JEREMIAH
33
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2003 James Melough
33:1.
“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he
was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,”
The writer here is Baruch,
Jeremiah’s amanuensis.
33:2. “Thus
saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it;
the Lord is his name.”
What the Lord has made,
formed, and established, are the heavens and the earth: all creation; and His
describing Himself as the Creator was undoubtedly to assure Jeremiah that
nothing was impossible to Him. He, the Creator, would fulfill His word.
33:3. “Call unto
me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty (hidden) things,
which thou knowest not.”
Jeremiah had but to ask for
knowledge concerning things he couldn’t understand, and God would enlighten
him; and so is it with all who sincerely desire to know His will.
33:4. “For thus
saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and
concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the
mounts (siege mounds), and by the sword;”
Other translations, e.g.,
the RSV, remove the ambiguity of the KJ version, “... which were torn down to
make a defense against the siege mounds, etc.” The Jews had demolished
houses, including the palace, for material to reinforce the defenses against
the enemy
33:5. “They come
to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them (the streets) with the
dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for
all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.”
The defenders might fill
with debris the streets adjoining the walls, in order to block the entry of
the foe, but all to no avail: God intended to fill those same streets with
their own dead bodies, their wickedness having caused Him to become their
Opponent instead of their Protector.
33:6. “Behold, I
will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them
the abundance of peace and truth.”
There was no hope for that
wicked generation that was about to be destroyed. They had refused to repent
in God’s time, and must therefore die, as must all who are guilty of the same
folly; but God isn’t limited to one generation of Israel or Judah for the
accomplishment of His ultimate purposes. The God of eternity can take time to
order the circumstances that will eventually fulfill His purposes, the
impending Tribulation judgments being those that will yet produce the
repentant believing remnant that will enjoy the fulness of His blessing which
the disobedience of past generations has hindered.
This present verse describes
that day, then so far distant, but now very near, for all the signs around us
point to the fact that this is very likely to be the generation of Israel that
will enter the crucible of the Tribulation, from which will emerge the
remnant, not only of Israel but of the Gentiles, that will enjoy these
promised blessings in the Millennium.
33:7. “And I
will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and
will build them, as at the first.”
This was partially fulfilled
in the return of some of the people from the Assyrian and Babylonian
captivities; but complete fulfillment will come only in the Millennium, for
the descendants of those who returned from Assyria and Babylon were scattered
again in AD 70, and for the most part still remain dispersed amongst the
nations.
33:8. “And I
will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against
me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and
whereby they have transgressed against me.”
Their sin had not only
offended God: it had defiled them, thus rendering them unfit for His holy
presence. They needed to be cleansed, and He Himself would provide the means
of that cleansing, but by a means impossible for them then even to imagine:
the blood of His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who would die in their
guilty stead. Sadly, though over two thousand years have passed since Christ
shed His sin atoning blood, Israel has remained blind to their sin, and to the
true identity of the One they rejected and crucified. The day is near,
however, when their blinded eyes will be opened, a believing remnant of them
inheriting the blessings so long forfeited by unbelief.
33:9. And it
(Jerusalem) shall be to me a name of joy, of praise and an honor before all
the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them
(Israel and Judah): and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and
for all the prosperity that I procure unto it (Jerusalem).”
Millennial Jerusalem will be
the center of world government, that government being of such a nature as to
bring joy, praise, and honor to God from every nation. Further cause for the
reverential awe of the millennial nations will be the magnitude of God’s
blessings to Israel
in that glorious age.
33:10. “Thus
saith the Lord; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall
be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah and in
the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without
inhabitant and without beast,”
33:11. “The
voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the
voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of
hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that
shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will
cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord.”
Though Jeremiah had had to
prophesy the destruction of Jerusalem God assured him that the destruction
was not to be permanent. There would be recovery, that recovery coming when
the remnant returned at the end of the seventy-year Babylonian captivity. But
that recovery wasn’t permanent. Jerusalem was again reduced to a state of
ruined desolation by the Romans in AD 70; and though it has been rebuilt since
then, there is to be yet another destruction: that which will occur in the
coming Great Tribulation. The restoration described in the verses we are now
considering is very clearly that which will take place in the Millennium.
33:12. “Thus
saith the Lord of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man
and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of
shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.”
The word used here for
cities is a general term which includes even small encampments, the
description continuing to be of millennial peace and blessing.
33:13. “In the
cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the
south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in
the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that
telleth (numbers or counts) them, saith the Lord.”
This describes the whole
land, the multiplied flocks (implied in their being numbered) pointing to the
phenomenal abundance that will be in the Millennium.
33:14. “Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I
have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.”
God here reiterates His
promise of millennial blessing for Israel.
