JACOB'S TROUBLE
One of many Biblical prophecies that the Churches of God believe is yet to be fulfilled is found in Jeremiah chapter 30 and referred to in verse 7 as "Jacob's trouble".
With all Bible topics context is important. The chapters leading up to this prophecy concern the time of the Babylonian captivity, a punishment inflicted by God on the Kingdom of Judah. From Jeremiah 25:11-12, 29:10-14, Daniel 9:2 and II Chronicles 36:20-21 we understand that after the land of Judah had rested 70 years, the Jews would be allowed to return there. When we read the account of this repatriation in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we see that indeed a remnant of the Jews did come back. However, the majority either remained in Babylon or became dispersed among the nations.
The exile to Babylon was in reality the beginning of a much longer period of punishment, spoken about in Leviticus 26:24, that would last for "seven times", or 2520 years. This included persecution both by the nations that occupied the Holy Land over that entire period, and the nations throughout which the Jews were scattered.
The Scriptures speak at length about the commencement of the 2520 year punishment of the nation of Judah. Although it is generally less understood, they have much to say about the conclusion of this period as well.
One place we find this is in Jeremiah 30:4-17, where there is a prophecy for the 20th century.
World War 2 was one of the most pivotal turning points in history. It is astonishing that it is rarely mentioned in the Churches of God in relation to prophecy, especially since all the tribes of Israel were involved in this greatest of all wars.
The Holocaust is sometimes mentioned, but no one seems to wonder why Satan was so determined to destroy the Jews at this particular moment in history, and why he put up such an enormous fight, empowering some of the most demonic leaders ever witnessed on the world stage. Clearly, he wanted to prevent God’s prophecies regarding the Jews’ return to the Holy Land from being fulfilled.
A close look shows that Jeremiah 29 is specifically about the House of Judah, whereas Jeremiah 30 prophesies about both "Israel and Judah" (verse 4).
Jeremiah 30:7 says: "Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it". The patriarch Israel's original name was Jacob. He was the father of all the tribes of Israel, so this prophecy involves all of physical Israel.
Verse 8 adds: "I will break the yoke off their necks" (NIV) and "Foreigners shall no more enslave them".
This cannot be speaking about the Jews' return from Babylon, because further national enslavement of the Jews followed after that. This can only be speaking about the aftermath of the "seven times", or 2520 years of punishment. The chart on the "HOME" page shows that this period ran from 3395AM, when Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar first conquered Jerusalem, until 5914AM, when WW2 ended, which equates to 575BC until 1945AD.
Indeed, no Israelite nation has been conquered or enslaved since 1945. World War 2, however, saw the enslavement of millions of Israelites. Those familiar with the British Israel theory understand that Great Britain and the USA are descended from Joseph, one of the sons of Israel. The descendants of Israel's other sons are mainly found in democracies such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and, of course, Israel. The first five of these countries were conquered by Germany in WW2 and were subjected to their tyranny.
The combined number of WW2 casualties, both military and civilian, among the descendants of Israel, was approximately 8 million. This number includes about 6 million Jews, most of whom were liquidated in extermination camps after being rounded up in all the countries that Germany conquered. Those deemed fit were put to forced labour and deliberately worked to death. The less fit were murdered immediately, using gas chambers, shooting, or other methods.
As well as attempting to annihilate the Jewish populations in occupied countries, the Germans also implemented a policy of rounding up non-Jewish men and boys, transporting them to Germany, and putting them to work in industries considered essential to the war effort. In addition to the large numbers that were taken from Eastern European nations, around two million of these slaves were abducted from the Israelite countries Germany had conquered, and many of them died under the harsh treatment and conditions.
Also, hundreds of thousands of captured soldiers from Israelite countries were confined to squalid prisoner of war camps, often as slave labourers, with many of these also dying from overwork, malnutrition, disease and barbaric treatment.
The Wikipedia article on this subject is very insightful, as well as sobering:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_labour_under_German_rule_during_World_War_II
In 1945, exactly 2520 years after Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, World War 2 came to an end. The surviving prisoners were then liberated and allowed to return to their home countries. To read about the Jews' prophesied return to the land of Israel, please see the page "THE TWO WITNESSES".
Jeremiah 30:9 speaks of these people worshipping the true God, and of "David" (the Son of David, i.e. Christ) being their king. We might be inclined to see this as an event that is only in the future, but Acts 2 sheds some light on the subject:
The apostle Peter, speaking on the Day of Pentecost, states in Acts 2:16-18 that the phenomenon of people speaking in tongues was a fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-29. Joel says that God would pour out His spirit on "all flesh", or "all people". However, the "all flesh" that was spoken about amounted to only a few thousand people on that day. Clearly this needs to be understood in light of Acts 5:32, which tells us that God gives His holy spirit to "those that obey Him". Therefore, the "all flesh" who received the holy spirit were all those who obeyed God.
If we view Jeremiah 30:9 in the same way, the meaning becomes clearer. All the Israelite nations had Sabbath keeping Christians amongst them who worshipped the true God. These greatly increased in number after WW2. Similarly, the Jews who returned to the Holy Land after WW2 witnessed the development of the Messianic movement, i.e. Jews accepting Christ as the Messiah. Therefore, all the Israelite nations contained some people who "keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus" (Rev 12:17), even though their numbers were very small in comparison with the overall population. When Christ returns and establishes His kingdom, the ongoing fulfilment of Jeremiah 30:9 will take on much greater proportions.
It is evident therefore that Jeremiah chapter 29 refers to the return of the exiles from Babylon near the beginning of Judah's 2520 years of punishment, while chapter 30 refers to the WW2 period and the subsequent return of all surviving enslaved Israelites to their respective countries, including the Jews to the Holy Land, at the end of the 2520 years.
It is World War 2, including the Holocaust, that Jeremiah refers to as "Jacob's trouble".
In the Olivet Prophecy, Christ refers to the conclusion of this momentous period in history as "the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Lk 21:24). See the page "THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES" for more on this.
Am I alone in interpreting "Jacob's trouble" this way? Definitely not. Below is a link to an article that also claims this prophecy was fulfilled during the WW2 time period, but applies it to the Jews only, and not to the other tribes of Israel. Although I don't agree with all the content of this article, I point to it to show that the belief that "Jacob's trouble" is still in the future is not shared by all:
https://www.ifi.org.il/en/teachings/jacobs-trouble-past-or-future
In conclusion, I believe a strong case can be made that the prophecy of "Jacob's trouble" in Jeremiah 30:7 was fulfilled in the 20th century.