Jeremiah 33:10-16 - Joy And Peace

The other day I saw a “holiday” commercial on TV (I forget what it was for, maybe Target or something) that included toward the end a group of kids standing around in the snow, singing what would apparently be considered “holiday carols”… And superimposed over the picture as the camera panned up and away was the single word “Joy”. Nothing about what kind of joy, or where it is supposed to come from, just the word itself, suspended in some Aristotelian void...

And that seems to be the way we see Christmas represented in our day and age, isn’t it? The thing is, Christmas is not a holiday that can be easily “digested” by our culture. We are a people who like to assimilate and adapt and “dumb down”—we don’t have the stomach to deal with something as massive and glorious and utterly consequential as the incarnation of the Eternal Creator God as a human baby for the redemption of all those who put their faith in Him. There are too many “sharp edges” about the Christmas story in its original form—the reality of sin, the necessity of repentance, the unavoidable truth that there is only one way to God, and that “no one comes to the Father” except through that Baby.

And so a culture that claims to be so committed to “diversity” and “equity” and “inclusion” and “multiculturalism” has to sand off those rough edges--sin and guilt and repentance and Christ as the only way of salvation for the world has to go. And instead the focus is on those beautiful sounding words: “Peace” and “love” and “tidings of comfort and joy” and “goodwill towards men”. But what you have left when you strip those words out of their context of the reality of the Christmas story of the incarnation of Christ are just some concepts floating around in your brain somewhere with nothing to attach them to! “Joy”—in what? “Peace”—with whom?

Joy has to be rooted in something, peace has to have some basis. And so what I aim to demonstrate for you this morning through Jeremiah’s words here is that if your notions of “joy” and “peace” have no ultimate, fixed basis, they are ultimately meaningless. Because what I believe is revealed for us here in God’s Word this morning is that

Our only hope for JOY and PEACE in this life is found in the RIGHTEOUSNESS of CHRIST

Our passage this morning recounts the final days of the city of Jerusalem and its king before it fell to the Babylonian armies. In Jeremiah 32 we read that Jeremiah had been imprisoned because of his prophecies of the fall of the city:

Jeremiah 32:2–3 (ESV)

2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it;

So it’s important to understand the timing here; Jerusalem is under siege by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies—they are surrounding the city on every side—and Jeremiah himself is being held in custody by Zedekiah, the last king of Jerusalem. The nation of Judah is only months away from falling, Nebuchadnezzar is about to crush the last of the defenses of God’s covenant people, death and destruction and desolation is about to fall on the people for their rebellion against God and breaking of the covenant they made with Him:

Jeremiah 33:4–5 (ESV)

4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: 5 They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.

And yet, in the midst of all this darkness and dread and the shadow of inevitable calamity and destruction, God goes on in the very next verses to promise that He will restore His people!

Jeremiah 33:6–7 (ESV)

6 Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first.

So even in the midst of the darkness and turmoil and fear and dread that Jeremiah and the people of Jerusalem were going through, God was promising deliverance for them. We live in the midst of a people who are in the midst of a similar time of darkness and turmoil and fear and dread—perhaps you know that darkness all too well yourself, because you are in the midst of it right now. And so just as God revealed His promise to Jeremiah in the midst of their darkness, see here for you how God gives

I. The promise of JOY in a life of DESOLATION (Jer. 33:10-11)

Look at verses 10-11 of our text:

Jeremiah 33:10–11 (ESV)

10 “Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11 the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “ ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

Into all of that desolation that came about because of Israel’s rebellion against God, He speaks a promise to them that joy would come again—that the desolation of that place would someday give way to

The joy of LIVING LIFE (v. 11a)

Jeremiah 33:11 (ESV)

11 the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride...

In our rebellion against God we believe that we are looking for a way to enjoy life—we don’t want to be told what to do, we don’t want to answer to anyone but our own desires. Like the story of the prodigal son, we think that we are seeking joy by doing whatever our passions and desires tell us to do—and just like the prodigal, we find that that path leads to the desolation of the pigsty and the death of any kind of real joy. Sin promises us freedom and happiness, but delivers desolation and joylessness.

But here in the midst of Jerusalem’s joyless desolation, God promises that their joy will return someday—the joys of life—laughter and celebration, represented by a bride and groom laughing and rejoicing together on their wedding day.