33:15. “In those
days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up
unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.”
“In those days, and at that
time...” refers to the Millennium, the “Branch” being Christ, but Ezek 45-46
makes it very clear that the king who will then sit upon the throne in
Jerusalem, exercising universal dominion, will be a literal descendant of
David, and not the Lord Jesus Christ in Person, for that prince will offer
sacrifice, something Christ does not do: as the second Person of the Godhead
He receives worship. Christ will reign from the heavenly Jerusalem,
exercising His dominion through the regency of the descendant of David
occupying the throne in the earthly Jerusalem.
33:16. “In those
days shall Judah
be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she
shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.”
As the Millennium begins all
will be saved in the sense that they will have become believers in the
preceding Tribulation, but as noted already, those born in the Millennium will
need a new spiritual birth, just as do men in every age, to fit them for the
eternal state, and not all of them will trust Christ as Savior, i.e., not all
of them will be saved in the sense of their being born again. As used in this
verse, the word “saved” means only that Judah, like all the tribes, will be
kept in safety.
Jerusalem likewise will be
protected from harm, the city being also known as the dwelling place of those,
who like believers today, will be clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
33:17. “For thus
saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the
house of Israel;”
While no Jew today knows his
tribal origin, or can trace his ancestry back more than a few generations, God
knows, and down through the centuries has preserved the line of David, as He
has that of all Jacob’s sons, and will, it seems clear, disclose that
information in the Tribulation, see Rev 7.
God’s covenant with David is
recorded in 2 Sa 7:8-16, and 1 Chr 17:1-14, the ultimate application being to
the Lord Jesus Christ.
33:18. “Neither
shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings,
and to kindle meat (meal) offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.”
The covenant mentioned here
is recorded in Nu 25:12-13.
This continues to verify
what we have discussed in the preceding verse relative to God’s preservation
of Jewish tribal identity; and it also confirms that the Levitical ritual of
worship will be reinstated in the Millennium, raising the obvious question,
Why? If, as is generally agreed, that ritual anticipated Christ’s vicarious
death to make atonement for sin, each offering being a figure or type of Him,
what need will there be of it in the Millennium? The answer is as simple as
it should be obvious. As in the past the Levitical ritual anticipated His
sin-atoning death, so in the Millennium will it commemorate that great work.
As it expressed the anticipative worship of the OT age, so will it express the
retrospective worship of the millennial age. The same sacrifices, which in
the OT age expressed the worship impelled by anticipation of Christ’s
sin-atoning death, will, in the Millennium, express the worship impelled by
the remembrance of His death.
33:19. “And the
word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying,”
33:20. “Thus
saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the
night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;”
33:21. “Then may
also my covenant (2 Sam 23:5) be broken with David my servant, that he should
not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my
ministers (servants).”
This confirms the certainty
of God’s promise to David recorded in 2 Sa 7:8-16; 1 Chr 17:4-14; and to
Phinehas in Nu 25:12-13. As it is impossible for anyone or anything to stop
the Divinely appointed succession of day and night, so is it equally
impossible for anyone or anything to prevent God’s preservation of the lines
of David and Aaron.
33:22. “As the
host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so
will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister
unto me.”
It is unclear whether this
multiplication embraces all the descendants of David and Levi through the
ages, or relates only to those who will live during the Millennium. The
matter is of little importance, however, but should perhaps be understood
tropically as simply signifying phenomenal increase.
33:23. “Moreover
the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,”
33:24.
“Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families
which the Lord hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have
despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.”
The “this people (who) have
spoken” are generally believed to have been the Jews themselves, who
considering all that God had done to them, had concluded that He Who had
originally chosen them to be His own special people, had finally destroyed
them.
Some commentators take the
despisers to have been the Jews who made these comments; others, that their
remarks had caused other people to despise the Jews as a nation whom God had
had to destroy because of their wickedness. The settlement of these points is
of little importance, for the truth is that while God had had to destroy that
evil generation, He had not abandoned Israel and Judah as His chosen people.
He would take up other generations of that same rebellious people, and would
have to destroy them also, but He Who knows the end from the beginning, has
always had His eye on that remnant that will yet emerge, repentant and
believing, from the Great Tribulation, for they will be the Israel that will
inherit the blessings forfeited by the rebellion of the past generations.
33:25. “Thus
saith the Lord; if my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not
appointed ordinances of heaven and earth;”
33:26. “Then
will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not
take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:
for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.”
God continues to reiterate
His emphatic assurance that He will no more annihilate Israel than He will His
appointed order for the sequence of day and night, and that preserves the
order which governs the universe.
Every believer’s eternal
security rests on the same unchangeable foundation.
[Jeremiah
34]