Longing for Hope

Jeremiah 33:14–16 (ESV)

14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

Series Introduction

Advent: A Series of Longing

— We will see how the people of Israel and Judah were in a season of longing as they waited for the Messiah and we will see how the Messiah fulfills their longings.

— Ultimately, we will see Jesus fulfills not only Israel’s longings of the Messiah, but he fulfills our deepest longings.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

— Corrie ten Boom

— The more we learn about who God is, His character and His ways, the more we learn to trust.

The Background

Jeremiah 1:1–3 (ESV)

1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

— Weeping prophet

— Political unrest

Israel had already been taken into captivity by the Assyrians almost 100 years prior

Babylonians have unseated the Assyrians as the world power - no less brutal

— Financial instability

— Moral and spiritual decay.

— The book of Jeremiah depicts an eyewitness account of the temple being destroyed. For the Jew, it seemed as though the presence of God was being wiped from the earth.

The ESV Study Bible Purpose, Occasion, and Background

Political, social, financial, moral, and spiritual decay led to the country’s demise within two short decades.

Jeremiah himself had a difficult life:

was seemingly unsuccessful in his vocation. was a prophet but his messages were not well received.

Seemed to have only two converts, Baruch, his scribe, and Ebed-melech, and Ethiopian eunuch

Eventually is taken to Egypt against his will and presumably dies there.

The background to the chapters prior to chapter 30 is a longing for hope.

*Maybe the background you have walking in here today could be described as ‘longing for hope.’”

political unrest - check

financial instability - check

moral and spiritual decay - check

I don’t know your personal background but maybe you can identify with Jeremiah to a degree as well:

you don’t necessarily feel successful

Jeremiah 1:8 ESV

8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

the place you find yourself is not the place you intended to be.

relationships around you are crumbling

You see the world around you falling apart.

You’re longing for hope.

That brings us to our passage today.

Jeremiah 30-33 - Often referred to as “Book of Consolation”

Jeremiah 30:3 ESV

3 For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”

— God declares the trouble won’t last forever - He will make sure of it.

God lays out promises.

Jeremiah 33:14-16

14 “Behold, the days are coming,

God makes promises.

— Whatever days there have been, days are coming.

God uses this phrase throughout the Book of Jeremiah to indicate a prophecy - a promise of what is about to happen.

God is personal

declares the Lord,

He uses his personal name

More than simply making a promise, God is making promises to people.

— All throughout Scripture God interacts with individuals

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Sarah, Hagar, Ruth

That’s the God we serve. He is not simply interested in the world, he is interested in YOUR world

ILLUST - “the government will take care of you.” yeah, right. Your father/husband/wife/friend will take of you is totally different.

A personal promise is different.

God never promises more than he is able to perform.

Matthew Henry

God’s promises:

God promises to answer your prayers.

Matthew 7:7 (ESV)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

God promises to always be with you.

Deuteronomy 31:8 (ESV)

8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

God promises to strengthen you.

Ephesians 3:14–16 (ESV)

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

God promises to give you rest.

Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV)

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

God promises to give you peace.

Isaiah 26:3 (ESV)

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

God promises to guide you.

Psalm 32:8 (ESV)

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

God promises to work everything for good.

Romans 8:28 (ESV)

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

God promises to give wisdom.

James 1:5 (ESV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

God’s promises happen at God’s timing.

the days are coming,

Which days?

We would do well to remember the second half of that phrase while we ponder the first half.

Not knowing when doesn’t mean he won’t.

God is never late with his deliveries; however, sometimes it is hard for us to accept his shipping speed.

Maybe you can identify with the man who was trying to understand God’s perception of time:

A man was praying to God. He said, "God!?" God responded, "Yes?" And the guy said, "Can I ask a question?" "Go right ahead," God said. "God, what is a million years to you?" God said, "A million years to me is only a second." "Hmmm," the man wondered. Then he asked, "God, what is a million dollars worth to you?" God said, "A million dollars to me is as a penny." So the man said, "God, can I have a penny?" And God cheerfully said, "Sure!! Just a second."

Esther 4:13–14 (ESV) — 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

— Why am i here?

— Why isn’t God doing anything about it?

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God’s promises are sure even if they are not yet seen.

when I will fulfill . . .

God will fulfill his promise in HIS way. He doesn’t need my suggestions.

If God did things MY way with MY timing, then who is really God?

God didn’t say “I hope to fulfill”

Whenever you or I make a promise, we may truly intend to keep it, but we can never really guarantee it.

James 4:13–14 (ESV)

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Here is the difference with God’s promises — there is nothing that can change them.

Our faith should be borne up on wings by the promises of God.

John Calvin

Sometimes, though, we cannot see how God could possibly keep his promise.

What promise does God say He will fulfill?

the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

2 Samuel 7:12–16 (ESV)

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”

Jeremiah 33:18 (ESV)

18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”

To say, “I don’t see how God could do it” is not a valid criticism against God’s ability or willingness to fulfill the promise.

15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely.

Isaiah 11:1–2(ESV)

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

God will fulfill his promise to Israel through the Messiah, who will be from King David’s family line and will be in the line of a priest

Jesus is both the method and the means of God’s promises.

Jesus is the Messiah that fulfills the promise of God.

Messiah would be resurrected (Ps 16:8-11)

Messiah would enact a new covenant (Jer 31:31)

Messiah would be born of a virgin (Is 7:14)

Messiah would suffer (Is 53)

After examining only eight different prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10^17. To illustrate how large the number 10^17 is (a figure with 17 zeros), the professor gave this illustration: If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They’ll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up the one silver dollar that has the special mark on it. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would’ve had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time.

Galatians 4:4 (ESV)

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

Jesus is the method, but he is also the means.

And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

Play on words on the name Zedekiah - king of Judah

‘This is a word play directly in contrast to King Zedekiah, who’s name means, “The Lord is righteous.” So with the presence of this righteous branch, sprouting from David’s line, Israel will finally experience God’s righteousness in a way Zedekiah never was able to provide.’

‘The Lord is righteous’ to ‘The Lord is OUR righteousness’

There is a relationship now because of Jesus that wasn’t there before.

Jesus fulfills God’s promise of redemptive history by being the promised Messiah, and he fulfills God’s promise of redemption by being the Savior - multilayered.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV)

20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

Because Jesus is who he says he is and rose again - all God’s promises are guaranteed.

Do not look to your hope, but to Christ, the source of your hope.

Charles Spurgeon

So, what do we do?

**So, What do we do? . . . We wait - With hope.**

Waiting is hard to do

Fulfilling the promise is God’s part, waiting is our part.

You can wait with worry or you can wait with hope.

Waiting is not passive, however.

ILLUST - Remember waiting for Christmas as a child? “Waiting is rarely fun. It’s often painful.

We wait for the results from a lab test.

We wait in traffic.

We wait in line at the department of motor vehicles.

We wait for an apology that might never come.

Waiting is a visible sign that we live in a fallen world, that not all is as it should be. For if everything were as desired, we wouldn’t have to wait for it.”

We do wait because we long for the world to be made right.

“Standing on the Promises”

v2 Standing on the promises that cannot fail. When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.

v4 Standing on the promises I cannot fall, List'ning ev'ry moment to the Spirit's call, Resting in my Savior as my all in all, Standing on the promises of God.

Joshua 21:45 ESV

45 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.