Untitled Sermon (15)

Covenantal Prophecy and Implications; A Commentary on Jeremiah Chapter 33

Jeremiah 33:1–3 “Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it, the Lord is His name, ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (NASB).

Two items to note from these versus that might frame various implications later in this text:

Regarding the dating of this chapter: The reference to the word coming to Jeremiah the second time can only be understood as a continuation of chapter thirty-two where he received the first message in the prison court concerning the field of Hanameel. Though we are not told the duration of time in between, it would seem this was relatively soon after the first word given the shorter length of his imprisonment in the court of the guard. Using the dates provided in Jeremiah 32:1 (“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.”), we could arrive at a rough timeframe of early 587 BC. The tenth year of Zedekiah ran from August 588 to Aug. 587 (we know from 2 Kings 25:1-2 that the siege by Nebechadnezzar last from his 9th to 11th year of his reign) , while the eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar ran from Oct. 588 to Oct. 587. A date within both these regnal years would fall between Oct. 588 and Aug. 587. Early 587 B.C. would be the approximate date for this chapter.

One note on verse 3c: It’s an interesting remark to this reader that in verse three we are told that the LORD will tell Jeremiah, “great and mighty things which he did not know.” We find a similar passage in Isaiah 48:6 “You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known.” Similar passages can be found elsewhere in the prophets (see Daniel 12:8-9). Though seemingly not relevant to ideas of covenantal prophecy, this may be more important than at first glance. At a minimum, this would suggest prophets did not receive all revelatory information and detail from God about upcoming events (likely not disputed by anyone as God knows more than all and reveals what He wishes, see Deuteronomy 29:29). More relevant though, might be that what was being revealed and recorded by the prophets was not always understood by them, let alone others.

This may be a relevant note as we shall see later. The same point is made both directly and indirectly in the New Testament. One such example would be 1 Peter 1:10–12 “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.” This could be said of specific items like the timing of Christ’s arrival, but also generally about subject matter more broadly as in passages like 2 Peter 1:20-21 and Luke 24:7. This too should not surprise us as the majority of Jews did not recognize their Christ (even having entirely different expectations of what prophecy foretold of Him). Their very leaders, the Pharisees, who were more studied than all, were called blind guides by Jesus’ Himself (Matthew 15:14 among others). The prophets of old (and even the angels) did not always know what the meanings of prophecy that the Spirit within them gave, let alone regular Israelites or that of future generations. Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.”

Jeremiah 33:6–8 “Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. ‘I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. ‘I 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 against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me.” (NASB).

A promise of post-exilic restoration included health, healing, peace, truth, fortunes and cleansing of sin. Only a small faithful remnant of Jews (roughly 50,000 based on Ezra 2:64) ultimately returned from the exile. It would be safe to say this group was largely unequipped (financially, as a labor force, and otherwise) as ultimately they built a subpar temple relative to the first temple era. We know elsewhere in the prophets that this returning group was experiencing poverty, hardships and subpar harvests (as recorded in Haggai 1:1-12, an important passage with later implications in this chapter). These returning Israelites did not seem to be enjoying the restoration spoken of in vv. 6-8. Many posit that because of this, there is another return and temple construction in view here. That could be. Alternately, we might read related scripture and conclude that they did not receive the full provisions of this covenant because the Israelites hearts were far from God, they did not seek Him as instructed in their return.

Consider both Haggai 1:1-12 and Haggai 2:10-19. Note the many ways the LORD describes these returned exiles (18 years in to their return) described in Jeremiah in these two sections of Haggai:

“Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” The people did not obey the LORD in the rebuilding of the temple.

“Consider your ways! “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”

After describing examples of items being unclean in the beginning of Haggai chapter two, the prophet says (of being unclean): “So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.”

These passages do not sound like these returning exiles were pursuing the LORD. It seems to me that what we know of this group is that they were reluctant, stubborn and not pursuing the LORD with all their heart.

