“Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child?”
The full verse · Jeremiah 30:6 · KJV
ye now, and whether a doth travail with ? wherefore do I every with his on his , as a woman in , and all are into ?
Asked by
Asked to
The nation of Israel, particularly those who would witness or experience the Day of the Lord judgment described throughout Jeremiah 30.
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionGod completes His three-part prophetic vision by identifying the universal physical symptom of terror. The question demands Israel acknowledge that their coming judgment will spare no one from visible fear.
The Response
What Scripture recordsNo verbal response is recorded. The text presents this as the climactic observation in God’s prophetic vision, with verse 7 immediately identifying this scene as ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ from which God promises deliverance.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyGod’s final question completes the vision’s progression from impossible metaphor to observed reality to physical symptom. The Hebrew נֶהֶפְכוּ (nehepkhu, ‘are turned’) indicates complete transformation, faces haven’t merely changed color but have been turned into paleness. The universal scope ‘all faces’ (כָּל־פָּנִים, kol-panim) emphasizes that this judgment spares no social class or individual. By ending with a physical detail rather than spiritual explanation, God makes the judgment concrete and undeniable. The question form invites Israel to seek the cause behind the effect, preparing them for verse 7’s identification of this as unprecedented tribulation. The rhetorical progression, from biological impossibility, to warrior terror, to universal pallor, creates mounting intensity that makes God’s promise of ultimate deliverance (verses 8-11) more powerful.
Your body tells the truth about your fears. When circumstances drain the color from your face and make your hands tremble, God sees and understands. This question reveals that God doesn’t minimize our physical responses to terror but acknowledges them fully before promising deliverance. Israel’s pale faces preceded God’s promise in verse 7: ‘yet he shall be saved out of it.’ Your body’s involuntary responses to fear aren’t signs of weak faith; they’re human reactions that God validates before providing hope (Psalm 34:4, Isaiah 41:10). Let your fear drive you toward the God who promises salvation, not away from Him.
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