But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the LORD,
and do not be dismayed, O Israel;
for I am going to save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and no one shall make him afraid.
For I am with you, says the LORD, to save you;
I will make an end of all the nations
among which I scattered you,
but of you I will not make an end.
I will chastise you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
For thus says the LORD:
Your hurt is incurable,
your wound is grievous.
There is no one to uphold your cause,
no medicine for your wound,
no healing for you.
All your lovers have forgotten you;
they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
the punishment of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
because your sins are so numerous.
Why do you cry out over your hurt?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
because your sins are so numerous,
I have done these things to you.
Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
and all your foes, everyone of them, shall go into captivity;
those who plunder you shall be plundered,
and all who prey on you I will make a prey. (Jeremiah 30:10—16)

God’s people suffered for a reason. They were guilty. So why cry over the pain? God had made it abundantly clear why the awful things were happening to Judah. There could be no surprise when the nation died, when the capital burned, when the temple went up in flames. They had no choice but simply to take it.

But just when it seemed there was no hope, after God himself had told them that the pain couldn’t be cured, it was just at that moment that God told them not to be dismayed. God promised to restore them: their destruction was not permanent. They’d get to come home some day. They wouldn’t have to stay in Babylon.

And as if that weren’t enough, the Babylonians would suffer the same pain that the Jewish people were experiencing. Those who had plundered Israel would themselves be plundered. Those who had hurt them would themselves be hurt. God’s promise came true seventy years later when the Persians conquered Babylon and sent the people of Israel back to their homeland.

Suffering, for whatever reason, is never an end unto itself. Life is not absurd or meaningless. God has a purpose whether we see it or not.

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