In Parts 1 and 2 in this series, I addressed Jeremiah’s life story and his walk with God to demonstrate and highlight major prophetic themes that apply to our current last days time period. In terms of major prophetic events he foretold that were applicable to his own day, these concluded with the invasion and destruction of his own land and people of Judah, and then later with the invasion of Babylon following the 70-year captivity of his people in that kingdom. These prophetic events were a part of the reason that God originally told Jeremiah that he had called him, “…to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow…,” among other things.
Both of these major prophetic events were also presented through Jeremiah in scripture in terms of their last days meaning. In Part 2, I addressed those factors and signs that God gave to Jeremiah leading to his decision to bring punishment on Judah in Jeremiah’s day. At the conclusion of Part 2, I explained that these same factors will apply again in this current last days time period in which we will witness the destruction of what we know of as modern-day Israel.
Jeremiah’s story of Israel’s remnant in last days ‘Babylon’
In this passage, I will focus on the story provided through Jeremiah pertaining to the ‘Jacob’-Judah “small flock” remnant in Babylon and God’s signs and messages given through him prior to bringing last days punishment and destruction onto Babylon. While this storyline had meaning for Babylon in Jeremiah’s day, it also has very significant meaning for our current last days time period, especially for ‘Babylon’-U.S., and thus, God’s remnant therein.
The prophetic significance of these events is initially signaled through Jeremiah in Chapter 1 when God first addressed him and blessed him with his anointing. Part of the greater significance and broader scope of Jeremiah’s ministry is shown in two successive visions that God gave to him and then asked, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” Jeremiah responded to the visions, respectively:
- “the rod/branch of an almond tree” (Jer. 1:11)
- “a boiling pot facing away from the north” (Jer. 1:13)
God told Jeremiah that he was watching over this “branch,” implying his protection of a good branch/remnant of his people that I have described previously reside in last days Babylon. Then God explained that the boiling pot from the north was a source of an “evil” (Babylon) that would come against Judah’s land and its people.
While both of these visions had near-term prophetic meaning in Jeremiah’s day, they also have significant meaning for last days ‘Babylon’ and Israel’s remnant within who will ultimately have to flee and begin a journey to return to their homeland. It is the prophetic message in these two interrelated visions that forms the scope of content that I will address herein. I will address these themes over the course of the following sections:
- The picture of the last days ‘Jacob’-Judah “small flock” in ‘Babylon’
- Jeremiah’s prophetic actions to preserve Judah’s eternal land covenant promise
- Prophecy of the “small flock” remnant’s persecution in last days ‘Babylon’
- The “small flock” remnant saved out of ‘Babylon’-U.S.
- Jeremiah is “sent” to all of the nations (as a picture of last days ‘Jacob’)
- Jeremiah’s prophecies of ‘Babylon’s destruction
The story of what happens with Israel’s remnant within ‘Babylon’ along with that of ‘Babylon’ itself in the last days is addressed in more detail in the following sections.
The picture of the last days small ‘Jacob’-Judah “small flock” remnant in ‘Babylon’
For our purposes, the story might be seen to begin with the vision that God gave to Jeremiah about good figs and bad figs in his Judah society. The bad figs represented God’s corrupt, evil and disobedient people including a line of kings in Judah who God promised would never have a king sit on David’s throne again. But there is a brief story told by Jeremiah of a royal remnant being taken captive and exiles to Babylon prior to Babylon’s final destructive invasion of the holy land. This captive remnant, likely the one the Prophet Ezekiel was among, can be seen as a picture or foreshadowing of the last days “small flock” remnant in ‘Babylon’-U.S. Jeremiah was compelled to write a letter to those in this remnant in his day. The following was God’s message to them through Jeremiah:
Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. (Jer. 29:5-6)
Does this sound like it could also apply for Israel’s vineyard-remnant over time in ‘Babylon’-U.S. that I have written about extensively on this site? Through Jeremiah, God further instructed this remnant to seek peace and not to be deceived by the prophets. This remnant became one that “raised up prophets” (Jer. 29:15) of its own, perhaps the likes of Ezekiel and Daniel, etc. close to Jeremiah’s day, but also as a picture referring to last days ‘Babylon’s biblical figures who I have discussed on this site.
