JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 33

AN ASSURANCE OF RESTORATION

While Jeremiah is still being held captive in “the court of the guard” the word of the LORD comes to him again with a word of reassurance which is set forth in this chapter.

Vs. 1-3: AN INVITATION TO CALL ON THE LORD IN PERPLEXITY

1. First, the One who comes to Jeremiah identifies Himself as Jehovah, the Creator, whose purposes are so clearly established that they will not fail, (vs.2; Jer 32:42; Isa 40:12-13; Isa 40:26; Jer 10:16; Exo 3:1415; 6:3; 15:1-18).

2. He invites the perplexed prophet to “Call on me” and learn things that are “withheld” – inaccessible, unattainable, or hidden, (vs. 3; Jer 29:12; Psa 50:15; Isa 48:6; comp. Jer 32:17; Jer 32:27).

a. Jeremiah believes God, yet, he cannot understand how God is going to do what he promised concerning His people BECAUSE OF THEIR SIN!

b. God reveals His secrets to those who seek them, that they may rejoice and walk in His way, (Mat 7:7; Joh 7:17)

3. The scriptures furnish numerous illustrations of men who have honestly stood before the Lord with frustrations and doubts; nor was one of them rebuked for so doing, (Job 12:6; Job 21:7; Psa 73:14; Ecc 7:15; Jer 12:1; Hab 1:2-3).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

This prophecy refers to the same subject; nor was it to be wondered at, that God spoke so much of the same thing, for it was necessary to render the Jews inexcusable, as they always pretended ignorance, except God made frequent repetitions. And this was also the reason why Paul said, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses everything should be established, when he said that he would come the second and the third time to Corinth. (2Co 13:1) He intimated that his coming would not be useless, for except they repented they could not have escaped by pretending ignorance, as hypocrites are wont to do. It was, then, God’s purpose to confirm by many prophecies what he had once testified respecting the restoration of the people; but he had an especial care for the faithful, that they might not grow faint and succumb under those many trials which remained for so long a time; for as some died in exile, they might have forgotten the covenant of God, and thus the soul might have perished with the body. And those who were to return to their own country had need of no common support, so that they might continue firm for seventy years, and rely with confidence on God’s mercy. We now, then, understand why God repeated the doctrine as to the return of the people.

It is said that the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah while he was yet in prison Then the Prophet was bidden to consult the benefit of his enemies, and to promote their welfare, however unworthy they were through their ingratitude; for though they had not all demanded his death, yet the greater part of them had clamorously condemned him, and he had been with difficulty delivered, and was now lying in prison. It was a great cruelty that the people, while he was faithfully discharging his prophetic office, should thus furiously rage against him. He is, however, bidden still to proceed in the duties of his office, to comfort them, to ease their grief, and to afford them some alleviation in their evils and miseries.

There is also no doubt but that it was profitable to Jeremiah himself; for it was a most iniquitous reward, that he should, while serving God faithfully and conscientiously, be cast ignominiously into prison, and be there kept a captive so long. It was, then, some mitigation of his grief, that God appeared to him in that very prison; it was an evidence that God esteemed him higher than all the Jews. God did not then speak in the Temple, nor throughout the whole city. The prison then was God’s sanctuary, and there he gave responses to his Prophet, though he was wont to do this before from the mercy-seat, from the ark of the covenant. We hence see how great was the honor that God was pleased at that time to bestow in a manner on a prison, when he had forsaken his own Temple.

Now follows the prophecy, the substance of which is, that though the city was to be given up into the hand of the king of Babylon, yet that calamity was not to be perpetual, for God at length, after the completion of seventy years, would restore it. But why this promise was given has been stated already: it was given that the faithful might submit patiently to God, and suffer themselves with calm minds to be chastised, and also recumb on the hope the promise gave them, and thus feel assured, that as they were smitten by God’s hand, their punishment would prove their medicine and an aid to their salvation. Now, then, we perceive what this prophecy is, and also for what purpose it was delivered.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.This chapter is in date and subject essentially linked to chapter 32. For Notes, therefore, see previous chapter.

Literary Criticisms.Jer. 33:3. MIGHTY THINGS: altering into , making the word , the better statement, hidden things which thou knowest not, is gained, and this is probably the correct reading. Or retaining the word unaltered, which means fortified, it may be understood as impenetrable things, inaccessible things, and hence secret things which thou knowest not.

Jer. 33:4. HOUSES WHICH ARE THROWN DOWN BY THE MOUNTS: or against the mounts; for in sieges the enemy, as he encroached upon the city, pulled down houses as materials for his inner fortifications. AND BY THE SWORD; rather axes, so rendered in Isa. 22:10.

Jer. 33:5. THEY COME TO FIGHT. The only nominative seems the houses of Jer. 33:4. But this is meaningless; so that for they we must read the Jews. Probably the ending of Jer. 33:4 might be joined to the beginning of Jer. 33:5, and read thus: And by the sword they [the Jews understood, or the kings of Judah mentioned in Jer. 33:4] come to fight with the Chaldeans.

Jer. 33:6. I will bring IT health and cure, i.e. the city; and will cure THEM, i.e. the people. Lit. I will place upon it a bandage (chap. Jer. 8:22, Jer. 30:17) and healing: a healing bandage.

Jer. 33:16. She shall be called THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, For explanation of this feminine reference of Messiahs name, see Critical Note, following Homilies on the verse.

Jer. 33:14-26. This section is entirely omitted in the LXX., hence some of the German critics, such as Michaelis, Hitzig, and Movers (opposed, however, by Graf and Ewald), have treated this section as an addition by a later writer, the constantly imagined second Isaiah.

SURVEY OF CHAPTER 33

I.

While Jerusalems ruin is actually occurring, its houses being demolished by the Chaldean engines of war (Jer. 33:4),

II.

God promises its rebuilding (Jer. 33:6), so as to become a name of joy (Jer. 33:9); and assures to its inhabitants future prosperity and peace (Jer. 33:9-14).

III.

In Messiahs advent (Jer. 33:15) shall Israels future blessedness (Jer. 33:16) be culminated; and

IV.

In the perpetuity of Christs spiritual reign (Jer. 33:17-26) the sacred privileges covenanted to Israel shall be ceaselessly and universally enjoyed.

HOMILIES AND OUTLINES ON CHAPTER 33

Jer. 33:1-9. Theme: A DIVINE MESSAGE SENT INTO A PRISON. There are four or five most fertile suggestions which arise from these verses

I. A true child of God and an honoured prophet in disgrace and affliction (Jer. 33:1).

Jeremiahs affliction came upon him because of his fidelity to God.

Let not the child of God think that his sorrows are always because of his sins. In the world ye shall have tribulation, &c.

II. Though despised of man, the prophet was honoured of God (Jer. 33:1-2).

1. To receive communications from the Divine mind is the highest honour.

2. He whom God honours and owns as His child need not fear what man can do.

III. Divine consolation to an afflicted servant (Jer. 33:3).

1. The most precious of all privileges, that of prayer: Call unto Me.

2. The most marvellous of all assurances: And I will answer thee.

3. The most encouraging of all promises: I will show thee great and mighty things.

IV. The adversity and prosperity of nations are under the control of God (Jer. 33:4-7).

1. It is impossible properly to construe the history of a nation without reference to the moral government of God.

2. National prosperity or adversity has always been in the line of national virtue or vice.

V. The essential conditions of national as well as individual healing (Jer. 33:8-9).

1. It is essential that God come to do the work. I will cleanse, &c.

2. It is essential that God work upon our moral natures. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity.

3. It is essential that God work upon our moral natures by the assurance of the forgiveness of sin. I will pardon all, &c.

4. This moral and spiritual cleansing and pardon are essential for the appreciation of the Divine goodness: And they shall fear, &c.

5. This spiritual healing shall manifest forth the glory of God: It shall be to Me a name, &c.Rev. D. C. Hughes.

Jer. 33:3. Theme: PRAYER BY GODS AFFLICTED SERVANT ENCOURAGED BY GRACIOUS ASSURANCES. Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

The most eminent men have been found in the school of affliction: David, Jeremiah, &c.
I. The privilege encouraged, Call unto Me.
II. The season specified, While in the court of the prison.
III. The assurance given, I will answer thee.

I. The privilege encouraged, Call unto Me. The importance of this appears

1. From the gracious condescension that enjoins it. God says, Call unto Me, not for His own sake, but for ours. Not so much the injunction of duty, as the revelation of privilege.

God would have the intercourse between earth and heaven continually kept up and renewed, because of the benefit that accrues to the Church from this exercise. If we had no sins to be pardoned, no wants to be supplied, enemies to be subdued; if we were as sinless as the first Adam and as all-sufficient as the Second, it would still be our highest duty and privilege to call upon God, and to keep up an unbroken intercourse between earth and heaven.
2. From the examples that encourage it. The conduct of our Lord, who, though He received not the Spirit by measure, but held the worlds of nature and of grace at His own command, yet continued all night in prayer to God. He knew prayer prospers all, and He would undertake nothing without prayer. When about to enter upon His public ministry by baptism, we are told, As Jesus was praying the heavens opened, and the Holy Ghost descended on Him, with this voice, Thou art My beloved Son. When He would commission and send forth His disciples to preach His Gospel, He first sets His disciples praying, Pray ye the Lord of the harvest; and He Himself went out into a mountain to pray (Mat. 9:38; Luk. 6:12). And when He was to engage in His last encounter with the prince of this world, He prayed the more earnestly, with strong cryings and tears, to Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared, so that He won the field, though, like Sampson, he lost His lifethe spoils of which glorious victory the Church shall divide and enjoy to all eternity.

3. From the endless misery that must ensue without it. If Paul says, Pray without ceasing, what must be the danger of those who never pray? A prayerless heart may be considered as a defenceless citadel lying open and exposed to every foe. Whereas the heart of one truly devout is like a castle in which the Lord dwells, and which is garrisoned with the Divine presence.

II. The suitableness of prayer in times of trial; for it was while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison.

He who bore the burden of our sins is ready to bear the burden of our sorrows. Care is a burden; but that may be cast on God.
Though shut out from communion with men, he was not shut out from communion with God.
Prayer is the privilege of all times. We need it in prosperity to prevent our table from becoming our trap and our snare; but it is our special relief in adversity. James says, Is any afflicted? let him pray. Men have great need for prayer, then, when trial abounds, when temptations multiply, and when the energies of the mind are unequal to the vicissitudes of life. We should pray for support under them, for improvement by them, and for deliverance from them.

1. For support under them.

Paul, when he was buffeted by Satan, besought the Lord thrice, and obtained the relief he most needed, My grace shall be sufficient for thee.

Moses promised the Israelites, The eternal God is thy Refuge, &c.

2. For improvement by them, that they may now, or afterwards, yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.

Affliction is often an instrument of improvement, but it requires grace to make it so; and prayer is the appointed means of drawing down the blessing.
Some are hardened by affliction and separated farther from God; some are softened by affliction and thus made more like Him. These, by the sadness of the countenance, find the heart made better. This, however, does not arise from the necessary and independent nature of adversity, but from the kindly and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit of God. Pharaoh hardened himself more and more under the plagues of Egypt till He was finally given over to a reprobate mind. Job was made more humble and holy by his calamities because God was with him through them.

Pray for gracious influences under humbling trials.
3. For deliverance from them. Jeremiah did not die in the prison, but was brought out of it. He always remembered the Divine communion he enjoyed there.

III. The promise annexed

1. Of a gracious audience. I will answer thee.

God always hears, though He does not instantly answer. He heard and answered Jeremiah, though He did not immediately release him from the dungeon.
We often think that our prayers are not heard because they are not answered in the time and the way that we should prefer and expect. Yet the prayer is really answered if there be a gradual preparation of events for our benefit, and a gradual preparation of our hearts and minds to bear and do Gods holy will. If we pray against unbelief, the prayer is answered if our faith is silently strengthened. If we pray for patience, the prayer is answered if we are kept from sinking into despair under the trouble. If we pray for holiness, the prayer is answered when we are enabled to resist even to blood, striving against sin. If we pray for deliverance from trouble, the prayer is answered by Gods raising up friends who may support and comfort us, and finally be the means of our security and our rescue.

2. Of special Divine illumination. I will show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Hidden things.

The school of the cross is the school of light. God shows His people great and mighty things concerning Himself, the secret of the Lord; concerning the interests of the Church; concerning the kingdom of Christ (Jer. 33:14-16).S. Thodey, 1849.

Jer. 33:3. Theme: PRAYER ENCOURAGED. Such words must have been as a gleam of light shining through the bars of the prophets dungeon.

I. The invitation to prayer. Call upon Me.

1. Whence came the invitation? The word of the Lord came (Jer. 33:1). His voice it is we hear inviting us, The Lord (Jer. 33:2). How should every ear be attentive when Jehovah speaks and bids His creatures call, &c.!

2. To whom does He address these words? A lonely prophet, in his solitary dungeon. And it is to all who are prisoners of hope this invitation is given.

3. Observe the single Object of our worship. Call upon Me. Vain is all other refuge, insufficient all other sources of consolation.

4. But when may we call on God? There is no limit as to time, or circumstance, or state of mind we are in.

5. The manner in which we should pray. Call upon denotes earnestness, fervency, perseverance. If our petitions breathe the spirit of earnest supplication, if they are the language of want, sorrow, sin, or of devout adoration and thanksgiving, they are equally acceptable.

6. He who asks us to pray has promised His grace to teach us how to pray (Rom. 8:26).

II. Exceeding precious encouragements annexed to the invitation.

1. The promise is as general and unlimited as the invitation. I will answer thee. Nothing said as to the mode, time, or place.

(a.) Sometimes before they call, &c. (Isa. 45:24), as in Act. 12:5.

(b.) Sometimes He makes as though He heard not, though they knock. Temporary denial adds zeal to the suppliant, and sweetens the blessing when it is vouchsafed.

