Leslie M. John
Jacob's Trouble
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. (Jeremiah 30:7)
What do the Scriptures say about Jacob’s trouble?
The time of Jacob's trouble, is the time of 'great tribulation' when Israel will mourn for the Lord, whom they crucified and this will make a way for the national repentance. God will have mercy on Israel and will restore to them their lost kingdom. The second coming of Jesus as seen by the left- behind Jews and unbelievers is the second appearance of Lord Jesus Christ on this earth. Then the feet of Lord Jesus stand upon the Mount Olives and thereafter He will rule for one thousand years literally from the throne of David.
The Lord is jealous God, and He shall not tolerate any one, who worships the idols, much less he tolerated the children of Israel. The troubles and curses they heaped upon themselves by worshipping idols, and making graven images and by doing evil things in the sight of the Lord God, provoked him to anger. God swore saying, ”…I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.” (Deuteronomy 4:24-27) Even though they are scattered yet if they repent of their sins and call upon God as their Savior, He said He will deliver from the tribulation and gather them as one nation. The great tribulation will be such as was never before in the whole history of mankind upon this earth, and this is the time when the children of Israel will surely confess that the Lord Jesus is their Messiah, and God will not go back on His words of restoring them their land, and every one's name will be found in the 'book'. (Dan.12:1)
Even though many Israelites have returned to their land, and also the nation of Israel was declared independent on May 15th, 1948, yet the complete gathering of the tribes from northern kingdom that were scattered after the Assyrians had taken them captive and the tribes from southern kingdom, who were taken captive by Babylonians, and thereafter by Persians is not complete. Also, the children of Israel living in Israel are not all saved. God will use 'great tribulation', which comes under 'the time of Jacob's trouble', for calling upon their Savior, Lord Jesus as their Messiah.
God warned beforehand that when they are in tribulation, and when all those troubles come upon them in the latter days, and if they turn to the Lord God, and be obedient to Him, He will not forget the covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and swore to them. (Ref. Deut. 4:30, 31). In Deut. 30:1-3 God said, that when Israel realizes that He had driven them out of their country for the sins they committed, and call upon Him for mercy, obey His voice according to all that He had commanded, He will have compassion on them and gather them from all the nations, where He had scattered them.