There is much talk in the prophets of this returning group and many of their promises. Some (like the temple being rebuilt) occurred. Others like the LORD pouring out His spirit on them, turning their heart of stone to flesh, did not seem to be fulfilled. It would certainly be a faithful reading to surmise this the has not yet occurred.

Two observations we might consider in this regard:

This seemed to be an issue of the heart; something mentioned elsewhere in the book, like Jeremiah 12:2 “You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart.” Similarly in Jeremiah 29:13 “‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Note the italicized when here which is a conditional conjunction in the Hebrew that is also rendered if. “The Hebrew אם In Hebrew kî is used in four ways: to introduce an objective clause especially after verbs of seeing, saying, etc. and translated “that”; to introduce a temporal clause and translated “when” (some of these are almost conditional clauses, thus making “if” appropriate).” In other words, by definition, this type of clause is conditional. John N. Oswalt, “976 כִי,” in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 437–438.

Said and shown differently, given that conditional conjunctions translate to "if" here and introduce a hypothetical condition, we might look to another exilic covenant usage (bold emphasis mine) like we find in Deuteronomy 30:1–4 “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. “If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.”

Building on point ii, note the following covenantal passages:

Adamic Covenant: Genesis 2:16–17 “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for (כִּי (kî)) in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Note also, while ki can certainly have additional usages, in this context, when followed by a temporal clause like "בְּי֛וֹם" (in the day), it functions as a conditional marker equivalent to "when" or "if".

Mosaic Covenant: Exodus 19:5 “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine.” Note again the if-then conditional clause here with the אִם (ʾim) here used directly for if, with a given meaning of if being “a marker of a condition.” James Swanson, in Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., Oak Harbor, WA, 1997).

This was certainly a restoration but not a full one. This author would posit that an ultimate fulfillment of the return of exiles is in Christ alone. Isaiah 10:21–22 “A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.” This too is the verse called upon and quoted by Paul in Romans 9 when he explains that only the remnant will be saved (returning in the prophets has its ultimate fulfillment in Christ).

Jeremiah 33:10–12 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without beast,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting”; and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the Lord.”

Marriage, joy, “fun” being restored are the very things that were told to them prior to the exile would be taken away. Now are being restored.

Jeremiah 33:13 “‘In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.”

This is the same thing verse 44 in chapter 32 said, continuing a similar theme (in ch. 32, fields will be purchased again in all these same locations). A return to the bliss of more peaceful times.

Now we turn to the covenant language in this chapter.

Jeremiah 33:14–16 “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.’”

This is a parallel passage to Jeremiah 23:5–6 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’”

Items to consider:

In the first part of 23:6 we have a declaration by YHWH that He will raise up for Jerusalem (the City of David) a Righteous Branch (the Messiah, Yeshua). This Messiah will reign and do all justice and righteousness as it should have always been. And He will bring salvation, Judah will be saved. And this Messiah’s name will be called the LORD our righteousness (ṣādēq). The very nature and will of God. “The Lord is righteous (ṣaddîq) in all his ways and holy in all his works” (Ps 145:17) Harold G. Stigers, “1879 צָדֵק,” in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 752. The very righteousness of God.

We see this repeated by Paul in Romans 3:21–22 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction.”

At the end of this verse, “He will be called, The Lord our righteousness.” In the case of chapter 23 “In its original sixth‐century context of Judean anxiety over the future of the Davidic monarchy, the words seem to affirm that God stands by the promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7, but the prophecy turns the Hebrew root zdk into a kaleidoscopic display of meaning. First, Jeremiah uses tzadik to mean “legitimate”: the king will be a rightful scion of David. Then the noun tzedakah describes how the king will act: he will do what is right in God’s eyes. Finally, the king’s name, yhwh tzidkenu, proclaims him as link between God and people.” Jeremiah 23:5-6 names the Messiah (rightful scion of David) and uses YHWH in application to Him. Here the Messiah, LORD, is promised to His people. He is God. And the link are His people, which we shall see as we look at 33:16. Mary Chilton Callaway, Jeremiah through the Centuries, ed. John Sawyer et al., Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Hoboken, NJ; West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2020), 223–224.