(c.) Sometimes in a manner wholly different from our expectations. Thus Paul besought the Lord thrice for the thorn to be removed, but God answered by making grace sufficient. We ask deliverance from trials, &c., but God opens only a way of escape that we may be able to bear it. We pray for spirituality, to be weaned from the world, and He takes away the desire of our eyes with a stroke.

2. But the assurances here go beyond simple answer to prayer. I will show thee great and mighty things, &c. Some of these are enumerated in the following verses, and clearly point to spiritual blessings and to Christ Himself.

1. Healing from the wounds of the enemy (Jer. 33:6). He is the great Physician.

2. Liberty from the bondage of sin (Jer. 33:7).

3. Entire purification and justification (Jer. 33:8).

4. The wonders of redeeming grace and love (Jer. 33:14), &c.

Notably is promised here STILL FURTHER AND FULLER REVELATION, AND DEEPER EXPERIENCE OF DIVINE THINGS. I will show thee, &c.

(a.) So that, whatever has been already enjoyed, there are more glorious and delightful things to be attained (Joh. 1:50). New wonders shall meet the eye of faith; more abundant peace (Jer. 33:6) shall fill the heart, &c.

(b.) If it is not soand alas! many believers decline, in their experience and privilege, instead of advancing, crying, Oh that it were with me as in times past!it is because they do not maintain earnest prayer. Call upon Me, and I will show, &c.

(c.) How many great and gracious things the Lord is waiting to reveal to us! Blessed they who go from strength to strength, who follow on to know the Lord.

Let us all examine ourselves
i. Not to call upon God is to forfeit the name of Christian. The Apostle uses the descriptive phrase of believers, as those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord. To live without prayer is to live without Christ and without hope.

ii. Let those who profess to cultivate the duty of prayer consider well the character of their devotions. The prayers of many are lamentably cold, formal, and unbelieving. Hence these blessings here assured are so rarely enjoyed.Anonymous MS., dated A. D. 1836.

Jer. 33:3. Theme: THE GOLDEN KEY OF PRAYER. Gods people have always in their worst conditions found out the best of their God.

Rutherford has a quaint saying, that when he was cast into the cellars of affliction, he always remembered that the great King kept His wine there, and he at once searched for the wine-bottles and drank wines on the lees well refined.
Those who dive into the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.

I. Prayer commanded.

1. This is great condescension. So great is the infatuation of man on the one hand, which makes him need a command to be merciful to his own soul, and so marvellous the condescension of God on the other that He issues a command of love.

2. Our hearts so despond over our unfitness and guilt, that but for the command we might fear to approach.

3. It is remarkable how much more frequently God calls us to Him in Scripture than we find there our sinfulness denounced!

4. Nor by the commands of the Bible alone are we summoned to prayer, but by the motions of His Holy Spirit.

II. An answer promised.
1. Gods very nature, as revealed in Jesus Christ, assures us that He will accept us in prayer.

2. Our own experience leads us to believe that God will answer prayer; e.g., the conversion of many a child has been an answer to parents pleadings with God.

3. Yet God does not always give the thing we ask.

Lord Bolingbroke said to the Countess of Huntingdon, I cannot understand, your ladyship, how you can make out earnest prayer to be consistent with submission to the Divine will.
My lord, she said, that is a matter of no difficulty. If I were a courtier of some generous king, and he gave me permission to ask any favour I pleased of him, I should be sure to put it thus: Will your majesty be graciously pleased to grant me such and such a favour; but at the same time, though I much desire it, if it would in any way detract from your majestys honour, or if in your majestys judgment it should seem better that I did not have this favour, I shall be quite as content to go without it as to receive it. So you see I might earnestly offer a petition, and yet might submissively leave it with the king.

III. Encouragement to faith. I will show, &c.

1. Promised to Gods prophet, this specially applies to every teacher. The best way for a teacher or learner in Divine truth to reach the deeper things of God is to be much in prayer. How did Daniel find out Nebuchadnezzars dream? Set himself to prayer. When John saw the book was sealed, he wept much, and those tears were his liquid prayers; then the Lion of the tribe of Judah opened the book.

Luther says, Bene orare est bene studuisseTo have prayed well is to have studied well.

2. The saint may expect to discover deeper experience and to know more of the higher spiritual life, by being much in prayer; e.g., Jacob wrestling for the blessing and name.

3. It is certainly true of the sufferer under trial; if he waits on God he shall have greater deliverance than he ever dreamed of (Lam. 3:57).

4. Here is encouragement for the worker. We know not how much capacity for usefulness there is in us. More prayer will show us more power.

5. This should cheer us in intercession for others. The Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends.

6. Some are seekers for your own conversion. Pray, and see if God will not show you great and mighty things.C. H. Spurgeon, A.D. 1865.

Jer. 33:3. Theme: TRUTHS GREAT AND MIGHTY. We know but in part. Without Divine teaching we should have known nothing essentially great. Suppose God had taught us nothing by revelation or inspiration, we should have known nothing which relates to our highest interests.

I. By His Word God has already shown us great and mighty things which we knew not and could not have known: incarnation, redemption, regeneration, resurrection, and mans final destiny.

II. Yet though these great and mighty things are known, they have not been shown to men in their reality and supreme importance.

But when God, who brought light out of darkness, shines into the dark mind, that mind sees the great and mighty truths. The Spirits teaching differs from the teaching of revelation in thisgiving to the mind a due appreciation of the truths revealed.

III. Scientific truths are what they are whether man understands them or not; but, till instructed, men understand not their value. So the truths of revelation are what they are; but, till men are enlightened by the Divine Spirit, they are not understood in their essential greatness and importance.

The Spirit takes the things of Christ and reveals them unto ussuch things as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, &c.

IV. In value, importance, and results they infinitely transcend all other things.

What have the great and mighty truths of science and philosophy done for the world or for man, compared with the greater and mightier truths of the Gospel? Have they answered the question, What must I do to be saved? healed a broken heart; led men to contentment with their lot; taught them how to live or die?

V. Yet, there are greater and mightier truths to be known, even by us who have sat at Jesus feet and learned of Him. There are yet deep things of God which are to us unknown. If there are mysteries which angels desire to look into; so there are things our feeble minds cannot comprehend and our partially sanctified hearts cannot understand.

VI. The deeper our consciousness of this fact, the greater will be our desire for more light. To obtain which there must be fervent, earnest prayer. Call upon Me, &c.

And also a holy walking with God. He gives to the man that is good in His sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy.

Thus, to the prayerful and holy, God makes revelations of great and mighty things, of which men of greater talent and higher culture are left in ignorance. Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

VII. That is a poor philosophy which leaves men unacquainted with those great and mighty things essential to their eternal welfare; which leaves them to grope on in darkness through lifes pathway, and then to die and perish in their sins.

That is the true philosophy which brings life and immortality to light, and then leads the soul on to the full realisation of bliss when the shadows of time have passed away.

Does any man lack this wisdom? Let him ask of God, &c.

Many mistake mere knowledge for this wisdom which is from above. Learning may prevail, knowledge may abound, wit may be common, but

Wisdom is rare, Lorenzo.

But it belongs to them who are taught of God, and learn of Jesus.Rev. D. Pledge, Walks with Jeremiah.

Jer. 33:6. Theme: THE GOSPEL A SURE REMEDY. A promise to the unhappy nation of the Jews of blessings yet in store for them. Let us apply the passage for our own edificationas containing a beautiful representation of the Lords dealings with the souls whom He redeems. Three stages of His gracious operations as the Great Physician

I. He visits His poor patients with an all-sufficient remedy in His hand.
II. Applies that remedy. Not only brought near, but applied.

III. Confers great blessings in consequence on the healed ones. Abundance of peace and truth.

(1.) Privileges of the redeemed sinner: peace with God; truth of His grace, His covenant, His promises.

(2.) Character acquired by the redeemed sinner in consequence of his faith: a peaceful spirit; walking in the truth. An Israelite in whom is no guile.

Have you sought healing?Rev. Arthur Roberts, M.A., Village Sermons, vol. ii.

Jer. 33:6-9. Theme: ISRAEL INGATHEREDA MATTER OF IMPORTANCE TO GOD AND MAN. I will cause the captivity of Israel and Judah to return, &c.

This passage has never yet been fulfilled; not only because the ten tribes of Israel have not been combined with Judah, but because the effects here announced of that event were never produced by their return from Babylon; for the nations of the earth have never been made to fear and tremble by reason of the goodness and prosperity of the Jewish nation.

I. The event predicted. God promises them here

1. A discovery of His will. In their whole civil and ecclesiastical condition they are sick, &c. (Isa. 1:5-6). But God will restore health, &c. They are in blindness and ignorance, but God will reveal unto them abundance of peace and truth.

2. A manifestation of His favour. Will build them as at the first (Jer. 33:7, also in Jer. 33:11). All shall be renewed to them with tenfold advantage (chap. Jer. 30:18; Jer. 30:20).

3. A communication of His grace. Sins cleansed (Jer. 33:8); iniquities cast to oblivion (Mic. 7:19; Jer. 50:20); renewed natures (Eze. 36:24-27).

II. The vast importance of this event. If we contemplate only the happiness of that people, the temporal, spiritual, and eternal happiness of those living and those yet to live, how important the event here predicted! But, limiting attention to the text, mark

1. The interest God Himself has in it. It shall be to Me a name of joy, &c. (Jer. 33:9). Comp. also Isa. 65:18-19; Zep. 3:17; and Isa. 62:4-5.

It will also greatly honour God. He is glorified in His works of creation; but how much more when all the nations of the earth shall hear (Jer. 33:9) of Gods recovery of His peopleit shall be a praise and an honour. Comp. Isa. 60:20-21; Isa. 61:1-3; Isa. 62:3.

2. The interest of the whole world involved in it. At this wonderful sight will all the nations of the earth fear and tremble. At their rescue from Egypt, a somewhat similar effect was produced (Exo. 15:15-16); and the like terror shall be created then (Mic. 7:15-17).

But others will regard the event with a grateful awe, will fear and tremble for all the goodness and prosperity that God hath procured unto His people.

Indeed this shall incite beholders to conviction and faith (Zec. 8:23). To this Paul alludes: If the fall, &c., what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? (Rom. 11:12; Rom. 11:15.)Chas. Simeon, M.A., A.D. 1828.

On Jer. 33:10-11. DESOLATION OF JOY; JOY RESTORED; see Homilies, &c. on chap. Jer. 7:34; Jer. 16:9; Jer. 25:10-11; and also Jer. 17:26.

Praise the Lord of Hosts; for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.

It was the customary form of liturgical thanksgiving (Psa. 106:1; 2Ch. 5:13; 2Ch. 7:3; 2Ch. 7:6).

They were actually used by the Jews at their restoration (Ezr. 3:11).

On Jer. 33:12-13. Imagery of Shepherds and their Flocks, see on chap. Jer. 31:24.

On the words in Jer. 33:13, The flocks pass again UNDER THE HANDS OF HIM THAT TELLETH THEM, see Miltons line in LAllegro

While the ploughman, near at hand,
Whistles oer the furrowed land;
And the milkmaid singeth blithe;
And the mower whets his scythe;
And every shepherd tells his tale

Under the hawthorn in the dale

i.e., counts the number of the sheep he has in charge, so the Good Shepherd calleth all His sheep by name (Joh. 10:3). And in 3Jn. 1:14, the Apostle says, Greet the friends by name.

On Jer. 33:14. The good thing I have promised; see chap. Jer. 23:5; Jer. 29:10.

Jer. 33:15. Theme: THE BRANCH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. This verse is the exact repetition of chap. Jer. 23:5. See Homilies on that verse, pp. 442, 443, 444: The Kingdom of the Messiah; The Nature and Prosperity of Messiahs Reign.

Jer. 33:16. Theme: A BRIGHT ERA FOR MANKIND. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.

Same words in chap. Jer. 23:6. See Homily there.

Theme: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. See Homily on chap. Jer. 23:6; also, Christs Supreme Name; The Christian Creed Summarised; and

Jehovah Justitia Nostra, pp. 444448.

See specially sermon on Sections 18 of chap. 23.

JUDAHS RESTORATION UNDER JEHOVAH TSIDKENU, pp. 438, 439, by Robert Gordon, D.D., and Noticeable Topic: JESUS OUR LORD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, by Bishop Reginald Heber, pp. 458, 459.

Jer. 33:14-16. Theme: JESUS CHRIST AS KING.

I. From what a noble royal stock did He proceed! Raised by God; descended from David; both by His Deity and His humanity heir to the throne.

II. How well has he exercised His rule! With judgment and righteousness. He Himself is The Lord our Righteousness.

III. How widely does His dominion extend! From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

IV. How safely does His people dwell! Kept by Him in security and peace.Naumann, in Lange.

Jer. 33:16. Theme: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Deep-woundingfrom views of Christ pierced by our sins, precedes deep peacefrom views of His righteousness. Originally spoken to Judah and Israel.

I. It is the sight of a Divine righteousness. Jehovah has made the atonement.

II. It is a living righteousness. Jehovah is the righteousness. A living One gives it. He is exalted to give it. He comes to you with the offer of it.

III. It is an appropriated righteousness. Our. It would not give me peace to see the whole world clothed in Christ, if I were not! No delight to me except I am sitting under His shade myselfunder the rock.

The joy of Paul was, Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, &c.; of Thomas, My Lord and my God!

APPLICATION
1. The rest of a believer consists in knowing that Jehovah is his righteousness.

2. The folly of those who rest in seeking is evidentever learning, yet never coming, &c.

3. We see the misery of unbelievers. There is a glorious Divine righteousness that would make the blackest fair.

It will be your eternal torment, that so glorious a righteousness was offered you, and you died without it.R. Murray MCheyne, 1844.

CRITICAL NOTE (Jer. 33:16). SHE shall be called The Lord our Righteousness. In Jer. 23:6, the name, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, is given to Christ; it is the name whereby He shall be called. In this verse the name is given to her, ., i.e., to Jerusalem.

