contact them. Two, the information they would receive was not to be understood for thousands of years. Three, by the time Israel received the information the vast majority of them would not know they were Israelites and would therefore not believe the message was for them. And four, the message would eventually become only a small part of a much larger body of information, most of which would be rejected not only by the Israelites, but by the world in general. Now let us begin our study of this most interesting and vital subject which will soon affect every human being living on the earth in these last days.

“The Word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book” (Jer. 30:1,2). Following a split between the northern and southern tribes of Israel, the Word “Israel” referred to the 10 northern tribes that lived in the area known as Samaria. The Word “Judah” referred to the southern tribes comprised of Judah, Levi and Benjamin. These three tribes, Biblically called Judahites, were nicknamed “Jews” by the King James translators. Notice that Jeremiah’s book was written specifically for Israel. Judah had received the information from Jeremiah himself. However, in the future Israel and Judah would receive the prophet’s book at the same time.

It is important that we take note of several facts. The prophet was to write what God would tell him in a book, not in a letter. Only one book was to be written. This is significant in that the 10 tribes of Israel had been defeated and enslaved by the nation of Assyria over 100 years earlier. Not only that, but God, having freed them from Assyrian slavery, had later scattered them throughout the entire civilized world. The individual tribes had left Assyria intact and had journeyed to the areas to which God had directed them. There they settled among the Gentiles living in those area, took on their social and religious characteristics, abandoned their Israelite characteristics and became known as Gentiles. For example, the tribe of Gad migrated to the area known today as Italy and became Italian, Ephraim became British and Zebulun became French. While writing his book Jeremiah had no way of knowing where the Israelites were or how to deliver it to them. Nothing about the situation made sense on a human level. But Jeremiah knew that His God knew what He was doing. What He was doing makes the next two verses even more mysterious. In them He said: “I will bring (cause) AGAIN the captivity (defeat and enslavement) of My people Israel and Judah.” The Jews were on their way to Babylonian captivity when Jeremiah was writing the book. Eventually, both Israel and Judah would be defeated and removed from the Promised Land, leaving the Promised (Holy) Land free of Israelites. L.J.