Jeremiah (1-31) 31:7 Commentary and Bible Study

‘For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.’ Who is being told to sing? Is it Israel, or is it the surrounding nations? The command to sing is prophetic, and the passage is saying that there will be great cause to sing, because of the restoration of Israel and the great change in her circumstances. What therefore is framed as a command to sing, is a prophecy that there will be such great blessing that singing will be spontaneous. This singing must be with gladness, and therefore those who sing love Israel and rejoice at her renewal. But the command to sing and to shout with joy goes to the chief of the nations also, and the terms of the prayer of the nations is such that it could only come from one who loved the Lord – ‘O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.’ Why would the nations be praying for the salvation of God’s people and of the remnant? This can only be addressed to believing Gentiles, for no one else is capable to uttering such a prayer of faith. This is therefore a prophecy that will be fulfilled in the gospel age. Gill sees its fulfilment in the conversion of the Jews as described in Romans 11 and other places – ‘for it will be to them as life from the dead’ – but if all believing Gentiles are also of the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:29), then this can equally be a prophecy about the call of the Gentiles and the building of Christ’s church.‘Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.’ A great sense of grace will prevail. Everybody who comes in will come in as the result of repentance, and conviction of sin. Similar language is used by Isaiah: ‘And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight’ (Isaiah 42:16), and by Micah, ‘And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever’ (Micah 4:7). The intent of the language is to show that nothing will hinder them from coming into the church of Christ. If this had been describing a literal return from Babylon, then the long journey over hard country would have been too much for those named here. But as it is, God will make the journey easy, for what is described here is a figurative journey. The blessings of the church are described in terms of Old Testament Israel, as if she was still in a single location in her own country. The reality will be that the churches of Jesus Christ will be found locally in every nation on earth, and not a literal journey but a spiritual journey will be required, which, by his Spirit, God will make easy, even for the most unfit to travel.