“I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were pulled down before the LORD, before His fierce anger” (Jer 4:23-26).
Jeremiah’s description of God’s judgment has unmistakable parallels to the first two chapters of Genesis. In short, the downfall of the promised land in Jeremiah’s day, and ours, is a reversal of God’s very good purposes for the entire creation: the heavens are once again formless and void (see Gen 1:2), the lights fade into darkness (see Gen 1:3), there is no man to work the ground (see Gen 2:5), so that the fruitful garden-like land turns back into a barren wilderness (see Gen 2:8-15).
God created Israel to be a microcosm of the entire world: whenever good things happen here the world benefits. Whenever bad things happen here the world suffers.
No matter how hard the nations try to fix this world, it will never be made right until this land and all the people in it are made right with God. This is also why a love for Israel and a longing for their redemption is simultaneously a love for the nations and a longing for the redemption of the entire world.
“The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises” (Ps 98:2-4).
“Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Rom 11:12-15).