God foretold this captive remnant through Jeremiah that he would eventually break the yoke of the king of ‘Babylon’ and that they would be freed. When the yoke was to be broken the vessels of God’s house that had been carried away would be returned. Even Jeremiah was excited to hear this news. He said:
Amen: the Lord do so: the Lord perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord’s house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place. (Jer. 28:6)
This prophecy was fulfilled after their remnant had served 70 years in Babylon and then returned to their land. But it may apply again in some fashion for the last days remnant in ‘Babylon’-U.S. It appears that they will at least come out of ‘Babylon’s system generally around the time that it is comes under siege or is invaded. In fact, this is the royal remnant who truly should pray for the ‘peace of Jerusalem’ as a father of their lineage, King David, did, because they will be the ones who will ultimately lead the return to their land. They are some of the faithful ones (i.e. good figs) who similarly submit to captivity in ‘Babylon’-U.S. for a time without pledging oaths to world Babylon’s Chaldeans.
(It should be noted, however, that there will be an interim period during which a counterfeit third temple will be built and it will be desecrated by the Anti-Christ. Not until after current day Israel’s destruction will the last days righteous remnant be able to return for the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom).
Jeremiah’s prophetic actions to preserve Judah’s eternal land covenant promise
In another sign of the future return of God’s remnant people to their land, knowing the end from the beginning, God instructed Jeremiah in the days of King Zedekiah, before the Babylonian invasion, to purchase a piece of land offered to him by a relative in his hometown of Anathoth. This land was said in scripture to be Jeremiah’s inheritance or right of redemption. Here, there is a clear picture for end times ‘Jacob’ who will raise up the tribes and return to the land and his inheritance allotted by God for the Millennial Kingdom. Meanwhile, God instructed Jeremiah to do the following with the evidence of his land purchase:
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. (Jer. 32:14)
It is interesting that the bad bottle (described in Part 2) was broken by Jeremiah at God’s instruction to symbolize Judah’s coming destruction in his day; but this one representing the future restoration of God’s people was to be preserved. This of course is representative of the ancient, covenant promise of God to his people made even long before the original Babylonian invasion came, and will still remain after the country of Israel is invaded and destroyed again in these last days. The end result, as we know, is that ‘Israel’ will return to the land one final time from the ends of the earth. The following verses refer to God’s remnant who are to return for the final days regathering that is to come:
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely… (Jer. 32:37)
And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. (Jer. 33:7)
As noted above, there will be time, and possibly a fairly long journey between the time when God’s remnant escapes the siege and invasion of the nation of ‘Babylon’ and when they are finally able to return to their land.
Prophecy of Israel’s “small flock” remnant’s persecution in last days ‘Babylon’
To continue the story, as last days ‘Jacob’s (a protégé of Jeremiah) royal remnant remain in captivity in today’s ‘Babylon’-U.S. they are to be on the lookout for today’s version of the king of Babylon to take hold. At this time, more severe persecution overall, even worldwide, will begin. This is why Jeremiah interceded for the last days Judah remnant in his prayers; he prophetically foresaw the likes of ‘Jacob’ and the ‘Daughter of Zion,’ respectively, each mentioned in a verse below and referred to their persecution at the hands of the anti-Christ Chaldeans:
…for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate. (Jer. 10:25)
All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. (Lam. 2:16)
The last days will be a time when ‘Israel’s entire remnant worldwide will experience increased levels of persecution. We appear to have a clue about possible timing of when this more intense persecution will take place; again, this is as seen through Jeremiah’s life events.
In his day, Jeremiah was approached by a (false) prophet by the name of Hananiah who broke Jeremiah’s wooden yoke as an apparent symbol of his freedom, and then falsely declared peace to the people from the yoke of the king of Babylon that was to happen within two years. We are told here that, “Jeremiah went his way” (Jer. 28:11).