Henderson alters to , a not uncommon masculine form in the Hebrew; and reads the verse whereby He shall be called (as in chap. Jer. 23:6). And the Syriac and Targum point as a masculine; the Vulgate also has eum.

But Wordsworth, retaining the feminine, comments thus: This is to be explained by the union of the Church with Christ (see Rom. 12:4-5; 1Co. 10:17; 1Co. 12:12; Eph. 1:22; Eph. 4:12; Eph. 4:15-16; Eph. 4:25; Eph. 6:23-24; Col. 1:18; Col. 1:24); so that what belongs to Him is communicated to her. (So Calvin and others.) Thus, by virtue of her mystical union with Christ, and by the importation of His merits and the infusion of His Spirit, the name of the Church may be said to be The Lord our Righteousness; she hides herself in Him, and is seen by God as in Him; she is clothed with Christ the Sun of Righteousness (see Rev. 12:1), and is accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6).

Dr. Payne Smith says: The name is here given to Jerusalem, i.e., to the Church, because it is her business mediately to work on earth that righteousness which Christ works absolutely. The Church justifies men only because its ordinances bring men to Christ. Comp. Eph. 1:23.

Jamieson remarks: Jerusalem is called by the same name as Messiah, by virtue of the mystical oneness between her (as the literal representative of the spiritual Church), and her Lord and Husband. Thus, whatever belongs to the Head belongs also to the members (Eph. 5:30; Eph. 5:32). Hence the Church is called Christ (Rom. 16:7; 1Co. 12:12). The Church hereby professes to draw all her righteousness from Christ (Isa. 45:24-25). It is for the sake of Jerusalem, literal and spiritual, that God the Father gave this name (Jehovah Tsidkenu) to Christ.

Jer. 33:17-18. Theme: PERPETUITY OF DAVIDS REIGN AND OF THE LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD. The literal sense of these words is, that there shall be an absolute perpetuity of the Davidic and Levitical succession. These words accord with 2Sa. 7:16; 1Ki. 2:4; Psa. 89:4; Psa. 89:29; Psa. 89:36; Num. 25:12. But

I. Historic events refuted the literal interpretation.

1. As to David. No lineal descendant of David occupied the Jewish throne after Zedekiah, the Asmonan princes being of the tribe of Levi, while Herod was not a Jew at all but an Iduman.Henderson.

2. As to the Levitical priesthood. Although after the captivity the Levitical priesthood attained great power for a time, indeed until the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, yet since then it has absolutely ceased.

II. Prophecy itself foretold their literal cessation. Indeed Jeremiah himself thus announced their failure

1. As to the Davidic kingdom (Jer. 22:30; Jer. 30:21).

2. As to the Levitical priesthood (Jer. 3:16; Jer. 31:33).

III. Their literal fulfilment cannot be associated with the future restoration of the Jews to Palestine. The Davidic reign and Levitical priesthood cannot then be restored. For

1. Their genealogical tables have been irrecoverably lost.
2. Nothing short of a miracle would be required to distinguish then between who are descendants of David and who those of Levi.Henderson.

IV. New Testament teaching declares the absolute supercession and substitution of the spiritual for the literal royalty and priesthood. Its teachings are that

1. No king of the family of David shall reign but the Messiah; and the seat of His government is not an earthly, but a heavenly throne (Luk. 1:32-33).

2. The Levitical services have been for ever abrogated by the unchanging and unceasing priesthood of Christ (Heb. 7:12-28).

V. What explanations remove the seeming error of these predictions?

1. The Davidic kingship and Levitical priesthood are symbols, which represented to the Jew all that was most dear to his heart in the state of things under which he livedhis national existence and freedom from foreign oppression (which was bound up in the thought of Davids perpetual kingdom), and his religious privileges and hopes (associated inseparably with the perpetuity of the Levitical ministries). Their restoration was therefore synonymous with the restoration of his national and spiritual life. But neither was so restored as to exist permanently. But that was given instead of which both were types: the CHURCH, whose Head is the true Prophet, Priest, and King.Dr. Payne Smith.

2. The spiritual interpretation: its application to the MESSIAH in His regal and sacerdotal offices. The throne of David is the spiritual throne, which, as his descendant, Messiah is to fill for ever (Isa. 9:6; Luk. 1:32-33). And as Davids reign is thus carried forward spiritually, so the Levites may be said never to want a man to present sacrifices, inasmuch as the man Christ Jesus ever liveth to present the merits of His own sacrifice.Henderson.

3. These pledges of perpetuity find their fulfilment in the royalty and priesthood of all Christian souls; called a royal priesthood (1Pe. 2:5-9); kings and priests unto God (Rev. 1:6; Rev. 5:10); priests of God and of Christ, who shall reign (Rev. 20:6).Hengstenburg.

4. Interpreting the promised perpetuity of the Levitical priesthood, Bishop Wordsworth, following Lowth, urges that the ministry of the Christian Church is the complete realisation of all that was done in the offices of the high priests, the priests, and the Levites in the Tabernacle and the Temple. So that the promise here that the Levites will never want a man to stand before God to execute priestly functions, is a declaration that there shall never fail a succession of men set apart to Gods service to perform the public offices of religion. Accordingly, Paul proves the rights and privileges belonging to the ministers of the Gospel from the prerogatives given to the Jewish priesthood (1Co. 9:13-14). And Trapp interprets it as meaning the continuance of an evangelical ministry in the Church to the worlds end (Mat. 28:20; Eph. 4:11-13).

5. In proof that these predictions were to have no mere Jewish fulfilment, but point to a dispensation in which national distinctions disappear amid spiritual qualifications and experiences, we have the definite promise that Gentiles are to become priests and Levites. For in the call of the Gentiles there shall be some among them ordained to be ministers in Christs Church: I will also take of them for priests and for Levites (Isa. 66:21; see also Isa. 56:7, Isa. 61:6; Mal. 1:11; Mal. 3:3).

Jer. 33:20-22. Theme: GREAT PROMISES GRANDLY GUARANTEED. The unchangeableness of Gods laws in nature is the pledge that His promises in grace are equally immutable.Dr. Payne Smith.

The richest promises are confirmed by the strongest assurances.Cowles.

God has hitherto kept promise with nights and days that one shall succeed the other; and will He not keep touch with His people?Trapp.

Jer. 33:24-26. Theme: SPEAKING CONTEMPTUOUSLY OF GODS PEOPLE.

These two families are either Israel and Judah; or else the seed of Jacob (Jer. 33:26) to whom the birthright was given, and the seed of David (Jer. 33:26) to whom the promise was subsequently confirmed, that of him the Messiah should spring.

Who were they who spake thus of Gods people? Either the Chaldeans without the walls, or the unbelieving Jews within.

I. The utterance of defiance and scorn if from the Chaldeans. They spoke contemptuously of the Hebrews as being abandoned by their God. Implying on the part of Israels foes

1. Exultation over the rejection of Gods people from His care and favour. Aha, so would we have it!

2. Execration, expressing their purpose to destroy them. If it had not been that the Lord was on our side, when men rose up against us, then had they swallowed us up quick.

3. Contempt. They despised them as a forlorn, friendless, feeble folk. So Sennacherib: What do these feeble Jews?

II. The utterance of desolate despair by the Jews themselves. They spoke depreciatingly of themselves and their prospects. Implying on Israels part that they were

1. Paralysed by nearing disaster. The Chaldeans were encroaching on the city; capture was inevitable.

2. Abandonment of all hope in God. He had, as they supposed, now rejected Judah, as already He had Israel.

3. Depreciation of themselves in their relation to God as His covenant people, judging that their national existence was now well-nigh closed.

Notes

DIEDRICH comments: In the first instance they would not be warned; now they will not be comforted. The true prophet, however, announces death to sinners according to the law, but afterwards grace for renovation and for life.

Despair is blasphemy. Gods kingdom stands and will be perfected, but the faint-hearted will not enter it.

God answers, So long as heaven and earth are preserved by Me, it is for the sake of My kingdom, and as a pledge that it will not fail. Israel, or, what is the same thing, Davids seed, shall be a royal seed, and the captivity which the people must now endure is transient. It is impossible, however, for the worldly to understand this, who perish in carnal repose as though no God could punish them; and, again, in affliction are so despondent as though there were no God to help them any more.

HENRY remarks: Deep security commonly ends in deep despair; whereas those that keep up a holy fear at all times have a good hope to support them in the worst of times.

This is (Jer. 33:26) a complex promise, says Trapp, and better than money which answereth all things.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

D. The Promise of God Jer. 33:1-26

Shortly after he had received the comforting revelation of the preceding chapter, Jeremiah received yet another word from the Lord. At the time, Jeremiah was still imprisoned in the court of the guard (cf. Jer. 32:2). The genuineness of this passage has been questioned. But Hall is surely correct when he argues: The situation, the language of the passage, and the comparison with other phrases of Jeremiah combine to refute the critical liberal claim that this is not genuine Jeremianic prophecy.[289] The chapter contains promises which apply first to the people and kingdom in general (Jer. 33:4-13) and then to the royal and priestly offices in particular (Jer. 33:14-26).

[289] Hall, op. cit., p. 284.

1. An introductory word (Jer. 33:1-3)

TRANSLATION

(1) And the word of God came unto Jeremiah a second time while he was yet imprisoned in the court of the guard, saying, (2) Thus says the LORD who is the Creator of it, the Former of it so that He has established it, The LORD is His name: (3) Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and I will declare to you great and unsearchable things that you do not know.

COMMENTS

The first three verses of chapter 33 are in the nature of a bridge between the preceding and the present chapter. The verses contain a declaration, an invitation and a promise.
The God who speaks to Jeremiah in the court of the guard declares Himself to be the Lord, Yahweh. The use of the Tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew consonants which form the name of God par excellence) is significant in this passage. The name seems to have the meaning He Who Is and consequently denotes God as the Eternal, Self-existent One. The name Yahweh is also the covenant name of God and as such denotes God as the keeper of covenant promises, as the merciful benefactor of His people. Being eternal, God can look beyond the present difficulty and darkness to the bright and hopeful future when He in His mercy will restore Israel to Canaan.

God not only observes the future, he creates it. Thus God declares Himself to be the Maker of it and the Former of it. That He may establish (or accomplish) it. Commentators have puzzled over the significance of the objective pronouns in Jer. 33:2. What does God create, form, establish or accomplish? Whether it here refers to the universe or to the plan about to be revealed, the basic idea is the same: God has the power to fulfill His promises. Whatever God determines to do, He is able to bring to a successful conclusion. Gods very name, Yahweh, is a pledge that He will keep His word to His people (Jer. 31:35; Jer. 32:18).

In the opening words of Jer. 33:3 God invites His prophet or perhaps the nation as a whole to call unto Me. What a wonderful invitation! Jeremiah had prayed, inquiring as to the meaning of an act which God had required him to perform (Jer. 32:16-25). Here God places His stamp of approval on that prayer and encourages His prophet to approach the Lord more frequently with such requests. The prayer that grows out of perplexity often is labeled as doubt and is therefore discouraged. But here the God of all wisdom encourages the searching out of the mysteries of life through prayer. Furthermore, God under girds His invitation with a gracious promise: I will answer you! prayer is more effective than perhaps anyone realizes. Prayer is the key that opens the door to a new understanding of the power and purpose of God. The earnest petitioner will find his mind enlightened regarding the great and hidden things of life (Jer. 33:3).

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

XXXIII.

(1-3) The second time, while he was yet shut up.The discourse that follows belongs to the same period as the preceding chapter, and presents the same general characteristics. Its connexion with the operations of the siege to which Jerusalem was exposed will be traced in Jer. 33:4. As with other prophecies, its starting-point is found in the thought of the majesty of the attributes of God.

Great and mighty things.The two adjectives occur in the same combination in Deu. 1:28; Deu. 9:1, and this fact is in favour of the rendering mighty rather than hidden, as in the margin of the A.V.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

THE HAPPINESS OF THE RETURNING EXILES, 1-14.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

THE MESSAGE TO ZEDEKIAH ANNOUNCING THE FUTILITY OF RESISTANCE, 1-7.

The time when this prophecy was spoken must have been near the beginning of the siege; for

a. Jeremiah was not in confinement. “Go and speak,” Jer 33:2.

b. Lachish and Azekah were not captured, Jer 33:7.

It would seem then that the first seven verses of this chapter cannot be simply a repetition in a more extended form of Jer 33:3-5 of chap. 32, but should rather be classed with chap. 21, and were intended as a warning to King Zedekiah of the fruitlessness of all attempts to drive away the Chaldeans. The very full and formal introduction in Jer 33:1, and the character of the contents, alike favour this view.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1. While he Jeremiah.

Was yet shut up Implying the close connexion of this chapter with the preceding.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

To A Doubting And Troubled Jeremiah YHWH Promises To Reveal The Glorious But Seemingly Impossible Future, Which Will Be Brought About By His Creative Power Following The Current Storm ( Jer 33:1-3 ).

Jer 33:1

‘Moreover the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,’

The need for a ‘second word’ suggests that YHWH is aware of Jeremiah’s confusion as the siege gets even more severe. Situated as he was he had had plenty of time to puzzle over what appeared to be an impossible situation. Who had ever heard of a nation being destroyed and exiled from its land, only to be restored in all its former grandeur?

Jer 33:2

“Thus says YHWH who does it, YHWH who forms it to establish it; YHWH is his name,”

YHWH, however, assures him that He is easily able to produce something out of what appears to be nothing, for He is the one who ‘does things’, and then ‘fashions them’ (as He had at creation), with a view to finally establishing them. And this is so because His Name is ‘YHWH’, the One Who ‘will be whatever He wants to be’, and ‘causes to be whatever He wants to cause to be’. (Depending on the pointing both meanings are contained within the Name YHWH).