And it’s not only the joy of living life that God promises in this verse—He also promises a return of

The joy of WORSHIPPING GOD (v. 11b)

Jeremiah 33:11 (ESV)

11 ...the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “ ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you know what happens to your joy in worshipping God after you have turned away from Him and gone back to your sin. As the old saying goes, before you sin, the Devil tells you that repentance will be easy—after you sin, he tells you repentance is impossible.

Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah were at a place where they felt that it would be impossible to rejoice in God anymore—the Babylonian armies were closing in on the city, and it was only a matter of time before the consequences of the people’s sins came crashing down on them. But even at this dark moment, God was promising that someday they would know again the joy of worshipping God—the joyless desolation of their lives would be transformed into joy by the righteous Branch that was coming.

Our only hope for joy in this life is in the righteousness of God made possible for us by the Righteous Branch, Jesus Christ. He is our promise of joy in a life of desolation, and He is

II. The promise of PEACE in a life of TORMENT (Jer. 33:12-13)

Look at verses 12-13:

Jeremiah 33:12–13 (ESV)

12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks. 13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord.

Remember—when God gave Jeremiah these words, the hills surrounding Jerusalem were filled with the military might of the Babylonian army besieging Jerusalem—but God promised that because of the Righteous Branch that was coming they would someday be given

Peace to find REST (Jer. 33:12; cp. Psalm 23:1-3)

Note that verse 12 says that “there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks...” Think about that for a moment: How comfortable would you be to lay down and sleep under the open sky if you believed there was an attacker anywhere within twenty miles of your campsite?? This is how secure the peace that God was giving them, that shepherds would not only be able to pasture their flocks on the hills surrounding Jerusalem and Judea, but that they would be so secure that they could rest their flocks!

The image Jeremiah describes is deliberately reminding us of the words of Psalm 23, that as our Shepherd, the LORD “makes us lie down in green pastures...” When you have been tormented by your guilt and shame, when you have suffered the restlessness of a guilty conscience, you cannot find escape from that torment by your own devices, can you? You can try to assuage your guilt by comparing yourself to others (“Well, at least I never did what he did...”) or by straight-up denying that you have sinned, or even blaming God for your sin (“I was born this way--God made me this way!!!) But there is no peace to be had that way—and you know it. It is only as God Himself grants you that peace through Christ that you can have any real rest in your life.

Jeremiah goes on to say in verse 13 that God promises

Peace to find BELONGING (Jer. 33:13; cp. John 10:14, 28)

That’s part of what he is describing in verse 13, when he says that “flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD”. The image here is of a shepherd who knows every one of his sheep individually. They all “pass under his hands”, and he counts and remembers every one. As Jesus would say centuries later in John 10:

John 10:14 (ESV)

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

John 10:28 (ESV)

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

There is no peace on this earth that can compare with knowing that you belong to Jesus Christ! There is no contentment and rest and security that you will find anywhere else in this world—not belonging to a club or a service organization or an athletic team or workers union or anything else: nothing is as secure as belonging to Jesus Christ!

The words “joy” and “peace” are tossed about by our culture a lot during Christmas—but with no root, no substance or ground to them. If current events over the past couple of years have taught us anything, it’s that the “peace” that this world tries to provide blows away at the first sign of inflation or supply chain problems; the “joy” that the American Dream wilts away in the face of vaccine mandates or political fights or accusations of injustice.

And the peace that you try to manufacture in your own life—convincing yourself that you’re not a sinner, that God takes no notice of your behavior, that you’re “not as bad as some people”, that your raging bitterness is just a “sense of fairness”, that your burning lust is only “an appreciation of beauty”, that your salacious gossip is just “sharing your concerns”, that your outright rebellion is just “having a mind of your own”—you may try to manufacture a sense of peace out of those things, but that’s the equivalent of putting on a blow-up pool ring in order to ride Niagara Falls—when the cascade of God’s conviction washes over you, you will have no peace or comfort whatsoever in those little lies you tell yourself.

Because the joy and peace that God offers through Jeremiah to the people of Jerusalem in this passage does not come from any of their own efforts—it comes because God is making them

III. The promise of a SAVIOR for a life of RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jeremiah 33:14-16)

See here in verses 14-16:

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.’

This Sunday marks the first Sunday of what is traditionally called the “Advent” season—a season of waiting for the arrival of Christmas Day and the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God in human flesh—the “God Man”. Verse 15 is one of the Old Testament prophecies that pointed forward (in their day) to that event that we look back in history to now.

