Introduction Chapters 32-33 has been called Jeremiah s Book of Consolation. Jeremiah has been imprisoned in the Palace courtyard. Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonian armies. The book begins with Jeremiah s persecution and continues when the Word of the Lord instructs Jeremiah to purchase a field from his nephew in his home town of Anathoth. It becomes an act of faith and hope in the future restoration of Judah and Jerusalem. Chapter 33 continues the themes of destruction and restoration. In the process of purification the nation will be regathered and restored, they will receive a new heart and a new mind to worship the Lord (32:38-39); they will be given a new and everlasting covenant (32:40-42; 33:19-26); the people will experience joy and singing (33:10-11); prosperity (33:6-9; 12-14); and ruled by Messiah; the son of David (vv. 15-18). The Chapter is a series of guarantees or promises: the guarantee of answered prayer; the guarantee of judgment; the guarantee of restoration; and the guarantee of a coming king and a future kingdom. The Guarantee Of Answered Prayer (vv.1-3) Jeremiah 33:1 26 (NKJV) 1Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, The first time was in chapter 32:1;6;8;14;15; 2 Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name): The Lord who made the earth; who formed it in order to establish it (two thoughts) (kun)--more than one purpose; the LORD YHWH-speaks of God s eternal nature and his mercy; He is eternal so he can fulfill His promise--he is merciful to He can have mercy on the besieged people. 3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Call to Me--see 29:12; Isaiah 45:18; 47:4; Psalm 91:15. I will show you literally betsuroth-- meaning sheepfold--the term came to mean fortress; gave the name to the inaccessible fortress of Bozra (49:22); some manuscripts read netsuroth--meaning hidden or protected, kept in reserve. 1 Timothy 4:10; We trust in the living God. We trust God in the holiness of His nature; we trust God in the heart of his love; we trust God in the revelation of His Son; We trust God in the might of His Spirit; We trust God in the sufficiency of His grace. We trust God in the purpose of His will; We trust God in the promise of His Word. 1
The Guarantee Of Judgment (vv.4-5) 4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: The people have torn down their own houses to use them as materials to reinforce the fortifications of the City. Their attempts to escape judgment would prove useless. Tearing down their own homes becomes a type and picture of people in vain attempt to save themselves. Can people save themselves from some things? Yes. Can people save themselves from their sin? 5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. The dismantled homes and palaces would be filled with the dead bodies of the defenders of Jerusalem. The Chaldeans or Babylonians are God s agents. The Lord Himself had appointed them to be the instruments of God s wrath. The Lord was in complete charge. Could God have saved the people and the city? If the people truly repented and fully trusted God He certainly could have saved them. But the people would not repent and God was forced to forsake them. The Lord turns his face ( I have hidden My face from this city ) because of their wickedness (Isa. 59:2; 64:7). When my boys would engage in gross willful disobedience it was met with the wooden spoon. We live in a world where even modest of forms of discipline are called child abuse. Don t get me wrong. Child abuse is a problem. Discipline is not child abuse. We live in a world where the subject of judgment, God s wrath and God s justice has fallen out of favor. But it does not make the subject any less real. The Lord God promises justice. God will judge the wicked. Jeremiah is assured that attempts to escape judgment would prove useless. The Guarantee Of Restoration And Release From Captivity (vv.6-13) 2
6Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. Reveal --literally make naked--god shows the poverty stricken people the place where His true treasures are in abundance. Abundance can mean crown or perhaps treasures. The Lord Jesus is the source of health, healing, peace and truth. The Bible has a lot to say about peace and truth. Peace finds its origin in Heaven God is not the author of confusion, but of peace (1 Cor.14:33). Peace is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22) and the product of the Cross (Eph. 2:15-16). The Bible says, grace, mercy, peace--grace is love planning to bless, mercy is love planning and then acting and peace is love enjoyed! The Bible speaks of purchased peace--the purchase--the transaction offered by God through the blood of Jesus; and there is embodied peace He is our peace who has broken down every wall (Eph. 2:14). Jesus is our abiding Peace and complete peace. 7And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. 8I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. What does God promise Jeremiah and the people who will put their trust in the Lord? God promises to provide help and healing to those who trust Him! Yes the present generation was reaping the consequence of rebellion, sin, bad teaching, false prophets, and greedy leaders (v.6a) God promised to give the people peace and truth (or security). Again the present generation was facing utter desolation and devastation due to the lies of the false prophets and people s personal rebellion. The people would live in a society of truth--free from falsehood and deceit (v.6b) God promised a restored, reunited Judah and Israel--a combined kingdom set free from captivity. The people are given their freedom--liberty (v.7a). Jerusalem would soon collapse but a day of liberation and restoration would occur in the future--as they return to the land of promise. God promises to rebuild the cities and restore the land (v.7b). God promises to forgive and cleanse the defiled nation from its iniquity and rebellion and disobedience (v.8). 3
9Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it. What does restoration bring? A strong testimony for the Lord. The city will serve as an example of God s grace and God s promises and the nations of the earth will be stirred up to worship the true and living God. 10 Thus says the Lord: Again there shall be heard in this place of which you say, It is desolate, without man and without beast in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 11the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: Praise the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For His mercy endures forever and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first, says the Lord. The Lord invites Jeremiah to see into the future. The destruction of the city would seem so complete as to render the place uninhabitable. But God will bring the city back to life. 12 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. In the future the destroyed towns and villages would come back to life; Shepherds and their flocks would have room to graze their animals. 13In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them, says the Lord. Throughout the land their would be commerce, business, a thriving economy. The picture and the promise become a type of God s people being delivered from the captivity of this world. In this world we have the presence of sin, the bondage of sin, of death and condemnation. Humans sin and die. Human philosophy, human government, science and technology may make life easier or more comfortable, but it cannot deal with the problem of guilt and sin. Human philosophy may try to make guilt an illusion and God a mythical construct. But God is real. And the Bible is real. And sin is a terrible problem. 4
