The content of these verses seems to fit best at the end time of the Gospel Age. The bringing of “health and cure” after Jacob’s Trouble will be a process. The Kingdom will commence with a Holy Remnant, who will have “health” at the time of the Lord’s intervention on their behalf, for they will be contrite and will mourn for Jesus as for an only son. Verse 6 also applies to those who are in the grave and come forth in stages of retrieval.

The Jews’ remorse over what the nation of Israel did to the Messiah will eventually make their repentance deeper and more thorough. Moreover, the remorse will greatly humble their pride. Perhaps a much greater percentage of Jews will respond to the truth than of Gentiles. Not only will those who are steeped in sin in the present life reap what they sowed, but if there is a crystallization of character in sin, the individual is less likely to get life in the Kingdom Age.

The voice of mirth, gladness, the bridegroom, and the bride and lighted candles and the sound of millstones were removed not only from Judah but also from the surrounding nations. Right away we can see a spiritual connotation because of Revelation 18:23, “And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.” In other words, the natural picture, from which we can extrapolate valuable information, is a past historical fulfillment that embodies a prophecy of the future. As we continue, we will become more and more convinced that chapter 25 was not wholly fulfilled by the king of Babylon and his confederates, for some of the details did not happen back there but are prophesied elsewhere as events in the near future.