Jer 33:3

“Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and hard to bring about (difficult, impregnable), which you do not know.”

All therefore that Jeremiah has to do is call on Him, and He then promises him that He will answer him, and will show him things which are both ‘great and hard to bring about’ (compare the same description in Deu 1:28; Deu 9:1), things about which at present he has had no past knowledge of. In other words He will show him ‘a new thing’ outside of his experience.

Alternately the singular verbs may apply to the people in general, with the point being that if, when in exile, they truly call on Him, He will reveal His hand in an amazing deliverance.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Sub-Part B. YHWH Promises The Restoration Of The Davidic Monarchy And The Levitical Priesthood ( Jer 33:1-26 ).

The passage commences with, ‘Moreover the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the second time –’, as it had the first (Jer 32:1). Despite the fact of the devastation that is shortly to come on besieged Jerusalem, YHWH promises to Jeremiah that one day He will restore His people, settle them securely in the land, and will restore the Davidic kingship and the Levitical priesthood in accordance with His covenants made with them (Jer 33:1-26).

The initial promise to show these things to Jeremiah suggests that in his prison in the court of the guard, with news coming to him of the city’s sufferings under the siege, he was struggling in his soul concerning the situation, and trying to come to terms with what was involved in all that YHWH had said. YHWH thus comes to give certainty to His loyal servant, the certainty that he seeks.

The passage is divided up by divisional markers:

The first part is divided up by ‘Thus says YHWH –.’ Jer 33:2; Jer 33:10; Jer 33:12.

The second part commences with ‘Behold the days are coming –’ (Jer 33:14, compare Jer 31:27; Jer 31:31; Jer 31:38), and is then divided up by ‘in those days’ (Jer 33:15-16), ‘and thus says YHWH’ (Jer 33:16), ‘and the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah saying, — thus says YHWH’ (Jer 33:19-20 a; 23, 25 a).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

SECTION 2 ( Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 ).

Whilst the first twenty five chapters of Jeremiah have mainly been a record of his general prophecies, mostly given during the reigns of Josiah and Jehoiakim, and have been in the first person, this second section of Jeremiah (Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5) is in the third person, includes a great deal of material about the problems that Jeremiah faced during his ministry and provides information about the opposition that he continually encountered. This use of the third person was a device regularly used by prophets so that it does not necessarily indicate that it was not directly the work of Jeremiah, although in his case we actually have good reason to think that much of it was recorded under his guidance by his amanuensis and friend, Baruch (Jer 36:4).

It can be divided up as follows:

1. Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of What Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets (Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32).

2. Promises Are Given Of Eventual Restoration And Of A New Covenant Written In The Heart (Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26).

3. YHWH’s Continuing Word of Judgment Is Given Through Jeremiah And Its Repercussions Leading Up To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Revealed (Jer 34:1 to Jer 39:18).

4. Events Subsequent To The Fall Of Jerusalem (Jer 40:1 to Jer 45:5).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

SECTION 2 ( Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 ). (continued).

As we have seen this Section of Jeremiah from Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 divides up into four main subsections, which are as follows:

1. Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of What Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets (Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32).

2. Following The Anguish To Come Promises Are Given Of Eventual Restoration, Central To Which is A New Covenant Written In The Heart (Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26).

3. YHWH’s Continuing Word of Judgment Is Given Through Jeremiah, And Its Repercussions Leading Up To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Revealed (Jer 34:1 to Jer 39:18).

4. Events Subsequent To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Described (Jer 40:1 to Jer 45:5).

We have already commented on Subsection 1). in Jeremiah 4. We must now therefore consider subsection 2). This subsection, with its emphatic promises of hope for the future, is the most positive subsection from a long term view in his prophecy.

Subsection 2 ( Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26 ). Following The Anguish To Come Promises Are Given Of Eventual Restoration, Central To Which Is A New Covenant Written By YHWH In The Hearts Of His People, Together With The Establishment Of The New Jerusalem As The Eternal City ( Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26 ).

This Subsection places a great emphasis, not only on the coming anguish, but even more on the glorious restoration that will follow. It presents a final picture of a wholly restored nation which has been spiritually transformed.

It may be seen as divided up into two parts on the basis of the phrase ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 30:1; Jer 32:1). (Jer 33:1; Jer 33:19, on the other hand, open with ‘and’ (waw), signifying continuation rather than a new part). The first part deals with promises of glorious restoration and spiritual renewal ending up with the establishment of a new Jerusalem as the eternal city (compare Rev 21:1 to Rev 22:5). The second part contains an acted out prophecy in which Jeremiah purchases a piece of hereditary land in order to demonstrate his confidence in the final future of Judah, and gives further assurances of restoration.

Part 1). ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 30:1). Out of the anguish of Israel/Judah is to come restoration, when YHWH will bring His people from all the places of exile to which He has scattered them, and will replant them and build them up in the land, establishing with them a new covenant, written not on stone but in their hearts. All will know Him and all will be made holy, and God’s holy city will be established for ever (Jer 30:1 to Jer 31:40).

We will now consider this part in detail.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Section 2 Subsection 2 Part 2). Having Been Imprisoned During The Siege Of Jerusalem Jeremiah Buys A Piece Of Hereditary Land In Order To Demonstrate Confidence In The Future Of The Land Of Judah, Something Resulting In A Promise Of Restoration And Of The Coming Of The Shoot Of David ( Jer 32:1 to Jer 33:16 ).

The promises of what would happen in ‘coming days’ having been given, Jeremiah is now given an initial earnest (proof of occurrence) that it will happen. This part commences with the defining phrase, ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 32:1), and it describes how Jeremiah is shut up in prison by Zedekiah during the siege of Jerusalem, and yet nevertheless buys a piece of hereditary land on the death of his uncle as a token that Judah still has a future. After prayer he is then assured by YHWH that while Jerusalem must certainly suffer because of its sins and its sinful people must be taken into exile, He will one day restore them again under a Shoot (or Branch) of David through an everlasting covenant (Jer 32:1 to Jer 33:26).

Part 2 is divided up into two sub-parts, both occurring while Jeremiah was in the palace complex prison during the final stages of the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and in both of them restoration is promised once the worst is over.

Sub-Part A. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –.’ After its destruction Jerusalem will one day be restored, something guaranteed to Jeremiah in a symbolic act of purchasing family land (Jer 32:1-44).

Sub-part B. ‘Moreover the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the second time –.’ Despite the devastation coming YHWH promises that one day He will restore His people, settle them securely in the land, and will restore the Davidic kingship and the Levitical priesthood in accordance with His covenants made with them (Jer 33:1-26).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Jer 33:3 Comments God wants to do more than just answer a prayer in the area of healing, finances, relationships, etc. for His children. He wants to guide us along a spiritual journey that takes us places we have never dreamed or imagined we could achieve. God has greater plans for our lives than we do for ourselves. Our spiritual journey is more than getting our needs met. God will meet these needs as we step out in faith to meet His needs. Prayer is not God serving us, but us serving God. Jesus prayed to the Father for guidance and direction while entrusting His soul, His personal needs, to divine providence and provision.

The word “mighty” meaning “inaccessible” things. God’s will and plan for you is to believe Him for the impossible. If you are not striving for greater events and miracles in your life, then you are not in God’s perfect plan, His highest plan for you. Jeremiah was in a dungeon when this revelation was given to him, in a place at the darkest hour of his life. We too are to pray for the miraculous at our most difficult times. Bob Nichols, of Calvary Cathedral International, Fort Worth, Texas, has always said, “There is a way when you pray.” [26] Joyce Meyer said, “When problems come, go to the throne and not to the phone. Why do you seek counsel from people who do not know what they are doing?” [27]

[26] Bob Nichols, “Sermon,” Calvary Cathedral International, Fort Worth, Texas.

[27] Joyce Meyer, Enjoying Everyday Life (Fenton, Missouri: Joyce Meyer Ministries), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program.

Jer 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, and by the sword;

Jer 33:4 Comments During the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587-586, the Jews looked to the arm of flesh to fortify themselves against their oppressors. They had done this same thing under the siege of Sennacherib in 701 B.C. The ASV reads, “For thus saith Jehovah, the 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 defence against the mounds and against the sword;”

Scripture References – Note a similar verse:

Isa 22:10, “And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.”

Jer 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.

Jer 33:11 “and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD” Scripture Reference – Note:

Heb 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

Jer 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 them, saith the LORD.

Jer 33:13 “shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them” – Comments – A similar verse in Lev 27:32 confirms that this was a method of counting the flock.

Lev 27:32, “And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Contrast Between Destruction and Restoration

v. 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, during the shameful imprisonment inflicted upon him by Zedekiah, saying,

v. 2. Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof, literally, “the Doer,” He who performs what He promises and threatens, the Lord that formed it, to establish it, or, “He who prepares it to complete it,” carrying out His plans without fail; the Lord is His name, Jehovah, the God of the covenant:

v. 3. Call unto Me, namely, in making a plea for the restoration of Judah, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, proclaiming or announcing great and inaccessible things, which thou knowest not, which are beyond human understanding and comprehension, which human knowledge would never expect.

v. 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, the various buildings making up the royal palace, which are thrown down by the mounts and by the sword, literally, “against the ramparts and against the sword,” for the buildings of Jerusalem were wrecked in order to get a sufficient amount of stones to strengthen the walls against the advancing army of the invaders;

v. 5. they come to fight with the Chaldeans, the people of Judah being determined to resist the hostile army, but it is to fill them, namely, the houses of the city, 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, this last verse being inserted by way of parenthesis:

v. 6. Behold, I will bring it, the city of Jerusalem, health and cure, by binding up the wounds of the war, and I will cure them, healing the wounds inflicted by the enemies, and will reveal unto them, His people, the abundance of peace and truth, that is, genuine, lasting prosperity.

v. 7. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel, of all those who are his children in truth, to return, and will build them, as at the first, when He first made them His people, at the time of the exodus from Egypt.

v. 8. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against Me, their guilt being removed by His forgiveness; and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me. This is the basis of the lasting covenant of salvation, the Lord’s pardoning grace over against all poor sinners.

v. 9. And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all the nations of the earth, Jerusalem itself, with its congregation of believers, becoming a city the very mention of whose name would cause Jehovah to rejoice, while nations in every part of the world would praise her, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them; and they shall fear and tremble, with the fear of repentant sinners, for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it, on account of the miraculous power of God displayed in behalf of the Jews. Even thus men everywhere, in coming to the knowledge of the true God, serve Him with fear and rejoice with trembling, walking before Him and increasing daily in holiness.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

A chapter of promises, having reference, first, to the people and kingdom in general (Jer 33:4-13), and then to the royal and priestly offices in particular (Jer 33:14-26). The first part is but the expansion of passages in the preceding prophecy, to which this chapter is attached by the opening verse. The remaining portion is less closely connected; it is occupied by promises of the perpetual duration of the house of David and of the Levites. It should be noticed by the student that there are difficulties connected with the authorship of Jer 33:14, Jer 33:26 (see below).

Jer 33:1

In the court of the prison; rather, of the guard (Jer 32:2).

Jer 33:2

Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof, etc.; rather, Thus saith Jehovah, who doeth it, Jehovah who frameth it that he may establish it, whose name is Jehovah. It was needless to express the object of the verbs. Jehovah’s great purpose is the regeneration of his people. To “frame” or “form” is synonomous with “purpose” (see on. Jer 38:11). The meaning of the verse is that Jehovah’s very Name is a pledge of his fidelity to his promises (comp. Jer 32:18). To “establish” is synonymous with “to carry out.”

Jer 33:3

Mighty things; rather, secret things (literally, inaccessible). It must be admitted that this introduction hardly corresponds to the sequel, which does not contain any special secrets, as we should have thought. Either Jer 33:2, Jer 33:3 have been inserted by a later (inspired) editor, whose mind was absorbed in high thoughts of the latter daysfor this view may be urged the style and phraseology, which are hardly those of the surrounding chapters, hardly those of Jeremiah; or else we must adopt Hengstenberg’s perhaps over subtle suggestion, which, however, does not touch the question of the phraseology, “that throughout Scripture dead knowledge is not regarded as knowledge; that the hope of restoration had, in the natural man, in the prophet, as well as in all believers, an enemy who strove to darken and extinguish it; that therefore it was ever new,” or, in the words of Jeremiah, “great and secret things, which thou knowest not.”

Jer 33:4-9

The houses of Jerusalem, destroyed by the engines of the besiegers or filled with dead bodies, shall be restored; the captives shall be brought back; their sins shall be forgiven, and God be glorified.

Jer 33:4

By the mounts, and by the sword; rather, because of the mounds (see on Jer 32:24) and because of the weapons of war. The latter are the warlike instruments used by the besiegers from their batteries or breastworks.

Jer 33:5

They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is, etc. The passage is obscure, so obscure that we cannot avoid inferring that it is corrupt. “They come” could only refer to the Jews, but these would rather be said to “go out;” the Hebrew writers are particular in distinguishing between to “come” and to “go out.” Besides, there is no grammatical connection with the preceding verse. The Septuagint omits “they come,” but the passage still remains enigmatical.

Jer 33:6

I will bring it health and cure, etc. “Health” is properly the fresh skin which grows over a healing wound (as Jer 8:22; Jer 30:17). First the city is spoken of, then its inhabitants. Will reveal unto them; or perhaps, will roll unto them (comp. Jer 11:20; Jer 20:12). In this ease the figure will be that of a mighty stream (comp. Amo 5:24; Isa 48:18; Isa 66:12). Truth; rather, continuance (comp. Jer 14:13).

Jer 33:7

I will cause the captivity to return (see on Jer 29:14). Will build them (see on Jer 31:14).

Jer 33:8

I will cleanse them, etc. Restored prosperity without spiritual purification would be of no avail; how could it give happiness (comp. Jer 31:34)?

Jer 33:9

And it shall be; viz. Jerusalem. A name of joy; rather, on the analogy of Isa 55:13. etc; a monument of joy; i.e. joy giving. They shall fear and tremble. As feeling the contrast between their “unprofitable” idol gods and the faithful God of Israel.

