God's Promise for Broken Families
There’s a prophetic promise in Jeremiah 31 for every mother and father who are weeping for their lost children. You may feel helpless and desperate now, but a word from God can change everything. I believe this word will change your perspective, change your outlook, and restore your hope for what’s to come. Rachel cried for the lost children not once, not twice, but three times in the Bible. And her voice is crying out still today against the enemy who is trying to abduct our children. But God says to you, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, “your work will be rewarded … they will return from the land of the enemy.”
To this day in Israel, Rachel’s tomb is a holy place, a place representing where mothers are separated from their children, where birth and death are intercepted. It is a place called Ramah. Three times in scripture we see children stripped from the arms of their mothers and taken away to Ramah to be enslaved or murdered. And every time, the voice of Rachel is heard weeping for the children.
In 2 Kings chapter 24, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, sent his secret service to raid Jerusalem and they took into exile all the most talented, physically fit, strongest, most full-of-potential individuals and took them back to build Nebuchadnezzar’s Kingdom. Nebecanezzer wanted 10,000 of them to be taken from God’s people and brought to imprison and raise up for his own army. He wanted to take all of the future talent and potential from God's people, and use it for himself.
Jeremiah 31:15 tells us a voice was heard in Ramah. The ghost (voice) of Rachel cried out in Ramah, and was heard above the rattling of chains and above the weeping of mothers and fathers. THIS is what Satan continues to do today. He comes after the talented, the anointed, the leaders … to steal them away from God’s Kingdom and build his own kingdom. But the mothers are weeping.
Then, in Matthew 2, we read of Herod doing the same thing when Jesus was born. The slaughter of the innocent took place in Ramah again. He had the two-year old sons stripped from their mother’s arms and taken to be murdered. And there again, in Matthew 2:18, “A voice is heard in Ramah.” The voice of Rachel cries out on that dusty road to Bethlehem. But Joseph and Mary hear a warning from God and hide Jesus away.
The enemy still wants to destroy a generation of young people. Our children, our hope, our potential—they are under attack. They are targeted. Children and families are being torn apart by sin, depression, suicide, addiction, rebellion. It’s the ancient spirit of Nebuchadnezzar coming for God’s children. But the spirit of Rachel is rising up, too! The sound of mother’s and father’s crying out and not relenting.
The enemy wants to kidnap your children. He’s coming for their talent, like he has so many times in history, but they were created for the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of this world. And God promises we are going to see our children return to their heritage! Those who are astray, those who have been deceived and taken captive by the evil of this world will return! Jeremiah 31:16 give us this prophetic promise to stand on:
Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
“They will return from the land of the enemy."
If you have an empty seat at the table, there is hope. If you have children and loved ones living in the world, who have turned their back on their faith, there is hope. If you have sons and daughters enslaved to sin, there is hope. When Jesus comes, the tempter's power is broken. Whatever your children have turned to, they will return! He didn’t say the weapon wouldn’t be formed, He said it wouldn’t prosper. Whatever weapon has come against your family and your children—IT WILL NOT PROSPER. They will return from the land of the enemy!
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