A message the Lord God
gave Jeremiah the prophet:
At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. 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. 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. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.-Jeremiah 31:1-14***Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai) were born to Terah, and lived in Ur among the rest of their family in southern Mesopotamia. Terah and others in their midst worshiped several gods. After the Lord God told Abraham to leave his country and kin and come into the land he would be shown, Abraham moved away from Ur with Sarah, Terah, and nephew Lot and began living in Haran in northern Mesopotamia. Sometime after 205-year-old Terah died, Abraham journeyed with Sarah, Lot, their servants, and possessions to Canaan. The Lord God promised to give Canaan, land inhabited by idolaters, to Abraham's descendants and Abraham. When Abraham was 86 years old, Ishmael was born to Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's maidservant. When Abraham was 100 years old, Isaac was born to Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. When Isaac was 40 years old, he became the husband of Rebekah, Abraham and Sarah's grandniece. During the 20th year of their marriage, fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. Decades thereafter, Jacob was married to Rebekah's nieces Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad an Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that Abraham was a friend of God, and the Israelites are the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. When Jacob was 130 years old, he moved with his entire family from Canaan to Egypt, the country wherein Joseph was second-in-command. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt and his children buried his body in Canaan, and after 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to take the Israelites and their animals and go serve the Lord God. Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, across the divinely parted Red Sea and into the desert wilderness of Shur. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, including commands about idolatry. Yet, the Israelites would worship idols. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron died and was buried. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God whoed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses died and was divinely buried. Eleazar, the son born to Aaron and his wife Elisheba, succeeded Aaron as high priest. Joshua, Moses' successor, was from the tribe of Ephraim, descended from Joseph and his wife Asenath, and Joseph and Asenath's 2nd born son Ephraim, whom Jacob proclaimed to be his own son. Joshua led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the Promised Land. Sometime after 110-year-old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, the Israelites began worshiping idols. Rehoboam, the son born to King Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to reign over all of the Israelites in the Promised Land. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Pekah's 20-year reign, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria, began taking Israelites to Assyria. During the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule the northern nation, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 80 years thereafter, the Lord God gave Jeremiah the prophet messages to proclaim to the Israelites regarding the upcoming 70-year Babylonian captivity of the Israelites and the future of the Israelites. Moreover, Isaiah the prophet received messages from the Lord God to proclaim to the Israelites. Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Jehoiakim (Eliakim) was the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year-reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem, and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. During the 11th year of the reign of Jehoiakim's brother King Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after a group of Israelite survivors took Jeremiah with them to Egypt, and Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Solomon and all of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Before Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, and after Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven less than 33 1/2 years after he was born, the Roman Empire was ruling the land whereupon the kingdoms of the Israelites previously stood.-Genesis 1:1-4:26, 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 7:20-29, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26, 6:1-8:4, James 2:1-26