Prophetically, this may symbolically represent the time that I have spoken about when a (false) peace covenant is signed that will include the country of Israel, ‘Babylon’-U.S. and likely many neighboring countries of Israel who will proclaim ‘peace.’ But instead we are told many times in scripture that there will be no peace. In this case, sudden destruction will come upon these parties according to the Apostle Paul (1 Thess. 5:3).
In fact, as a sign, Hananiah the prophet who attempted to deceive Jeremiah died the same year as a result of God’s judgment. God then instead told Jeremiah that he would replace his people’s former yoke of wood with one of iron. This ancient time could signal a soon-coming time in these last days about which we are told that all nations will serve the king of Babylon. Here, we have an ominous sign given through Jeremiah with possible prophetic implications for the ‘Jacob’-Judah “small flock” remnant:
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. (Jer. 51:34)
This was spoken by Jeremiah but is also consistent with the future persecution of last days ‘Jacob’ and his anointed remnant but it will also include the house of Israel’s larger remnant.
The ‘Jacob’-Judah “small flock” remnant saved in ‘Babylon’-U.S.
It could be, however, that there will be at least some peace for ‘Jacob’ and his anointed remnant because we are told by Jeremiah that ‘Jacob’ is saved out of the midst of the time of “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7-8). Here, God will break ‘Jacob’s yoke just as God had told Jeremiah directly in his day, “And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible” (Jer. 15:21).
At the time this anointed Judah-centric remnant are initially freed from persecution in today’s ‘Babylon,’-U.S. it appears at this time that they will be instructed by God to continue to abide in the land, perhaps still under some form of captivity similar to Ezekiel’s royal remnant that remained and continued to live in Babylon in Jeremiah’s day. Of course, God instructed the remainder of those living in Judah, pre- and post-invasion, that they should also submit to Babylonian captivity. God said the following about those serving in Babylonian captivity:
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. (Jer. 24:6)
If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. (Jer. 42:10)
‘Jacob’ and his remnant appear to be protected by God during the perilous last days period. Recall that during this time God will be “doing a new thing” and making ways, paths and waters in the wilderness for his people (Jer. 30:10).
‘Jacob’s “small flock” will eventually return to the holy land, with their journey beginning upon God’s final instructions to “flee Babylon.” Meanwhile, while they continue to abide in ‘Babylon’ during a very tumultuous time God still promises them, “I will save.” He also reassures them, “Be not afraid of the king of Babylon” (Jer. 42:11), under whose yoke end times ‘Jacob’ may continue to serve. He told Jeremiah, again as a proxy with meaning for end times ‘Jacob’:
Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. (Jer. 15:11)
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. (Jer. 51:36)
So there is a strong pattern signaling that God will intervene for his ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant in these last days.
“Do not go to ‘Egypt’”
Very importantly, God furthermore instructed his people not to go to Egypt. This is an ancient instruction that will still apply in the last days. Prophetic ‘Egypt’ is not to mean the actual country of Egypt. It could loosely and very generally mean here that they are not to flee from captivity and to go abroad. But, more importantly, ‘Egypt’ here is likely symbolic of the “world system” or new world order with its foreign gods and idols developing in our last days time period. This is why were are told, “Egypt rises like a flood” (Jer. 46:8). Egypt’s “flood” in these last days could have more than one meaning but one meaning is very likely commensurate with a great falling away by people worldwide due to world Babylon’s kingdom’s matrix of bondage and the soul-destroying act of bowing down to, and the worship of, the anti-Christ new world order system including taking the mark of the beast.
In Jeremiah’s day (Chapter 44), when a scattered Judah remnant remaining post-invasion eventually did flee to Egypt God’s people began to openly worship false gods, which Jeremiah who was among them called them out on. Israel’s disobedience in Jeremiah’s day was: (1) going to Egypt post-invasion and; (2) worshiping foreign gods. God sent the king of Babylon to “smite” Egypt during this time when he had put him over all nations to serve. God’s disobedient people in Egypt were put to the “sword” and only a small remnant escaped. It is likely that this scenario will repeat in ‘Babylon’-U.S. (and worldwide) in these last days for Israel’s remnant who have pledged oaths to the anti-Christ Chaldeans’ system of Egyptian gods, thereby making the fatal mistake of actually joining the very enemy that will come back to persecute and possibly kill them.
