Sometimes the days go on and on seemingly endless, yet the old saying “everything must come to an end” is true not only for the human events in our lives but for our lives themselves. My Dad was not a Bible scholar but he knew one phrase 30 came to passfrom it very well and used to quote it frequently; “and this too shall come to pass.” Civilizations come and go but since our lives are normally lived out from beginning to end in a small time span in one civilization that’s hard for us to comprehend. History is important! We learn about the rise and fall of many great civilizations; Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and on and on!

Jeremiah’s prophecy explains for us the cause of the fall of Israel. The Bible recounts for us the rise and fall of Israel from its infancy in Egypt to its full maturity under Solomon when it ruled the world. The fall of Israel was directly related to its rebellion against the God of all creation. The fall of God’s nation was catastrophic for all creation. Jeremiah 4:28 says, “For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”

Luke is the historian of the New Testament giving us both his Gospel and the book of Acts. But as Boice observes, “Luke does not merely give us a history of the early church; he tells us that there is a plan to history. God is unfolding it. That plan does not have to do with the rise and fall of empires. It does not have to do with one race or people being more influential than another. The Bible does not even look at history as having to do primarily with individual successes or attainments. The meaning of history is in God’s work: God reaching down into the mass of fallen humanity and saving some hell-bent men and women, bringing them into a new fellowship, the church, and beginning to work in them in such a way that glory is brought to Jesus Christ. That is what Luke is writing about as he unfolds these events.”[1] As the saying goes, “All history is HIS story.” It’s all about Jesus! God’s plan is unfolding wherein this earth and this heaven will be transformed by the Glory of God’s Son and a New Heavens and a New Earth will be established. As God expressed through Jeremiah He will not change His mind. It’s going to happen! Sooner or later “this too shall come to pass.”

[1] James Montgomery Boice, Acts: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), 14–15.