10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare in the coastlands afar off,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12 “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And they will be radiant over the [g]bounty of the Lord—
Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,
And over the young of the flock and the herd;
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they will never languish again.
13 “Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together,
For I will turn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.
14 “I will [h]fill the soul of the priests with [i]abundance,
And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.15 Thus says the Lord,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”
Well, this sounds pretty amazing, as God gathers His people back together (v. 10), and redeems them from their captors. For good reason will they shout for joy, and be radiant, as the land will bear much grain and produce new wine and oil, and their flocks will multiply. Their very lives will be like a watered garden and they will not languish again. God will turn their mourning into joy and comfort them, filling their soul and they will be satisifed.
But what is this craziness in v. 15? Lamentation and bitter weeping, as their children are taken and killed (they are no more). Woah, hold on now, there wasn’t going to be any mourning or languishing! It seems likely that these are in reverse order, for the first portion sounds very much like the paradise of God’s kingdom established after Jesus returns for His bride. And sadly, v. 15 has already been fulfilled, when the maniacal Herod tried to kill Jesus while he was only a couple years old.
It was indeed a day of bitter weeping, yet that didn’t negate the promise of God. On the contrary, He was already in the act of fulfilling His promise of a Messiah, and of setting in motion this future vision of paradise. Without the sacrifice of His son also, these would have lost their sons in vain. Not many years after, they would soon gain a Savior who would rescue them from a worse evil than Herod. God would indeed redeem them “from the hand of him who was stronger”, from the grasp of Satan himself.
Jesus conquered death and hell so that any pain we would endure on this earth would pass and give way to something much greater. Here we see but a glimpse of the future that God desires and has indeed promised for those who are His children. The reality of it is beyond our imagining, but God wants us all to know that it is coming. He will keep us as a shepherd keeps his flock, and though this life will include pain and sorrow and tragedy, those will pass in an instant, “in the twinkling of an eye”. Hold on to His promises, and never let go.