Eventually, there will be a time to “flee” ‘Babylon’ but in the meantime God’s “small flock” remnant are to carry on, albeit in captivity. Recall that this is a small remnant who are faithful and righteous so in their persecution in very difficult times in last days ‘Babylon’ they can rest assured based on scripture, especially that in the book of Proverbs that assures that “righteousness” will eventually be honored and delivered. Just a couple of these verses include:
The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. (Prov. 11:6)
Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. (Prov. 11:21)
God’s people will soon be in the midst of much strife and conflict happening worldwide and in ‘Babylon’ along with much chaos and finger-pointing but the ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant will be known and recognized for lifting a “banner” for righteousness sake as well as for being a light to the Gentiles. They will be protected.
Jeremiah sent to all of the nations (a picture of last days ‘Jacob’)
As I mentioned earlier in this passage and in Part 1 the scope of Jeremiah’s mission was broader than just for his own people and land. His ministry’s impact was to be worldwide, as well as to have particular prophetic meaning for this current last days time period. Thus, we find Jeremiah again to be a parallel figure to last days ‘Jacob.’ In fact, ‘Jacob’ appears to be the one in a figurative sense to take Jeremiah’s baton (see my prior passages on end times ‘Jacob’) in order to run and complete God’s original promise below in the last days:
See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. (Jer. 1:10)
Prior to kingdoms being built and destroyed in their respective times, however, both Jeremiah and last days ‘Jacob’ were/are sent to all of the nations to communicate God’s warning message. Jeremiah self-proclaimed, “thy (God’s) words were found, and I did eat them…” (Jer. 15:16). This is very similar to the Prophet Ezekiel who lived in Babylon and whose vision portrays an end times Son of man as a watchman for warning and whom God instructed to eat his words. In fact, end times ‘Jacob’ who will make Babylon’s altars as “chalkstone” will be given to the people of the world as a “covenant” and scripture also tells us that, “the isles shall wait for his law” (Is. 42:4).
Meanwhile, God instructed Jeremiah in his day to carry his message to the world as follows:
Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. (Jer. 36:2)
With the help of his pupil Baruch, Jeremiah’s words were recorded. While Jeremiah was held captive, he instructed Baruch to go and read his words locally in Judah. In these current last days, we are told that ‘Jacob’ will be held captive but we know that through him and his remnant that his message will be a light to Gentiles across the earth. In somewhat of a fitting prophecy perhaps ‘Jacob’ finds and “eats” (God’s Word) in these last days including, of all things, the book of Jeremiah. (This would obviously be much easier in our current day with easy access to God’s Word- in ‘Babylon’-U.S. at least- and its electronic communications. This would be in contrast to Jeremiah’s ancient day of scrolls and some kind of “pony express” form of delivery for any messages).
In fact, God’s words- i.e. our Bible and today’s message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ- will be the final dividing line and the “sword.” In his day, Jeremiah lamented that he had become, “a man of contention to the whole earth” (Jer. 15:10); this was only because he believed God’s Word and spoke courageously and boldly about it. End times ‘Jacob’ does the same and will become God’s messenger of salvation “unto the end of the earth” (Is. 49:6) while working against a powerful anti-Christ force in the end times. Through ‘Jacob’ and his Judah remnant’s cause it is possible that this is the avenue through which we are told:
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matt. 24:14)
Perhaps along with raising their “banner” of righteousness to the world the ‘Jacob’-Judah “small flock” remnant will be able to disciple and to forcefully communicate to others their faith in and salvation through Jesus Christ. In scripture it appears that this Gospel and its truth going to all of the world will happen prior to the last days time when many will be forced by the Chaldean’s minions to pledge allegiance to their kingdom.