Jer 33:10

In this place; i.e. “in this land,” as in Jer 7:7 and elsewhere. Shall be desolate; rather, is desolate.

Jer 33:11

The sacrifice of praise (see on Jer 17:26).

Jer 33:12

An habitation; rather, a pasture (including the idea of an encampment). The expression reminds us of Jer 23:3, Jer 23:4, but it is preferable to take the present passage in its literal sense rather than as metaphorical.

Jer 33:13

In the cities, etc. A parallel description to Jer 17:26; Jer 32:44. The vale; rather, the lowland (about the Mediterranean, on the south). The south. It is the Negeb, or south country, which is meant. Under the hands; rather, at the beck. Of him that telleth them. Comp. Milton, ‘L’Allegro’

“And every shepherd tolls his tale
Under the hawthorn in the dale.”

Virgil, ‘Eel.,’ 3.34

“Bisque die numerant ambo pecus, alter et haedos.”

Jer 33:14-26

These verses are omitted in the Septuagint, and some leading critics think that both the style and the contents point to a different author from our prophet. In particular it is urged that the promise of a multitude of Levites and of descendants of David is isolated among the prophecies of Jeremiah, who elsewhere speaks of a single great representative of David as the object of pious hope, and of the intercourse between Jehovah and his people as being closer and more immediate than under the old Law. A variation in the form of expressing the Messianic hope is, however, not of much importance. Isaiah, for instance, sometimes refers to a single ideal king (Isa 9:6, etc.); sometimes to a succession of noble, God-fearing kings (Isa 32:1; Isa 33:17).

Jer 33:14

That good thing which I have promised; viz. in the parallel passage, Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6 (which see).

Jer 33:15

The Branch of righteousness; rather, the Plant of righteousness (see on Jer 23:5).

Jer 33:16

Wherewith she shall be called; viz. Jerusalem; in Jer 23:6, the parallel passage, the subject is “Israel,” unless there is a corruption of the text. The Lord our righteousness; rather, The Lord (is) our righteousness.

Jer 33:17

David shall never want a man, etc. This is, in fact, a republication of the promise given by Nathan in 2Sa 7:12-16. It agrees in form with the announcements in 1Ki 2:4; 1Ki 8:25; 1Ki 9:5.

Jer 33:18

Neither shall the priests the Levites, etc. It has Been thought that this passage is inconsistent with the prophecies of a time when the ark should no more be remembered (Jer 3:16), and when all should know Jehovah from the least to the greatest (Jer 31:34). But though sin offerings would in this glorious time become things of the past, yet thank offerings are expressly excepted from abolition (Jer 33:11), and in Jer 31:14 a special latter-day promise is given to the priests. Moreover, Ezekiel, who repeats the prophecy of the new spiritual covenant (Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26; Eze 37:26), gives an elaborate sketch of a new temple with a sacrificial system (Eze 40:1-49; etc.); and, if there is any inconsistency, we find the same one in the latter part of Isaiah. In Isa 61:6 the whole regenerate people of Israel is called “the priests of Jehovah;” but in Isa 66:21 the prophet distinctly states that there will be, in some sense, a priestly class within the chosen people.

Jer 33:20-22

The constant, regular succession of day and night is an emblem of the equally regular supply of royal descendants of David and of Levitical priests, and the countless grains of sand are symbolic of the wonderful increase of their numbers. At first sight the latter part of the promise seems a little unlike a blessing. But we have seen already (on Jer 19:3) that the members of the various branches of the royal family probably occupied the principal offices of the state, and the prophet imagines the future in forms borrowed from the present. A numerous sacerdotal class seemed equally necessary for the due magnificence of the ritual; and we must remember that preternatural fertility of the soil was a standing element of Messianic descriptions. The expressions used are, no doubt, hyperbolical, but the meaning seems clear enough. (Hengstenberg’s notion, that the prophet rather indicates the abolition of the royal and sacerdotal distinctions (comp. Exo 19:6), is surely very far fetched.)

Jer 33:23-26

The permanence of Israel as the people of God, with rulers of the house of David.

Jer 33:24

This people; i.e. not Egyptians or Babylonians (as some have supposed), but the people of Judah, regarded as alienated from Jehovah (hence the touch of disparagement), as elsewhere in Jeremiah (Jer 4:10, Jer 4:11; Jer 5:14, Jer 5:23; Jer 6:19; Jer 7:33, etc.). There were unworthy Jews, who, seeing their nation fallen from its high estate, despaired of its deliverance and regeneration. That they should be no more, etc.; rather, so that they are no more a peopleno more an independent people The “two families,” of course, are the “two houses of Israel” (Isa 8:14), i.e. the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

HOMILETICS

Jer 33:1-3

An invitation to prayer.

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE INVITATION. (Jer 33:1.)

1. It was to Jeremiah; i.e.

(1) to a good man. All men may pray, but it is “the supplication of a righteous man that availeth much in its working” (Jas 5:16); and

(2) a prophet. Therefore a prophet needs to pray. No man knows so much or is so far advanced spiritually as to be able to dispense with prayer. Christ prayed.

2. The invitation came to Jeremiah in prison. Stone walls cannot shut out God from us, nor prevent our souls from rising in prayer to him. The persecutor cannot rob his victim of his choicest jewel. God often visits the soul in scenes of earthly distress.

3. The invitation came a second time. God repeatedly visits his troubled children. The prayer of yesterday will not make that of today needless.

4. The invitation to prayer did not bring deliverance from trouble. Though God visited Jeremiah in prison once and again, the prophet still remained there. We have no right to think that when God visits us for good he will remove our earthly trouble; he may find it better to bless us in it. Therefore, on the other hand, the continuance of the trouble is no evidence that we are deserted by Godperhaps the reverse, because “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.”

II. THE GROUNDS OF THE INVITATION. (Verse 2.) God gives to Jeremiah good grounds for assurance in prayer before inviting him to pray. We cannot pray to an unknown God with intelligence and earnestness. To pray with faith we must have grounds of confidence. These are offered to the prophet in the manifestation of the nature of God in his works, and the revelation of his higher character in the sacred Name, Jehovah.

1. The manifestation of God in his works.

(1) He is the Maker of all things; therefore he has power to make all right again.

(2) He established the world; therefore there is a permanence in the law, and will, and procedure of God, which no passing accidents can set aside.

2. The revelation of his higher Name, “Jehovah;” “The Lord in his Name.” This revelation not only suggests the self-existent and eternal supremacy of God, so infinitely superior to all those evil powers of life feared by us timid mortals; it is also associated with the willingness of God to save, since it was revealed in connection with the deliverance from Egypt (Exo 3:14), it may well be quoted in anticipation of the deliverance from Babylon.

III. THE CHARACTER OF THE INVITATION. (Verse 3.)

1. God invites to prayer. Therefore

(1) we may have good assurance that he will hear prayer; and

(2) nevertheless, we are reminded that, though he is favourably disposed to us, he waits to bless us until we “call unto” him.

2. God promises a revelation in response to prayer. Here is an encouragement that the prayer will not be fruitless. The Bible does not represent prayer as a mere subjective exercise; it treats it as a power prevailing with God, securing from him blessings asked. We have here a special encouragement for the perplexed to pray for light. Mysteries are not necessarily eternally hidden. Some once hidden have been revealed (e.g. Col 1:26); others may yet be made more clear. The seeker after truth should be a man of prayer. The deepest spiritual truth is not discoverable by speculation; it is revealed in communion. It is seen through spiritual thought and sympathy with God, aided by his Spirit’s inspiration.

Jer 33:6

(See on Jer 30:17.)

Jer 33:8

Forgiveness and cleansing.

I. FORGIVENESS AND CLEANSING MUST BE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED. When God pardons he also cleanses. The first justification that treats as righteous by forgiveness is the seed of the second justification that makes righteous. It is often noted that it would be neither just in God nor wholesome for us that sin should be pardoned without the creation of a clean heart. But we should observe further that it would not even be possible for this to happen. For the essence of forgiveness is reconciliation, not a mere remission of penalties. Even if these are remitted, while personal enmity is cherished there can be no forgiving. To forgive is to effect a mutual reconciliation after alienation through wrong doing on one side, by concession on the other. The very act of reconciliation implies such a change in the person forgiven as involves the cessation of all opposition on his side. Now, in the root of it sin is just departure from God, and its ripe fruit is enmity to God. Forgiveness must, therefore, by its very nature, imply a cleansing from this sin.

II. GOD PROMISES PERFECT CLEANSING AND FORGIVENESS.

1. This is given by God. He only can forgive, since it is against him that we have sinned. He only can cleanse, since only the Creator can create anew.

2. This is given through Christ. Hints of the means only appear in the Old Testament. The gospel revelation brings it more clearly before us (1Pe 2:24). In the sight of the cross we see the great assurance of deliverance from sin in the revelation of the means by which this is brought about. Since Christ has died for our sins we have good reason to ask for forgiveness and cleansing.

3. The promised cleansing and forgiveness are perfect; i.e.

(1) from all sinsnone can be too black for the “Lord of all flesh” to overcome, for “is there anything too hard for him”? and

(2) a complete deliverancea forgiveness that forgets and boars no grudge, a cleansing that leaves no stain and produces a regeneration of life.

III. PERFECT FORGIVENESS AND CLEANSING ARE TO BE RECEIVED THROUGH REPENTANCE AND FAITH.

1. As God accomplishes the perfect deliverance from sin, it is foolish for us to begin a small and imperfect and certainly futile cleansing on our own account. But we must desire the justification and the pardon, else it is unreasonable to expect God to bestow them. This desire, real and active, is repentance.

2. Then must follow faith. It is not necessary for us to understand the rationale of the atonement in order to profit by the fruits of it. But it is necessary to trust in the Saviour. Faith is a very different thing from an intellectual comprehension and conviction of a complex set of doctrines. It is a personal trust. This trust is an essential condition of cleansing and forgiveness. Till we yield ourselves to the influence of God’s grace, and trust to his love, we cannot expect him to deliver us.

Jer 33:9

The Church an honour to God.

What is here promised to the Jews finds its fulfilment, not in the Jews alone, nor in them at all until they submit to the Christian influences of the new covenant, but in all the spiritual Israelin the Church of Christ.

I. CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THE CHURCH IS AN HONOUR TO GOD. It is described as a “monument of joy” because God takes delight in it (Jer 32:41), and as “a praise and an honour” because by means of it God’s glory is manifested abroad. This, in turn, is an honour to the Church. Though God picks his fallen children up from the mire of sin he does not leave them in shame and degradation. The prodigal is stripped of his rags and clothed with the best robe. God regards his Church, even here, with the stains of war and toil and sin upon her, as capable of manifesting forth his glory. What greater mission could she have?

II. INQUIRE INTO THE SOURCES OF THIS HONOUR. How comes it that the Church is an honour to God? Her own excellences can scarcely be considered as glorious in themselves. It is not in the inherent worth of these that we find the secret of the glory given by the Church to God. The Church is formed by God, redeemed by his mercy, delivered by his power, maintained by his help. Her very existence is a witness to God’s forgiving and restoring grace. All that she does for good is not accomplished by her own might, but through the inspiration of his Spirit. The picture is an honour to the painter because it is the fruit of his well directed labour. We do not admire it only for its simple beauty. If it is a representation of the humblest scene in nature, the reality must be infinitely more beautiful than the picture; yet we give great admiration to the work of art because it is a work and because it reveals art. So the Church is an honour to God as the fruit of his work and of Christ’s sacrifice.

III. NOTE THE EFFECTS OF THIS HONOUR.

1. It is to impress the world. The Jews were a standing witness of the power and goodness of God to the neighbouring nations. The Church of Christ is called to a similar mission on a world wide scale. The very existence of the Church as the ark upon the waters preserved and blessed by God is one of the greatest means of making known the grace and glory of redemption. More eloquent than any words is the silent testimony of the good and peaceful lives of godly men.

2. Therefore a great responsibility rests upon all Christians. God entrusts his honour to his Church. If, therefore, she can glorify him, she has also the power to bring dishonour on his Name. The “good soldier of Jesus Christ” is an honour to his Captain; but the sluggard, the coward, and the traitor are a discredit to his high name, and their faithlessness does something to smirch the beauty of the banner of redemption.

Jer 33:10-13

Town and country life.

In describing the happy future of Israel after the restoration Jeremiah draws a pair of idyllic pictures of town and country life. Both the city of Jerusalem and the outlying regions were so depopulated and wasted by the Chaldean invasion that it was difficult to believe the sun of prosperity would ever shine on them again. But under the providence of God there is a wonderful recuperative power in the human world as well as in the natural. It is remarkable how soon the battlefield with its hideous relics becomes a flowery meadow. The rapid revival of the French nation after the war of 1870 was an astonishment to Europe. This may be accounted for partly on natural principles, since war rarely touches the permanent resources of a country; if it drains the stream, it does not stanch the fountainhead. The capital of a country is always being consumed and remade in peaceful times, so that the destruction of it in war is not so great a calamity as might appear at first sight. But a true revival of prosperity depends on higher causes. A nation is only really prosperous when its people are advancing in moral tone, when there is a Divine root to their recovery. This is implied in the description of restored Israel. Let us consider the two pictures of the restoration.