Compare now in 33:16 “she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.” Two changes in this parallel verse to recognize.

The first is the change in pronouns from He to she. Not unknown to the ancient world, “since ancient cities were considered metaphorically to be the mother of their inhabitants.” But more specifically, here we have the city motif as the Daughter of Zion. Jerusalem in many places and in many ways is referred to as daughter (Lam 2:13), and virgin daughter (2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22). Her failure, the daughter of Zion, is often evident. But yet, the LORD promises here deliverance all the while. Isaiah 62:11 “Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.” Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Zion, Daughter Of,” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988) 2204.

Here we have an application to the city of Jerusalem using a she pronoun. What is going on here? “The verses promise the restoration of the Davidic dynasty. “A righteous Branch” of David’s family would do what is just and right, as contrasted with the many wicked kings who occupied the throne since David’s death. Under the leadership of this new ruler, Judah would be saved and the people would live in safety. The city would be given a new name: “The LORD our righteousness.” In 23:6 the name was promised to the coming ruler, but here the name is given to the city. The meaning of the new name is that Jerusalem would finally become what God intended for it to be all along—a city noted for its righteousness.” First Messiah, God. Now we link to His people, Jerusalem, the daughter of Zion. F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 16 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 301.F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 16 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 301.

Jeremiah 33:17–18 “For thus says the Lord, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.”

It would appear that there are a few of ways these verses could be taken. I’ll list three, state the pros and cons of each and work through the text:

This passage literally means that David and his descendants will literally always be on the throne (2), and the Levitical priesthood will always be in existence practicing the sacrificial system. We know this cannot be true as stated literally for two reasons. First, there were no Davidic descendants reigning on the throne once Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. Though descendants of David survived the destruction, they certainly weren’t reigning. This would be the same for the Levitical sacrificial system. Though there were descendants of the Levites, they certainly weren’t offering up the sacrificial system (in the Temple, which was their main function) once the temple was destroyed. We could say the same for the 2000 years post 70 AD.

(2)Those who follow the hermeneutical principle that prophecy is to be interpreted literally whenever possible usually interpret v. 18 to mean that the OT sacrificial system would be literally reinstituted at a future time. This interpretation, however, is contrary to the biblical explanation that Christ abolished the sacrificial system once and for all (cf. Gal 3:1–3; Heb 10:1–16; cf. v. 16 and Jer 31:33).

F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 16 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 302.

This is stating something that would be set-up post-exile, or at some point in our future. This could be so, but would be a difficult interpretation given the words here like “never” and “continually.” In this interpretation we would be asking the text to say perpetual and/or never, but not really in the sense used, but applying it to some as yet time beyond the passage which would seem to negate the two words used.

This applies to the reign of the referent in this section of the chapter: the Branch of David. At the time of the Messiah, this throne is perpetual and the priesthood continual (3), as He reigns forever and His priesthood is eternal (Hebrews 5:6, 5:10 and 7:17). This seems contextually accurate (1) given the referent provided in verse 15. The context here is describing days (“in those days” stated in both v. 15 and v. 16) when the righteous Branch of David springs forth. This seems too to be what Ezekiel has in mind in Ezekiel 21:26-27 “for he prophesied that the crown would be cast down, until the legitimate successor of David came. It was therefore necessary that the diadem should fall and be cast on the ground, or be transverted, as the Prophet says, until Christ was manifested. As, then, this had been declared, now when our Prophet speaks of kings succeeding David, we must so understand what he says as that that should remain true which has been said of the cast down diadem. God, then, did cast down the diadem until the legitimate successor came.” Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations. Translated by John Owen. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1850–55. (1) Kingship (David) and priesthood (Levites) are two of the great realities of Old Testament Israel’s life and faith that were explicitly declared to be ‘forever’—just as ‘forever’ as God’s covenant with creation itself. But we are taught very clearly in the New Testament that their ‘forever-ness’ is taken up and fulfilled by the kingly and priestly work of Christ. Christ embodies the eternal reality that was promised under the form of existing Old Testament realities—kingship and priesthood.

