God sent numerous prophets to the people of Israel to warn them about the consequences of their rejection of him. Over the course of approximately 400 years, the messages became more and more somber, but around 600 BC, a prophet named Jeremiah began preaching a message that gave the people of Israel hope for their future. Jeremiah told the people that the LORD would restore the nation of Israel by returning them to their land after their time of captivity in Babylon had been completed. Jeremiah said, “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers’” (Jeremiah 16:14-15). Later, Jeremiah was told to go down to the potter’s house where God would illustrate his plan for restoration. Jeremiah 18:1-11 states:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’”

The Hebrew word shuwb (shoob) appears three times in this passage, each time with a different context to its meaning. It says in Jeremiah 18:4, the potter reworked the clay into another vessel. Then in his explanation of the parable, God told Jeremiah, “if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it” (Jeremiah 18:8). And, finally, “Return everyone from his evil way” (Jeremiah 18:11). The basic meaning of the verb shuwb “is movement back to the point of departure,” but this word is used to describe both physical and spiritual activity, and sometimes refers to “the process called conversion or turning to God…a turning back again to Him from whom sin has separated us” (H7725).

Jeremiah 23 contains a reference “to the Messiah using the imagery of a ‘branch,’” (note on Jeremiah 23:5), and suggests that God is the actor in the process of conversion. God told Jeremiah he would gather the remnant and “bring them back” (Jeremiah 23:3). God said:

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.”

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:1-6)

The term saved or yashaʿ (yaw-shahˊ) in Hebrew had a different meaning in Old Testament times than it did after Jesus died for the sins of the world. “The underlying idea of this verb is bringing to a place of safety or broad pasture as opposed to a narrow strait, symbols of distress and danger. The word conveys the notion of  deliverance from tribulation (Judges 10:13, 14),” but the common denominator of both Old and New Testament concepts of being saved is that it is “the salvation that only comes from God (Isaiah 33:22; Zephaniah 3:17)” (H3467).

Jeremiah 27:22 was a promise from God that he would not only sanction the deportation of the people of Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon, but he would oversee their activities there, and would at the appointed time, come to their rescue and restore them to their land. God said, “They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them back and restore (shuwb) them to this place.” God’s restoration of the nation of Israel was based on his intention of doing what was ultimately good for his chosen people. Jeremiah prophesied, “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10-11).

Jeremiah’s prophesies about the restoration of Israel were very specific and contained details that were intended to confirm God’s involvement in the Israelites’ situation. God told Jeremiah, “Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob, and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on its mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be” (Jeremiah 30:18). God also told Jeremiah about a New Covenant that he intended to make with Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31). God said, “I will put my law within them, and I will write in on their hearts. And I will be there God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). God explained the new type of relationship he intended to have with his chosen people in Jeremiah 32:36-44. God said, “I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away (shuwb) from doing good to them” (Jeremiah 32:39-40). God continued, “Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore (shuwb) the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first” (Jeremiah 33:6-7). God said that he would rebuild Judah and Israel as they were at first. This implies complete restoration; all of the negative consequences of the people’s sin would be reversed.

Psalm 126 depicts the result of God’s restoration of Israel after the people had returned to their homeland. The psalm begins with an emotional tribute to God’s success. Psalm 126:1-3 states:

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us;
    we are glad.

The psalmist said, “We were like those who dream” (Psalm 126:1) in reference to the way God had exceeded the people’s expectation and completely changed their circumstances. It was so fantastic, it seemed unreal to them.

The Apostle Peter had a similar experience when he was delivered from prison, shortly before he was going to be executed. It says in Acts 12:6-11:

Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

Peter realized that his escape from prison, and ultimately death, was supernatural. The Greek word that is translated rescued, exaireo (ex-ahee-rehˊ-o) in an active sense means “to tear out” (G1807). Exaireo is derived from the words ek, which means “out of” (G1537) and aihreomai (hahee-rehˊ-om-ahee), which means, “to take for oneself, i.e. to choose, elect, prefer” (G138). Aihreomai is used in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 where it says, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose (aihreomai) you as the firstfruits, to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”

The Israelites’ and Peter’s experience of restoration demonstrated how salvation worked in real life. The moment when Peter got saved was not necessarily the moment that he committed his life to Christ because he later denied three times that he even knew Jesus. The initial step of faith he took was important, but the process of conversion was intended to result in Peter becoming a different person, as was illustrated in Jesus changing his name from Simon to Peter (Matthew 16:18) and Jeremiah’s parable of the potter and the clay. It says in Jeremiah 18:4, “And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. The Hebrew word that is translated spoiled, shawchath (shaw-khathˊ) can mean “to destroy” or “to wipe out” (H7843). One way of thinking about the process of conversion is that in it God brings us to the end of ourselves; a point where we think all is lost. And then, God steps into the situation and rescues us. Through this, God shows us that all really is not lost, he can change our circumstances at any moment, if he chooses to.