PRÉCIS ON THE WOUNDINGS AND HEALINGS OF GOD: FURTHER PREPARATION FOR THE LAST DAYS

SCRIPTURE. “For thus says the Lord:’ Your hurt is incurable and your wound is grievous. There is none to plead your cause; for [the pressing together of] your wound you have no healing [device], no binding plaster. All your lovers (allies) have forgotten you; they neither seek, inquire of, or require you. For I have hurt you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel and merciless foe, because of the greatness of your perversity and guilt, because your sins are glaring and innumerable.

Why do you cry out because of your hurt [the natural result of your sins]? Your pain is deadly (incurable). Because of the greatness of your perversity and guilt, because your sins are glaring and innumerable, I have done these things to you. Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity. And they who despoil you will become a spoil, and all who prey upon you will I give for a prey. For I will restore health to you, and I will heal your wounds,’ says the Lord, ‘because they have called you an outcast, saying, “This is Zion, whom no one seeks after and for whom no one cares”!’” – JEREMIAH 30:12-17, AMPC

KEY TERMS:

• HURT. ‘Sheber’ [לְשִׁבְרֵ֑ךְ]: “‘A breaking, fracture, crushing, breach, crash;’ ruin, affliction; bruise, destruction; vexation; solution or interpretation of a dream; the result of sin; speaks metaphorically of the breaking of a wall; suffering due to disobedience to God; crushing of spirit.”

• WOUND. ‘Makkah’ [מַכָּתֵֽךְ׃]: “‘A blow, wound, slaughter; beaten;’ carnage, plague, striped from flailing; as with being punished with a whip; a scourging; defeat; a breach of some kind caused by violence or external force; disruption or damage to any living thing that requires repair in the her future.”

• RESTORE. ‘Alah’ [עָלָה]: “‘To ascend, to go up, to mount up, to arise;’ similar to the word, ‘Aliya,’ the ‘act of going up towards the Jewish holy city of Jerusalem;’ to be brought from a low place to a high place (as to a sacred location or city); to be exalted [by God in this context]; in a figurative sense; to proceed from an inferior to a superior degree, from mean to noble objects, from particulars to generals, etc.”

QUOTATION. “My scars remind me that I did indeed survive my deepest wounds. That in itself is an accomplishment. And they bring to mind something else, too. They remind me that the damage life has inflicted on me has, in many places, left me stronger and more resilient. What hurt me in the past has actually made me better equipped to face the present.” ― STEVE GOODIER, Author of Touching Moments, 2001; edited

COMMENTARY. “In these verses, as in those foregoing, the deplorable case of the Jews in captivity is set forth, but many precious promises are given them that in due time they should be relieved and a glorious salvation wrought for them. God Himself appeared against them: ‘He scattered them!’ (v. 11). ‘He did all these things unto them’ (v. 15). All their calamities came from His hands; whoever were the instruments, He was the Principal Agent. And this made their case very sad that God, even their own God, spoke concerning them, to pull down and to destroy. Now: ‘This was intended by him as a fatherly chastisement,’ and no other’ (v. 11) …

‘For all this God will work deliverance and salvation for them in due time.’ Though no other hand, nay, because no other hand, can cure their wound, His will, and shall. Though He seemed to stand at a distance from them, yet He assures them of His presence with them, His powerful and gracious presence: ‘I will save thee’ (v. 10). ‘I am with thee, to save thee’ (v. 11). When they are in their troubles, He is with them, to save them from sinking under them; when the time has come for their deliverance, He is with them, to be ready upon the first opportunity, to save them out of their trouble. Though they were at a distance, remote from their own land, ‘afar off in the land of their captivity,’ yet there shall salvation find them out, thence shall it fetch them, them and their seed, for they also shall be known among the Gentiles, and distinguished from them, that they may ‘return’ (v. 10. 3) …

They must not sorrow as those that have no hope for the troubles which at present they lie under (v. 15). ‘Why criest thou for thy affliction?’ It is true thy carnal confidences fail thee, creatures are physicians of no value, but ‘I will heal thy wound,’ and therefore, ‘Why criest thou?’ Why dost thou fret and complain thus? It is ‘for thy sin’ (v. 14, 15), and therefore, ‘Instead of repining, thou shouldest be REPENTING!’ Wherefore should a man complain for the punishment of his sins? The issue will be good at last, and therefore rejoice in hope.”

DK’S TAKE. This compelling passage chock full of the rich red meat of the true Doctrines of the true Church, is well-timed. And it has TWO APPLICATIONS that are equally important.

1. PERSONAL. At the individual level, I am convinced that the Holy Spirit is working internally in all of us who truly desire to be made ready for the Days Ahead. And such spiritual disciplining can be rough and painful, as He removes darknesses and weaknesses in us that must be removed or remediated, so that we are able to: “Sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me,” as David once wrote (Psalm 13:6, Amplified Classic). ‘Personal Repentance is the only avenue toward such Maturity.’

• CORPORATE. There is also the very necessary work of the Spirit to bring us together in a powerful Unity that is described by the Lord in His High Priestly Prayer: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth … that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:17, 21, New King James). ‘Corporate Repentance is the only avenue toward such Unity.’

CODA. Beloved, as the Scriptures tell us in no uncertain terms about these Days of Trial that are all but upon us now, we must be made ready for them. He is more than Faithful to do it for us, but we must desire it to be done! We must be, as I wrote recently, be willing to “Pay the Iron Price,” both now and later when it shall be even more challenging to follow Him.

For the rescue of others. For the pleasure of knowing we are faithful to Him. And yes, for our own ability to “endure to the end and be saved” (Matthew 24:13, New King James).