(3)Christ as King-Priest would fulfill the promises of vv. 17–18 (see Ps 110:4). If the promise of a Davidic king is considered to be fulfilled in Christ, it is not unreasonable to conclude that Christ in his priestly role fulfills the Levitical priestly role (see Zech 6:13; Heb 7:23–28).

F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 16 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 302.

Christopher J. H. Wright, The Message of Jeremiah: Grace in the End, ed. Alec Motyer and Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 353.

One other consideration is the spiritual sense of the words “offering” and “priests and Levites.” We have numerous New and Old Testament passages to draw on that relate words like nations to Gentiles, or even the offerings/priests/Levites being used for Gentiles. In addition to "nations" (גּוֹיִם - goyim) often being understood to refer to Gentiles, we have texts In Isaiah that equate these words in this way. Consider:

Isaiah 66:19–20 “I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations(gôyim, gentiles): Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.” . In this verse, we see gentiles will be a “grain offering “brought to the LORD. Paul quotes or alludes to this in Romans 15:16 as well when he states, “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

And then it says: Isaiah 66:21 “I will also take some of them (Gentile referent) for priests and for Levites,” says the Lord.” The gentiles will come in and some of them will be priests and Levites. It is the same group that ran Sanhedrin. It is possible in these verses that Levites might not be any more literal than David is here (which is the Messiah).

Lastly, one could also read these passages and arrive at a conclusion that this too could be a conditional statement tied again to obedience.

The LORD said through Jeremiah earlier in Jeremiah 18:7–10 “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. “Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.” Note again the use of the if/then clause here. Whether this applies to the chapter 33 verses or not, we could certainly say from earlier in this chapter that this same idea (disobedience will have Him think again of His earlier blessing promised) is present in the previously discussed sections of returning to the LORD with their full heart (which they did not do).

This same idea is found elsewhere in the prophets. A couple of examples of this conditional covenantal language can be found in 1 Samuel 2:30 “Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.”

This passage is particularly relevant to verses 17 and 18 as here too the passage is speaking to the house of Aaron and Levi, saying I said you’d be forever (without conditions) but now I say for those that honor me, I will honor. This promise is conditional.

Jeremiah 33:19–22 “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.”

Again, if what is being said here is that in the 6th century BC that Levites will not lack a man to be priest forever, then this prophecy would be false as they don’t have one now (nor did they shortly after this prophecy). If it is literal, it is a mistake. If it is conditional, in the future or spiritual, it would be true.

Jeremiah 33:24–26 ““Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord chose, He has rejected them’? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight. “Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject (cast away) the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.’ ””

Referring to actual Jews (Abraham, Isaac, Jocob which of course we are told we are sons of as well). Will we always have descendant of David ruling them. Yes, Jesus. True Jews (remnant - outwardly and inwardly).

Supporting quotes:

3. By purchasing a field in Anathoth (chap. 32), Jeremiah had acted on his belief that the words of restoration (33:14–26) would definitely come to pass.

F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 16 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 301.

Jeremiah 33:1–5 “Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it, the Lord is His name, ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ “For thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword, ‘While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness”

Jeremiah 33:9 “‘It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’”

THE NEW COVENANT FULFILLS THIS PROPHECY. THEODORET OF CYR: We see the fulfillment of this prophecy as well. When the new covenant was given, in keeping with the divine promise, the priesthood was also given according to the order of Melchizedek, and those to whom it was promised offer the spiritual sacrifice to God continually. Then he says, as it is impossible for day to become night, so it is impossible for the Davidic monarchy to be destroyed. The fulfillment of this prophecy is also clear: Christ, who is of David according to the flesh, does not occupy the throne here below. He does, however, govern all things as he sits next to the Father. This is precisely what he also says about the priests and the Levites, noting that their line will be compared with the host of heaven and the sand of the sea. The facts confirm what is said: the whole land and sea are full of high priests and the deacons performing the liturgy of the Levites. ON JEREMIAH 7.33.18.4

Dean O. Wenthe, ed., Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009), 228.