I. TOWN LIFE. In the happy city described by Jeremiah there is a repopulation of the deserted streets. What a melancholy sight is a city in ruins, silent and solitary! The very suggestion of life and bustle increases the gloom of the unnatural stillness that haunts the place. The first step towards restoration is to bring back the inhabitants. The strength of a nation resides ultimately in its population. No empire has yet been ruined through over population; many, from Rome downwards, by the decay of population. There was a great economic truth in the Hebrew estimate of the value of a thickly inhabited country. In the city we see this concentrated. That is a human world in itself. If man is a social being, if cooperation and sympathy are good things, there we may look for true advancing prosperity. But the congregation of human beings in a city aggravates the evils of life when these are not restrained. In the city disease, misery, vice, and crime find their victims. The saddest sight in modern civilization (?) is the wretched condition of the back slums of the greatest cities of Europe, and the moral state of too much of the remainder. Men do not find prosperity and happiness by merely crowding together. In Jeremiah’s picture of the new Jerusalem there is no room for those ugly scenes that Victor Hugo and Dickens make familiar in their representations of Paris and London. There is joy. There is worship. There is sacrifice and devotion to God. When the temple is the true centre of the city, when religion presides over her commerce and her pleasure, then, and then only, can true happiness be enjoyed by the citizens.

II. COUNTRY LIFE. Jeremiah paints a companion picture of country life with skilful adaptation of parallels and contrasts. The scene is pastoral. Prosperity is witnessed in quiet industry and growing wealth of flocks and herds. Such a life is no more idle than that of the cityoften less so, and it is more calm. The stimulus of competition and the aid of cooperation are lost, but the reflections of solitude are gained; communion with nature takes the place of communion with man. This may be an ideal state of happiness to him who knows how to enjoy it. Both forms of life will be blessed when rightly followed; neither when abused. Dr. Johnson showed his wisdom in appreciating the merits of town life, but Cowper had good reasons for preferring the country. Country life has its vices, its ignorance, narrowness, and brutality, its poverty and lonely distresses. This also needs a higher life to keep it pure and happy. The Christian may find good in whichever condition his lot is cast, since God can bless both to him,

Jer 33:15

The Branch of righteousness.

If these words were intended by the prophet to refer to a succession of kings the promise they contain is nevertheless fulfilled in one, and one only, Jesus Christ. The glory of redeemed Israel is to find its consummation in the restoration of the throne of David with righteous government. The true glory of redemption is seen in the righteous rule of Christ. Much of what is taught here is similar to the suggestions of a former passage (Jer 23:5). But the verse before us has also some lessons of its own, viz.

I. CHRIST IS A BRANCH (OR SPROUT) OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. He is of the stock of David, preserving the tradition and inheriting the rights of the royal family. But he is far above the old kings in character as well as in nature. Jeremiah repeatedly insisted on a fact that is only too apparent in the historical books of the Old Testamentthe fact that the ruin of Israel was largely due to the bad conduct of her kings. Christ is the one perfectly righteous King. This righteousness of Christ is of great significance.

1. It secures and justifies his position. There is no reason to depose him as there was to depose many of the ancient kings.

2. It gives him great claims for honour and obedience from his subjects. Such a king deserves loyal service.

3. It gives worth to his sacrifice. Christ is a Priest as well as a Kingthe Melchisedec of the New Testament. When he intercedes for the world, and so redeems to himself “a people of acquisition” (1Pe 2:9), his righteousness affords weight to his pleading.

4. It makes his example to be of supreme authority. As the righteous King he is the type of what the righteous subject should be. A further inference, drawn by the prophet himself, is worth more extended notice.

II. CHRIST MAINTAINS A RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT. Under a personal rule the character of the administration is an exact reflex of the character of the monarch. We see in the history of the Jews how bad conduct in the kings meant iniquitous treatment of the subjects. Christ, the righteous King, will necessarily rule righteously. From this fact certain important consequences flow.

1. Negatively, Christ will abolish the injustice under which many of his people suffer. It may be necessary that the process shall be slow. But it must be accomplished in the golden future. Meanwhile it is a consolation for the wronged to feel that even now they are not unfairly dealt with by their great Master; and surely to the Christian Christ’s behaviour should be far more important than anything the world may do.

2. Positively, Christ will maintain the right, and effectually rebuke the wrong within his kingdom; he is a King as well as a Saviour, and a righteous King executing judgment. Mild and gentle, he is yet holy and firm. The Christian who would enjoy the favour of his Master must win his approval by loyal obedience and pure living. Christ is no lax and careless Monarch. It would be ill for his Church if he were so.

3. Christ will lead his people into righteousness. He rules in righteousness, not only to execute justice, but to make his people righteous. This is the highest idea of righteous government. How do we stand in relation to this righteous kingship of Christ? Are we submitting to it for our own improvement and his glory? Are we ignoring, or resisting, or dishonouring it only to bring a judgment from the righteous God upon our heads. Let the careless remember that the Saviour is a King and a Judge.

Jer 33:16

(See on Jer 23:6.)

Jer 33:19-26

Nature’s aids to faith.

We see faith and science flung into conflict. In the Bible they not only harmonize, but science is regarded as a stay to faith, and nature, instead of being treated as a hindrance to faith, is repeatedly called in to strengthen it. As science advances old formulae are necessarily discarded. But may we not approach the difficulties of our age in the spirit of the Bible, and hope for some large synthesis which shall restore the old relation of science as the handmaid of religion? In the mean time the general correspondences suggested by Jeremiah are as true now as they were in his day.

I. THE PERMANENCE OF NATURE IS AN ASSURANCE OF THE PERMANENCE OF GRACE. The same God rules in the physical and spiritual spheres. In the one he is not capricious and uncertain. Why should we fear his being so in the other? Night, tempest, winterthings dark and wilddo not set aside the eternal ordinances of beneficent nature. The blue sky survives the black cloud that hides it for a season only to reveal it the more clearly after shedding itself in thundershowers. Why, then, should we think that the heavenly grace of God’s love should be less enduring? If the ordinances of nature fail we may expect the same of the covenant of grace, but not till then, since both depend on the same Divine endurance.

II. THE SUCCESSIONS OF NATURE ARE PLEDGES OF THE SUCCESSIONS OF GRACE. Nature is ever changing, though changing according to uniform laws. In spiritual experience we meet with change. Neither of God’s kingdoms is a Chinese empire. Progress marks both; and progress means change. But the change, though it alters events, does not alter principles; it only develops them to fuller exercise. Do the changes of life make us fear the loss of God’s blessing? Let us remember that the changes in nature do not upset its laws, Our experience varies, but God’s love is changeless. He shows this love, however, rather by a succession of blessings than by maintaining present blessings unaltered. So is it in nature day and night, summer and winter, alternate. Today’s grace will not last for tomorrow; but new grace will be bestowed then if we seek it. The succession does not fail in nature, nor will it in grace.

III. THE ABUNDANCE OF NATURE IS A PROMISE OF THE ABUNDANCE OF GRACE. We cannot count the stars. Can we count the contents of our own world? of one small section of it? The great and multitudinous variety of nature was a wonder to the ancient Hebrews. How much more wonderful is it to us! There we see no failing of resources, but an infinite abundance, an almost reckless prodigality that sometimes shocks our economic notions, founded as they are on the requirements of limited means, but not applicable to an infinite wealth. Why then should we fear that the fountains of grace that flow from the same God should ever run dry? God administers his grace with a royal bounty. There is enough for all; there is abundance for each.

HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR

Jer 33:1

(Cf. Jer 32:1-5.)M.

Jer 33:1-3

Revelation of God’s purpose to him who performs his will.

Jeremiah had resolutely witnessed to the truth, and now he was confined in the king’s prison in order to his being silenced. But so far from the Divine communications being less frequent, they were more so, and, if possible, more weighty and important. The word of the Lord came to him the second time (verse 1), and a gracious revelation of God’s power and willingness to bless.

I. GOD IS WITH THOSE WHO SUFFER FOR HIS SAKE. It was a token of his love that Jeremiah should receive this assurance, and one which he was most certain to appreciate. Prisoners and martyrs for conscience’ sake in all ages of the Church have been similarly consoled. There are special and peculiar consolations for persons so situated. God is nearer then than at other times. His promises are greater and brighter, and his presence more felt. Who would not suffer thus to be thus comforted?

II. GOD REQUESTS US TO ASK OF HIM THE THINGS WE MOST DESIRE. Not that there are not circumstances of such a character as to call forth spontaneous proofs of his favour and love. But seeking and asking are exercises of faith, which cannot long be dispensed with in our intercourse with our heavenly Father, even although “he knoweth what things we have need of before we ask him” (Mat 6:8). And this because:

1. The exercises of the soul in prayer and faith are greater benefits in them selves than most things that are to be procured through them.

2. Such exercises are a preparation of the soul for heavenly gifts and communications, and keep it in readiness for them.

3. They are pleasing to God, and gratify his love. The answer is certain, and, indeed, waiting; but he loves to be asked. There is no more endearing position in the sight of God than that of prayer.

III. THOSE WHO FAITHFULLY OBEY GOD‘S WILL, WILL LEARN SOMETHING OF HIS PURPOSE. Revelations of surpassing magnitude await the prophet in the darkness of his prison house. He did not hesitate to proclaim God s will, and to submit to the consequences of so doing; he is to receive his reward in further disclosures. And these are of the most gracious and consolatory description. But apart from this, the mere communication of the Divine purpose to him was a sign of favour and honour; his truest satisfaction and peace were to be found in hearing God’s voice, and being considered worthy to share the secrets of the Divine future. Man is steward of the present; God retains his hold upon the future, and only discloses it for the reward of faithful men, and for great and merciful ends.

1. Great things, in their scope, character, and influences as belonging to salvation.

2. Secret things (Authorized Version renders this word “mighty”). Not belonging to ordinary experience, but to God’s counsel.M.

Jer 33:15, Jer 33:16

(Vide on Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6.)M.

Jer 33:17, Jer 33:18

Perpetuation of the kingly and priestly stock.

I. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE OFFICES. To single out these two offices from the others existing within the Jewish nation is to emphasize their importance. They are thereby recognized as the pillars of the theocratic constitution.

1. The king. The grandest unit of human society. Evidently no accidental office, but an ordained and significant one. The king, as representative of God, was the supreme authority of the state, As the chosen of God, or as legitimately descended from such a one, he ruled by Divine right. He was the centre of patriotic attachment, and the authoritative embodiment and enforcer of Divine righteousnessat least that was the ideal. How few of the princes of the Davidic succession realized this the history of Judah can witness. But it was ever held before the people as a sacred promise that a “king should reign in righteousness.”

2. The priest. The covenant of priesthood was a covenant of peace (Num 25:12), of life and peace (Mal 2:5). It was the mediatorial or reconciling element in the constitution that through which the nation in its individual citizens, and as a whole, was related acceptably with God, and made partaker of his righteousness. The consecration of the priesthood in a mediate sense sanctified the people; and in the continued existence of the priesthood a guarantee was afforded of the favour of God and the permanence of Israel’s mission as the righteous servant of God.

II. HOW THE PROMISE WAS FULFILLED. What is actually predicted concerning the Davidic and Levitical succession is that it will never be quite cut off; it will never happen that there is wanting any one in whom the house may be perpetuated. In the Captivity such a gap took place: Jeconiah was written childless. But it was never to occur again. Now, how are we to understand this promise? In its literal sense it was only approximately fulfilled; spiritually and figuratively the fulfilment was complete:

1. In our Lord Jesus Christ. Of the house of David after the flesh, he is eternal King and Lord of the spiritual Israel. He is also “a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.” As the great High Priest of mankind, he appears before God “making continual intercession” (Heb 8:3).

2. Christians, too, realize the ideal here presented. Through the atoning work of Christ they are made “kings and priests,” a “royal priesthood” (1Pe 2:5-8). The identification of the Lord with his servant dignifies and ennobles the latter, making him a new centre of spiritual dominion and of intercessory and reconciling influence. “If we suffer [endure] we shall also reign with him” (2Ti 2:12) is a promise which looks forward to the completion of the Messianic kingdom. The Levitical priesthood, too, is lost and absorbed in the priestly character of Christ and his people.M.

Jer 33:19-22

The covenant of God permanent as the laws of nature.

A curious inversion of Gen 8:22, but very instructive. There, what is considered by the secular mind as secured by the laws of matter operating mechanically, is declared as a promise, and consequently as dependent upon the good will and gracious purpose of God; here, what appears at first to be within the power of one or both parties to it, is stated to be as absolute and permanent as if it were not a moral engagement but a material law. Accepting, as in Gen 8:17 and Gen 8:18, the Messianic as the true fulfilment of this prediction, what do we learn?

I. THE INTRINSIC POWER OF GOD‘S WORD. The creative flat was omnipotent; the promise is to be not less so. It is as if a power dwelt within it to bring to pass what it declares. Of course this is not so in the one case any more than in the other. God is in his Word, making it effectual even to its remotest end. We are reminded of Christ’s utterance, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,” which seems to make an even stronger assertion. Equally potent is the Word of God in the gospel, its warnings, invitations, and transforming energies.

II. THE ABSOLUTE, ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST. The human element in the Divine covenant relation has ever been the variable and uncertain one. But through the unique personality of the God Man, and of his atoning sacrifice, that element is strengthened and made secure. An incarnation like that of Emmanuel, an act like the death on the cross, once achieved is irreversible, and its consequences must affect the remotest eternity. The spiritual laws comprehended and illustrated in the transactions of the gospel are as irreversible as those of nature; and in the person and work of Christ there is an objective basis presented that can never be destroyed by the weaknesses or unbelief of men, any more than “my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night.”

III. THE SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE OF THE NEW COVENANT. (Gen 8:22.) It is really a creative word, because it calls into existence the Church or community of believers, who are the true successors of the seed of David and the Levitical priesthood. In its constant triumphs and the ever increasing nature of the Messianic kingdom, fresh securities are given for the perpetuation of the kingly and priestly functions as developed through the grace of God in human nature. Where the gospel is faithfully preached, and spiritual life truly energizes, believers will, as at Pentecost, be “added daily” and “multiplied.” It is like leaven, a seed, etc. As appealing to the deepest needs and yearnings of human nature, it is bound to overcome the world and comprehend the whole race within the zone of its influence. “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa 55:11).M.

HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY

Jer 33:3

The reasonableness of prayer.