Only one person can set us free from guilt and sin. The Lord Jesus Christ. He alone provides truth and peace and freedom from guilt, sin, death and condemnation. Because of His sacrifice on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead. He alone is able to forgive our sins and present us faultless before the throne of God. Once we are acceptable to God through Christ --God by His Holy Spirit floods our lives with joy, and peace and spiritual prosperity. The Lord promises peace to those who trust Him. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27). These things I have spoken to you, that you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). The Guarantee Of The Coming King (vv.14-26) 14 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: All of this will happen because God will make it happen. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. Behold the days are coming and in those days and again in those days What day? The last days of human history. God promises the ideal king--to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. This a reference to King Jesus--the Messiah. Jesus Christ is our righteousness. What does that mean? Righteousness is that attribute that allows a person or person to be accepted by God. When Jesus came to the earth He walked in perfect sinless obedience to His Father. By living a sinless life He secured Perfect Righteousness. Jesus did what Adam and Eve failed to do. When we place our trust in Christ, God credits the righteousness of Christ to our account. We are chosen, adopted, accepted in the Beloved. We become acceptable to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way we could ever become acceptable to God was through the sacrifice and righteousness of Christ. And there s the rub. Because so many people want to be acceptable to God through other means. In Acts 13:39 we read; And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. 5
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor coveteous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. BUT SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the LORD JESUS, and by the Spirit of our God (I Cor.6:9-11). But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption--(31) that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord (ICor. 1:30-31; Paul quoting JEREMIAH 9:23-24). The coming King must fulfill God s promises to His people (v.14). The coming King will be the righteous branch from David s line. He will be a descendant of David--but a different kind of king. In contrast to the weak, sinful, compromised, frail rulers that succeeded David; he will bring judgment and righteousness in the earth. The text leaves us with the impression that he will personally execute justice, righteousness, and will rule the land and the nation will not fear threats from enemies. 16In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jerusalem will be the Capital City in Messiah s Kingdom. Jerusalem will be His seat of government. Therefore the capitol will reflect the very glory of God and the righteousness of God. Righteousness will flow from the Ideal King in the King s City. 17 For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; How can this promise come true? Did David ever lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel? The coming King will fulfill God s covenant with David, the promise of an eternal dynasty. How are we to think about this? David s descendants have not always sat on the throne of Israel; but David s dynasty has never ceased to exist. In order for the Covenant to be fulfilled, it requires an eternal king, seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus will rule His people--and He will rule forever. 18nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually. 6
The coming Ideal King will fulfill the covenant God gave the priests in previous generations. This covenant was a promise that a priest would stand eternally before God on behalf of His people. God s promise of a permanent priesthood is fulfilled in the Messiah; the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is a Priest forever. The Priesthood of Jesus is likened to Melchisedek. There is a difference between atonement and priesthood. Atonement is a thing of death; and a priesthood a thing of life. Atonement is once for all, finished; priesthood is continuous. Atonement is accomplished on the earth; priesthood is carried on in Heaven. Atonement is for the sinner; and priesthood for the saint. Jesus is called a priest after the order of Melchisedek; in type without father or mother; in a sense the Levites were sons of Aaron; which was linked to genealogy. The Priesthood of Jesus begins and ends with Himself. Jesus is the Ideal King and Perfect and Permanent Priest 19And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 Thus says the Lord: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. 22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me. 23Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off? Thus they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them. 25 Thus says the Lord: If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them. The Lord will vindicate both Himself and His people. and will have mercy on them racham-- the most tender family affection In every generation there have been those who have doubted God s promises. It began in the Garden of Eden when the Serpent told our ancestor and mother Eve-- You shall not die. 7
People in every generation doubt God s Word and God s Promise and God s Covenant. For all those who deny and mock and scorn God and God s Word and God s promises and God s guarantees; the Lord has a singular message; I will cause it to happen. Conclusion It is interesting that Melchisedek did three things when he met Abraham (Gen. 14:18-20). He brought forth bread and wine to him. Bread is a substance that brings nourishment and strength. Wine is a symbol of joy. Our Priest ministers His Own Word and Joy. He blessed them. We are blessed by Our High Priest. We read that when Jesus was about to ascend into heaven; he led his followers as far as Bethany, and there with uplifted hands, He blessed them (Luke 24:50). We never read that his hands were put down. He received from Abraham a tenth of what he had taken. Our High Priest waits for our gifts and offerings. There are four that we can give: 1. Our bodies (Romans 12:1) 2. Our service (Phil.2:17; Heb. 13:16) 3. Our money (Phil. 4:18) 4. Our praise (Heb. 13:15) 8