‘Babylon’s destruction as given through Jeremiah’s prophecies
Through Jeremiah’s word from God we learn that at the end of his people’s 70 years in captivity at the hands of the king of Babylon that the Lord would punish and make the land of Babylon and its Chaldeans desolate. This punishment was in return for their destruction and persecution of God’s people. This was fulfilled at the hands of the Medes. But, I have written in detail on this site about how this same kind of punishment (i.e. via invasion) will come on the nation of ‘Babylon’-U.S. in the last days- also to be made desolate. Similarly, it will be an invasion by an army of nations out of the north.
To discuss more about the words of Jeremiah that went to all of the nations via his scroll he wrote about “all the evil that should come upon Babylon” (Jer. 51:60). In a prophecy likely for these end times, Jeremiah spoke to the brother of Baruch, Seraiah (name meaning ‘(quiet) prince of the Lord’) who appears to represent an end times figure in this context. Jeremiah told him that when he shall come to Babylon (implying a future time), he shall see and hear all of his words. Just as he instructed Baruch to read his words to Judah, Jeremiah instructed Seraiah to read his words to Babylon. Perhaps Serariah prophetically represented a ‘type’ of member of the last days holy, royal ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant, mentioned above. In a prophecy for what is to come onto last days ‘Babylon’-U.S. Jeremiah said:
Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever. (Jer. 51:62)
In fact, in my prior passages I have shown through scripture that last days ‘Babylon’-U.S. will indeed be made desolate. Symbolically and prophetically, Jeremiah then instructed Seraiah that when he had made an end of reading his book (to the people) he should bind a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates where it will sink and not rise (“from the evil that I (God) will bring on her”- i.e. ‘Babylon’). The significance of ‘Euphrates’ in this prophecy is its meaning “great river,” which is also associated with the term Assyria(n). You will recall from my prior passages about punishment coming onto ‘Babylon’-U.S. that at the time or shortly after its kings fall that it will be the ‘Assyrian’s armies (including the Medes) that invade.
As it relates to the story of ‘Jacob’s anointed remnant, this is likely the time they will be free to escape from their captivity in ‘Babylon.’ God will guide this remnant in their escape out of Babylon’s imprisoning matrix and in their pathway to their ultimate return to the homeland.
World Babylon’s kingdom also to be destroyed in the last days
At the time of God’s people’s exodus, the worldwide kingdom of ‘Babylon’ will be in process of being destroyed. This will be the anti-Christ kingdom and its people all over the world who have joined in on the system of persecuting and holding God’s people captive. This is part of the ancient, ongoing spiritual war that the anti-Christ Chaldeans have been waging in their process of eradicating God’s vineyard. God foretold:
For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. (Jer. 25:14)
The destruction of ‘Babylon’ is represented symbolically at the hands of Jeremiah who is instructed by God to take the wine cup of his wrath/fury and cause all the nations where he sends Jeremiah to drink of it. This fulfills God’s prophetic Word mentioned earlier about “uprooting” and “tearing down” kingdoms as it will also apply in our last days time period. Jeremiah responded:
Then took I the cup (of fury) at the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me… (Jer. 25:17)
In carrying out his mission, Jeremiah was a picture of what the Lord himself will actually do in the last days. God asked Jeremiah to prophesy about the last days, and Jeremiah declared, “The Lord has a controversy with the nations” (Jer. 25:31), and that at this time Jeremiah said the Lord shall, “roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation” (Jer. 25:20). This will be the Day of the Lord. We are told that evil will sweep across the earth so that the slain will be from one end of the earth to the other. Recall in my series entitled, The Lord’s Spirit is with us how the Lord “treads the winepress” and “threshes the heathen in anger” in his last days judgment and vengeance on the earth.
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To conclude our story of prophecy through Jeremiah’s life, there is uncertainty about where Jeremiah finished his days of ministry and life’s work. Perhaps this is fitting since Jeremiah’s words of instruction from God were timeless in their application and communicated God’s prophecies to be fulfilled up until, and including, the day Jesus Christ is on earth again in the last days. Not to mention, Jeremiah as a great prophet served as a ‘type’ for future servants, prophets and patriarchy to come onto the scene up until the end of our current age. I describe these servants in detail in my book, Biblical End Times, Volume 1.
Grace & Peace,
Lion’s Lair (LL)
Lion's Lair 
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