“Call upon me, and I will answer thee” etc. This is one of the blessed promises of God given for the help of sorrowful and struggling men. None but God knows how many have been helped by it and by the glorious throng of Divine words which are like unto it, or how often, or how mightily. “Ah! you think so,” replies a voice not unfrequently nor too modestly heard in these days. ‘Tis the voice of the disciples of science, which says, “Yes; you religious people think God answers your prayers and hears you when you call upon him; but really it is no such thing; it is all a mistake, and, what is more, you ought to know and confess it, and therefore give over what you are pleased to call your prayers. Prayer! how is such a thing possible in a universe governed everywhere by fixed laws as ours is? Where in such an order is there room for what you call ‘answers to prayer’? It is scientifically impossible, not to say absurd, and the marvel is that people don’t see this.” So speak, and some of them with far more of arrogance and scorn than now represented, not a few of the scientists of the day. The calling upon God in the day of trouble is nothing more, so one of the most distinguished of modern philosophers has said, than the piteous cry of the hare when she knows that the hounds are upon her. A bitter cry of distress wrung out from the soul. It is thought by those who utter it to go up to God, and that God will hear it and help; but that is all a vain imagination; it goes out into mere space; nothing does come of it, and nothing can. This is what is said, and it is based upon the observed uniformity and inflexibility of law. All science is built up upon this faith of the unbroken order and regularity of law, and without it there could be no science, and indeed no life at all. The reign of law is everywhere; how then can prayer be reasonable? and where is there room for those Divine interpositions which prayer asks for and thinks it receives? What is the use, then, of the mother weeping her heart out in her prayers that God would give back the health of her beloved child? What the use of national fasts and days of prayer for rain, for removal of pestilence, for restoration of the health of princes, and the like? If these things lie in the order of fixed law, they will come to pass without any prayer; if not, they will not be in spite of all the prayers of all the Churches in all the world. Now, this is what is so loudly and largely being said on all sides. What have we to reply? Has the Christian preacher nought to urge on the other side? We think he has. He has a right to ask the scientists such questions as these

I. HAS SCIENCE DISCOVERED ALL GOD‘S FIXED LAWS? Are you quite sure that nowhere there may be some law which shall provide for these results which Christians call “answers to prayer”? We are bound to be grateful for the magnificent discoveries of the laws of the universe which science has already made. But has it discovered all these laws? and if not, why amongst those as yet undiscovered ones may there not be that which the Christian needs to justify his prayer? It is the same argument as John Foster urges against the atheistic doctrine that there is no God! “What ages and lights are requisite for this attainment, the knowing that there is no God! This intelligence involves the very attributes of divinity, while a God is denied. For unless this man is omnipresent, unless he is at this moment in every place in the universe, he cannot know but that in some place there may be manifestations of a Deity by which even he would be overpowered Unless he knows all things, that is, precludes another deity by being one himself, he cannot know that the Being whose existence he rejects does not exist.” Now, in like manner, the Christian may meet the scientific unbeliever by asking him whether he has traced every effect up to its cause. May not, then, the cause you do not know be the one which meets the Christian’s need and secures answer to his legitimate prayers?

II. WHAT MORE RIGHT HAS SCIENCE TO REJECT THE FACTS FROM WHICH THE CHRISTIAN DEDUCES HIS DOCTRINE THAT GOD ANSWERS PRAYER, THAN THE CHRISTIAN HAS TO REJECT THE FACTS UPON WHICH SCIENCE BASES HER DOCTRINE OF INVARIABLE LAW? Science marshals her facts. They are a goodly array, and drawn from all departments of creation, animate and inanimate; from all kinds of living organisms, whether animal or vegetable; and they have forced upon you, we readily admit, the conviction of the universality and invariability of natural law. Christians are bound to believe you. We are not going to question your facts, though we may some of your inferences from them. Let your facts once be proved to be facts, as so many of them have been, and we will candidly accept them. Yes, though they compel us to set aside some old and cherished interpretations of Scripture, and to confess that we have read our Bibles wrongly in more than one instance. We trust you in your statement of facts; we believe you to be good men and true. Now we turn and ask you to deal with us and our facts in like manner. For we, too, have facts from which we have drawn the conclusion that, let prayer be according to the will of God, he will assuredly answer it. Some of our facts which have much force with us you perhaps would not admit, since you would explain them on the ground of mere coincidence, and we could not prove that, apart from prayer, they could not have been. E.g. persons in distress have called upon God; relief has unexpectedly come and in very remarkable ways. The believer looks on such instances as answers to prayer; nothing can persuade him that they are not. Still, it cannot be denied that they may have occurred without such prayer. Other such instances are those in which life despaired of has been given back in answer to, or in connection with, fervent prayer for such restoration; as the Prince of Wales’s recovery in 1872. Now, this recovery might have beenwe cannot prove that it could notapart from prayer, and therefore, whilst these instances are very convincing to the believer, they are not so to others. But there are facts concerning which we can say they are valid for our argument, because they never have occurred and never do occur, apart from prayer. E.g. in the coming away of any soul from its attachment to the world to surrender itself in trust and love to Christthat which is called conversion; was this ever known apart from prayer? Did ever any find the Lord without seeking himi.e without prayer? Also in the ordinary conduct of the Christian life, who among us is able to keep his garments unspotted from the world, to overcome besetting sin, to confront and conquer temptation, to preserve the hands clean and the heart pure, without continual prayer? Again, who are they that have attained to a high degree of spiritual life and vigour, to whom it is their habit to walk with God; who “rejoice in the Lord always;” who are God’s saints indeed, the very elect, about whose being born of God we have no doubt? Now, every one of these will tell you that they owed their all to the habit their Lord enabled them to maintain of constant prayer. Press on in thought to the realms of the blest, move up and down amid the throng of God’s redeemed; is there one who has or could have attained that blessedness if on earth he had not sought God in prayer and called on the Name of the Lord? So with any really living Church, a Church that is a power for good, a blessing to the neighbourhood, a Church at peace, at work, and blessed with the prosperity of God, is the life of such a Church ever possible apart from this same power of prayer? Its life is nurtured, not by its wealth, numbers, rank, culture, intellect, eloquence, or any such gifts, but by its prayers. All the rest would let it starve; by prayer alone it lives. One other instancethe winning of our children for God. Does any parent or teacher ever secure this great joy without prayer? Never. Such are our facts; in them we are sure that God answers prayer; and hence we believe also that in the material world he does the same. And as we receive the facts of science, so we ask that our facts may be received likewise.

III. IS NOT GOD OUR FATHER? The scientific hypothesis denies his fatherhood, if not his very existence altogether. If he do exist, he is, according to the scientist, so enclosed in his own laws and in the visible adjustment of things that he has no room for freedom of choice, for exercise of will. Like the mainspring of a watch, he is shut up in his own works, and can only act in one given way. Or, like the locomotives on our railways, he must keep to the rigid appointed iron track, and not swerve therefrom in the least. But that is not our conception of God. We believe him to have a mind, a will, a heart; and hence we conclude that, like the best earthly parents, whilst keeping ever in view the true welfare of his children, he yet allows himself, within those limits, freedom of action as may seem to him wisest and best. Now, within these limits there is room for prayer and room for answers to prayer. We cannot believe him to be so tied down by his physical laws that, when it is consistent with the highest good of his children, and yet more when it is necessary for that good, he is unable to modify or alter them even though he would. A God so bound by physical law is really no God, and the creed of the atheist will alone harmonize with the assertions of science. If there be a God, he must be a personal God; but if he be a Person, then he must have will, the power of choice; but if he have will, he must be able to modify the action of his laws, as we can and do continually; and if he be our Father, as we believe, then we need not doubt that the fervent believing prayer of his children will avail much to induce him to modify his laws for our good. And hence we maintain that it is good to call upon him, and that he is nigh unto such and will save them. Prayer, then, is not unreasonable if there be a God; not unreasonable if we adopt the very methods of science itself, and deduce our doctrine from our facts; not unreasonable, unless it can be shown that science is aware of and has registered every fixed law of God.C.

Jer 33:6

The Divine treatment of sin.

“Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them.” Here, as in so many other Scriptures, the moral, political, social, and spiritual recovery of Israel is spoken of under the image of bodily healing. For all healings of the body are types and pledges of the better healing. If God so cares for the body, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the tomb, shall he not care for the soul, which is eternal? This Jer 33:6 is a promise that the Divine treatment of sin shall be effectual. The Lord is Jehovah-rophi. He heals them that have need of healing.

I. SIN IS AN AWFUL FACT. All nations have recognized this and mourned over it. But it has not been created by Christianity. True, the Christian faith brands it with the stigma of shame as none other does; foreverywhere sin has cast its deep shadow and driven noble souls, not a few, to utter despair. But it was here before Christianity. Hence

II. THE QUESTION OF QUESTIONS HAS BEENWHAT IS TO BE DONE WITH IT? And the answers have been very different. Note:

1. The answer of the philosopher, which extenuates it, on the ground:

(1) Of the imperfection of our nature. If we knew more, it is said, had larger comprehension of truth, we should not sin. But is that true? Is increase of knowledge always increase of virtue? Are little children, who know so little, less virtuous than many an educated man? The names that are accursed forever, Nero, Herod, Balaam, Philip II. of Spain, Alva, and many more, were all educated men.

(2) Of the tyranny of the body. It is this cursed flesh, they say. Get rid of that, and the soul will be pure. Hence one reason wherefore St. Paul’s doctrine of the resurrection was so opposed at Corinth, because they thought it was a bringing back of all that dread source of evil which it was hoped was done with forever when death came. Now, no doubt, the flesh is the occasion of sins not a few. But there are many sins, and those which probably God will most sternly condemn, which are quite independent of the body. Malice, envy, hatred, and all uncharitableness need no “flesh” for their existence. And even in those sins which are especially of the flesh, myriads of victories over it, victories continually renewed, prove that it can, as it ought to, be kept under and brought into subjection.

(3) Of its being a form of good. Without it, it is urged, virtue could not be attained; for it is in the conflict with sin that virtue is developed, disciplined, and strengthened. Virtue would lie dormant, lethargic, and be a miserable weakling, were it not that sin roused her up, exasperated her, and forced her to stand on her defence. But such argument confounds temptation with sin. What is urged is true of temptation, but never of sin. Nor is sin needed as the foil, the dark background on which virtue shall shine out with greater lustre than but for this foil had been possible to it. For sin is, some affirm, a necessary condition, almost an ingredient, of good. Moral evil cannot be so evil as it is thought. The devil is not so black as he is painted. But is sin necessary to manifest goodness? Where, then, is such background in God, or in the angels, or in the saints in glory? None, therefore, of these extenuations will stand. Reason, conscience, and God’s Word alike condemn them.

2. There is the answer of despair, which regards it as inevitable and invincible. This answer does not make light of it, but regards it as that which can neither be helped nor overcome. They believe there is a kingdom of evil, independent of God, with its all but omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient head, like unto God. This was the creed of ancient Persia, against which, that his countrymen might not be carried away by it, Isaiah protested with all his might; cf. Isa 45:5-7, “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” And Manicheism was a like heresy. And the moral despair which regards sin as inevitable is practical Manicheism. But this is a terrible error; for he who has come to believe in the existence of a god of evil as well as a God of goodness will soon come to believe only in the former and not in the latter at all. Moreover, conscience in her deepest utterances gives no countenance to this invincibility of evil. “Father, I have sinned,” is its confession. It never urges that it had no power to resistthat it was forced to sin. It is a dread snare of the devil to persuade men that sin is invincible. Believe him not. Myriads of holy souls give him the lie; and, through the might of Christ your Lord, you may give him the lie likewise. But note now

III. CHRIST‘S ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION. This verse is one of innumerable others which affirm the same truth.

1. He does not make light of it or extenuate it. His high and holy teaching, his blameless life, the doom he pronounced on sin, above all, the death he died, were one emphatic protest against and condemnation of sin. But:

2. He did not regard it as invincible. He distinctly promises deliverance from it, and:

3. This he gives. By blotting out the record of the past. By the present help of his Spirit. By the bright prospect of eternal life. Facts prove all this. He healed them that had need of healing. No disease baffled him. His resources did not run out, and the healing was a real one. And so it is still. Let us come to him and see.C.

Jer 33:9

Fruits of pardon.

Some of these are declared here; e.g.

I. IN REGARD TO GOD.

1. Joy. God, not Deus impassibilisa God who does not feel.

2. Praise and honour. The theme of the Church on earth, and especially in heaven, is this, “Unto him that loved us,” etc. There is no glory equal to that which shall accrue to God by “Jesus Christ,” for through him pardon comes to guilty men.

II. IN REGARD TO THE PARDONED THEMSELVES. They enjoy the goodness and prosperity which God procures them. Pardon is not mere acquittal, but acceptance and adoption, and hence the goodness and prosperity.

III. IN REGARD TO THE WORLD AT LARGE. “They shall fear and tremble.” Why this?

1. Because of its manifestation of power. His people a feeble flock, but thus raised and exalted.

2. Because of its exposure of idolatry. It will be seen how foolish they have been to trust in their false gods.

3. Because of its manifestation of grace. The fear and trembling shall not be of dread so much as of repentancerepentance wrought by the evident grace of God in the rich pardon he has bestowed.C.

Jer 33:10-18

Paradise lost and regained.

I. THE PICTURE OF A PARADISE LOST. This is given in Jer 33:10. The land desolate; the flocks and herds all gone; no human being to be seen; the cities laid waste. Now, this meagre outline would recall to the mind of the Jews the blessed days when the land teemed with inhabitants; when the cities were numerous, wealthy, populous, and strong; when the hills and dales of their countryside were covered over with flocks; and when, in the glad prosperity of all, the very fields were said “to shout for joy and also sing” (Psa 65:1-13.). But all that is past; desolation reigns, the lands stripped, the cities burnt with fire, and the people slain or in exile; the whole land desolate of both man and beast.