And see what God tells Jeremiah that this “righteous branch” from David’s family tree would do—first,

He will EXECUTE RIGHTEOUSNESS for His people (v. 15; cp. Matthew 10:25-26)

In a land torn by violence and strife and besieging armies and threats on every side, God tells Jeremiah that their hope lay in the righteousness and justice that the Righteous Branch—Jesus Christ—would execute. Beloved, here is your ground for peace and joy today! That in the midst of all of the turmoil of a Republic that seems to be crumbling around you, a society bent on tearing itself apart with hatred and accusation, every source of security you thought you had being shaken out from under you—there is a Savior who will execute justice and righteousness on this earth!

Jesus Christ reigns now over this nation—as He does over every tribe, tongue, people and nation. And He sees every injustice, every attack, every motion of envy and rage and violence of wicked men and women who hold power of one sort or another in this society. he sees all of it, and He knows all of it, and He will make all of it right! There is nothing that will not be revealed someday, nothing hidden that will not be made known (Matt. 10:25-26).

Sometimes He reaches down and makes it right in the here and now, and in His wise providence there are some things that He allows to continue. But someday every last injustice, every last attack, every last lie, every last motion of slander and hatred and wicked plotting against the innocent will be made right. Your peace, Christian—even in the midst of all of this present turmoil—is resting on the solid, immoveable bedrock of the righteous Branch, Jesus Christ! And that is a peace that the world simply cannot take away!

But make no mistake—Jesus Christ is the Judge of all unrighteousness and wickedness. He will judge the injustices done to you, and He is the judge of the injustices and sins you have committed. If He promises to sit in judgment of those who have oppressed you, then He will certainly also sit in judgment of the times when you have been the oppressor. And so what are you to do? How can your joy and peace survive, knowing that you must answer to Him for the times when you have been the monster in someone else’s life? When you have been the rebel and the prodigal, the time that you have spent scorning and despising His holy demands on you? When you have trodden His commandments underfoot and scoffed at His holiness and made a joke out of your willful disregard of what you know He wants of you? Where is your peace and joy then?

Look at verse 16:

Jeremiah 33:16 (ESV)

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.’

Here is your joy—here is your peace. Not that you will somehow make yourself righteous in His sight, but that

He will BE the RIGHTEOUSNESS of His people (v. 16; cp. 2 Corinthians 5:21)

The ultimate root and ground of your joy, the unshakeable bedrock of your peace today comes from the promise that you can possess the righteousness of Christ by faith! Jesus Christ, the Righteous Branch from King David’s family tree, came to earth as a baby, grew up as a perfectly sinless and righteous man so that He could take on your sin and suffer your punishment! Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

21 For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

THIS is where your joy and peace comes from! That your Judge, who has come to eradicate unrighteousness and injustice and restore peace and joy does it by giving you His own righteousness! By suffering the death you deserved, becoming unrighteousness and injustice Himself so that by calling on Him in faith you can be cleansed, restored, forgiven, freed from the desolation of your sin and the torment of your guilt to know the joy of His forgiveness and the peace that He purchased between you and Him through the blood of Christ!

If you are here this morning and you do not have this joy, you don’t know this peace—then what are you waiting for? You have been brought here today by the kind providence of Almighty God so that you can hear this invitation and finally lay down your arms of rebellion at the foot of the Cross. The Baby whose birth we will celebrate in a few weeks did not come to provide some kind of floating, insubstantial “joy” or “peace” that has no root or substance—He came to offer you the joy of knowing your sins are forgiven by God, the peace of knowing that you have been reconciled to Hom forever!

Come and talk to me after the service, talk to one of the other regular members here, talk to our elders, talk to someone—let us help you know for sure that you have the joy and peace of having your sins forgiven and your eternity in Heaven secured by calling out in faith to the Righteous Branch—your Savior, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION:

Jude 24–25 (ESV)

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Why is the definition of “Joy” that the world tries to celebrate at Christmas an empty word? What is the difference between “joy” as the world defines it and the Biblical basis for joy?

Think of a time when your compromises with sin have stolen your joy in worshipping God? How can realizing the deceptive nature of your sinful desires help you resist temptation to sin against God and the consequences of losing that joy?

What are some ways that people try to find belonging in this world? How does the “belonging” that those places or institutions or groups compare to belonging to God through Jesus Christ?

How is the promise that Jesus Christ will execute righteousness and judgment on the earth an encouragement to you in your life? How is that promise a reminder of your need for a life of repentance and faith?