II. PARADISE REGAINED. Such is the bright, joyous picture set forth in these verses (11-18). Its elements are:

1. Righteousness. Not mere innocence, as in Eden, but virtue tested and triumphant, and so issuing in a settled righteousness. This must be the basis of all truly blessed life. The people must be all righteous. This secured by him who is called “the righteous Branch, the Lord our Righteousness.”

2. Love. (See Jer 33:11.) The joyous picture of the gladness of the bridegroom and the bride. And that companionship which is the most blessed in the world, and that love which is deepest and purest of all, are fitly taken as the symbol of that love which shall constitute the home of God’s redeemed more than a paradise regained.

3. Worship. (Jer 33:11.) The picture of the temple service has risen up before the prophet’s mind. He hears the glad chant, the loud response of the people, “Praise the Lord.” He sees the altar fire and the priests and sacrifices, and by this representation he teaches us that worship is part of the blessedness that is to be.

4. Healthful and universal employ. (Jer 33:12, Jer 33:13.) It has often been said, “God made the country, man made the town; and the saying may be read truly or falsely, as each one wills. For he who says there is nought of God in the city speaks as falsely as he who says there is only God in the country. But there can be no doubt that the highest, purest, and most healthful forms of life are connected with the country. “Four words, each of them full of meaning, comprise the conceptions which we attribute to the paradisaical state. They are these innocence, love, rural life, piety; and it is towards these conditions of earthly happiness that the human mind reverts, as often as it turns, sickened and disappointed, from the pursuit of whatever else it may have ever laboured to acquire. The innocence we here think of is not virtue recovered, but it is moral perfectness, darkened by no thought or knowledge of the contrary. This paradisaical love is conjugal fondness, free from sensuous taint. This rural life is the constant flow of summer days, spent in garden and field, exempt from our exacted toil. This piety of paradise is the grateful approach of the finite to the Infinitea correspondence that is neither clouded nor apprehensive of a cloud” (Isaac Taylor). Now, in these verses, when the prophet would set forth the blessed life that the restored people should enjoy, he draws a picture, not of city, but of country life; not of hard exacting toil, but of healthful, peaceful occupationthe pastoral life of a quiet, beautiful land. It is a symbol of all healthful employ, and such employ shall be a further feature in the blessedness that is to be. Therefore, “Sursum corda!” a righteous, loving, worshipful, and healthful life awaits the sons of men “for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them,” saith the Lord.C.

Jer 33:11

The prophet’s refrain.

“For I will cause to return the captivity of the land.” This declaration is heard again and again. We have it in substance times without number in this and in previous chapters. We have a similar statement in Jer 32:37. But we have the exact words, the very same form of expression, in Jer 32:44, and in Jer 32:7 and Jer 32:26 of this chapter. Hence we have called it the prophet’s refrain. And the like theme of God’s purposes of grace towards mankind generally should be the refrain of all the prophets of the Lord in these our days. For

I. THE BLESSINGS ASSURED ARE SIMILAR. In connection with each several repetition of this promise, “I will cause their captivity to return,” is named some specific blessing which that return shall bring along with it. In connection with its first mention (Jer 32:44) God’s purpose is given as the reason wherefore his now afflicted people should again possess their land. And there is a life eternal, a true, real, blessed life for humanity; a life compared with which this life is like the hard lot of the captive Israel compared with the glowing glad life promised in the days when their captivity should return. Then in connection with its second mention (Jer 32:7 of this chapter) there is the promise of “health and cure,” moral and spiritual health, when their iniquity should be cleansed and their sin forgiven. And is not the promise of man’s redemption like to this? In the eternal life there shall be health and cure indeed. And with the third mention of this promise (Jer 32:11) there is associated gladness and joy. “There shall be the voice of joy and the voice of gladness,” etc. (Jer 32:11). And with the fourth there is (Jer 32:26 of this chapter) the promise of permanence for all that has been before, the permanency as of the covenant of day and night, and the perpetual sovereignty of their own royal house, the seed of David. And so we look for a new order of things, which shall not be as this, troubled and transient, but characterized by a rest and joy that shall be eternal. Thus analogous are the blessings promised to the return of Israel and the redemption of mankind.

II. THE MOTIVES OF SUCH PROCLAMATION OF GOD‘S PURPOSES OF GRACE ARE ALIKE. The reason of the prophet’s refrain were such as these.

1. He so delighted in the truth he had to tell. Often and often he had been charged with a message of a far less welcome kind; but this was blessed to his soul. And so, would we effectually speak of God’s purposes of grace, they must be the joy of our soul. We must ourselves delight in them.

2. He really believed it. The oft repetition of this word shows his confidence in it. He speaks with no bated breath. “I believed, therefore have I spoken.” And this must ever be the spiritual force with which our gospel must be charged if it is to have any effect on those who hear it.

3. He knew it would so comfort the cast down. Many already were mourning along with the prophet over the desolations so surely coming on the land, and many more when away in exile would mourn. But the prophet knew that their hearts would be cheered and sustained by the earnest and confident assurance that “their captivity should return.” For their sake, therefore, he reiterated this word. And in order to our now earnestly proclaiming the message of God’s love, we too must believe that it will do the people good, that it will be for their help and comfort. And we must have for them, as the prophet had for his people, a real love and concern. This has ever been an attendant of and is essential to a successful ministry.

4. He knew that it would so vindicate God. Questionings and perplexities not a few were being occasioned by the prophet’s solemn declarations of the coming destruction. They contrasted his terrible word with the oft repeated promises made by God” to David and to his seed forever” and to Zion, concerning which he had said, “There will I dwell, for I have delighted in it.” These and the many more like promises seemed forever to forbid the possibility of that which the prophet, and now the actual course of events, declared to be close at hand. How were the two to be reconciled, and the truth and goodness of God to be vindicated? It was by the truth declared in this refrain of the prophet. That rendered both Divine words harmonious and true. Thus the enemies of the prophet would be silenced, and the company of them that feared God would be reassured. The house of God was dear to the prophet; and so must it be to us would we earnestly preach his Word. “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up;” “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” So was it spoken of or by the Lord Jesus Christ; and so in like manner in our measure and degree must it be true of us if we are to be true witnesses for him and for his grace. The gospel is the vindication of God today, as the return of the Captivity was in the days of the prophet. And being jealous for God, he proclaimed incessantly that return, as we must the redemption of mankind.C.

Jer 33:16

The Lord our Righteousness.

(Cf. homily on Jer 23:6.)C.

Jer 33:17, Jer 33:18

Do the prophets prophesy falsely?

If the statements of these verses be taken literally, it would seem as if they did. The house of Israel never, since its exile, has had a throne at all, nor has any descendant of David been acknowledged as its prince. Yet these verses say, “David shall never want,” etc. And, literally, it never can come to pass, for in the lapse and confusion of the ages their genealogical tables have been utterly lost, so that none can certainly say who is of the house of David or who of the house of Levi. The Asmonean princes who occupied the throne of Judah were of the tribe of Levi, and Herod was no Jew at all. Now, the promise of these verses is one that is perpetually repeated (cf. 2Sa 7:16; 1Ki 2:4; Psa 89:4, Psa 89:29, Psa 89:36; Num 25:12, etc.). How, then, are they to be understood, since events have most surely, falsified them if understood in any literal way? And so the Prophet Hoses cheered the ten tribes of Israelthose of whom we speak now as the lost ten tribesby promises of their restoration, and Jeremiah does the same (cf. Hos 6:2; Jer 3:14, etc.; Jer 1:17 -20, etc.). But in spite of all these prophecies, the “tea tribes never were restored, and never, as a whole, received any favour from God after they went into captivity” (Pusey). Now, what shall we say to these things? Shall we say

I. THE PROPHETS WERE BUT MEN, AND HENCE THEY WERE CERTAIN TO BE WRONG WHEN THEY VENTURED INTO THE DOMAIN OF THE FUTURE? This is the rationalist’s reply. He attributes all these utterances to the wish to cheer their countrymen in their sorrow, and perhaps to maintain their own credit. Sanguine enthusiasm will account for all. Is, then, the estimate that our Lord and his apostles and the Church universal held concerning these “holy men of old, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,” to be regarded as false? Are the prophets themselves to be convicted as liars, affirming, “Thus saith the Lord,” when not the Lord, but only their own poor weak selves were speaking? And are all the manifest fulfilments of prophecy to go for nothing in establishing their authority? The rationalist’s reply will not do.

II. THAT THE EXILES DID NOT FULFIL THE CONDITIONS OF THE PROMISED RESTORATION? But does this principle apply here? No; for the promise of restoration carries along with it the promise of the “new covenant,” which included “the new heart”the heart of stone taken away and the heart of flesh given instead. The conditions necessary for the restoration were the subjects of promise as much as the restoration itself. God took the whole matter into his own hand.

III. THAT THE PROPHETS, LIKE THE APOSTLES CONCERNING THE RETURN OF THE LORD, DID NOT KNOW CONCERNING THE RETURN OF THE CAPTIVITY? The apostles do undoubtedly speak of the Lord’s return as a thing close at hand, to be looked for in their own day. But such language is to be regarded rather as the language of desire than of knowledge. For the Lord had distinctly told them that it was not for them to know the times and the seasons. Therefore we can only regard their words as those of desire, hopepermitted hope, indeed, but not of Divine assurance. May we do thus with the prophetic word on the return of the Captivity? No; because they so distinctly claim the Divine authority. The apostles do not; 1Th 4:15, “By the word of the Lord” is an exception. The Lord’s revelation referred only to such as should be alive and remain at his coming, not to that generation then living.

IV. THAT THE PROMISE IS BUT DELAYED? This is loudly maintained by many. They who believe that the Jews will be restored to their native land, expect it on the express ground that Canaan has never been actually and permanently theirs. A certain tract of country, three hundred miles in length by two hundred in breadth, must be given, or else they think the promise has been broken. “If there be nothing yet future for Israel, then the magnificence of the promise has been lost in the poverty of its accomplishment.” This reply is not to be lightly dismissed. If the kingdom of God, for whose coming we daily pray, do mean that which all who heard our Lord so perpetually speak about it, understood it to meanand he never, in the main substance of their belief, even hinted that they were wrongif it mean the reign of God upon earth, as we believe it does, in which, under Christ, the Israel of God, the Church, shall be first in the kingdom of heaven, having been of those blessed ones who had part in “the first resurrection,” then the literal fulfilment of the prophetic word may reasonably be looked for. This was “the hope of Israel,” of which St. Paul spoke; “the restitution of all things,” and “the times of refreshing,” of which St. Peter spoke; and this belief has at least this vast advantage, that it enables those who hold it to read the Scriptures literally, and to understand by David, Jerusalem, Levi, Israel, etc; that which they seem to mean, and not whatsoever the too facile process of spiritualizing may say that they mean. Of course, if the kingdom is of this world, this age, as our Lord distinctly told Pilate it was not, then a literal fulfilment of these prophecies is out.of the question; but regarded as the kingdom to be revealed in another age, after the resurrection and the Lord’s return, then all is as possible as it will be blessed.

V. THAT IT IS FULFILLED ALREADY? This is what they affirm who regard our Lord as embodying in himself both the regal and priestly functions, and the Church as being the nation whom God has restored. The Jew’s national life and his religion were the two things most dear to him. These, it is said, have been preserved to him in the Church, and in him who is the Church’s Head. But surely these are the exigencies of exegesis, and but preteroea nihil.

VI. THAT SUCH PREDICTIONS ARE INSTANCES OF GOD‘S LAW OF ILLUSION? We have illusions in nature. The sun, etc; seem to move round us whilst we are at rest. The hedges, fields, etc; fly along whilst the train in which we are seems to be stationary. The mirage. We have them in moral and mental life.

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast,
Which never is, but always to be, blest.”

What pictures we draw in our youth of what life is going to be for us! Then see what life really turns out. We are all subjects of the law of illusion. Now, was it so in these Bible histories? Abraham was promised Canaan. But he never had a foot of it to call his own (cf. Act 7:5). All the patriarchs “died in the faith, not having received the promises, but were persuaded of them” (cf. Heb 11:1-40.). The early Church was persuaded that “the Lord was at hand;” “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” And yet he never came, and has not come to this day. Now, may not these predictions be further instances of this law of illusion? Ten thousand times “No,” exclaim as many people; “it is to make God a liar.” Is it so? Of course, then, we would rather not be deceived; we would have all our illusions done away. Would we? As for “Hope,” let her be put an end to, seeing what an incurable liar she is. But distinguish between being subject to delusion and illusion. He who is subject to the former hopes for some good thing and gets nothing. He who is subject to the latter, hopes for some good thing and, if the illusion be of God’s permission, gets something better. Our hopes lure us on. We acquire character, habits of patient industry, etc; better far than the mere material thing hoped for. The patriarchs hoped for an earthly Canaan; they won such faith in God that by it they all “obtained a good report.” They never complained of God deceiving them (read Heb 11:1-40.); for they knew that, if not the thing they hoped for was given, God had provided that which was better (Heb 11:8-10). Our own belief is that, in regard to this world, these promises were illusions, but in regard to the world to come, they shall in substance and reality be fulfilled there. Meanwhile let us all have faith in God, who, in ways better far than we think, will fulfil that which now it sometimes seems as if he never fulfilled at all.C.

HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG

Jer 33:6

The abundance of peace and truth.

I. THE NEED OF SUCH A REVELATION. There is already abundance of discord, mutual hostility, instability, deceit. What a picture of misery is at once suggested by contrast with the state presented in this promise! Instead of the welcome salutation of peace, there is too often threatening. And when the salutation does come, it is too often only a mere conventional expression, and in some instances even an elaborated hypocrisy put forward to carry on war behind it, and instead of the feeling that one is on a sure foundation, there are continual quakings that disturb what is underneath, and continual blasts that disturb what is above. And beside what attacks man from without, there is within a spirit of hostility and rivalry to others, a spirit striving to shake their position and triumph over them. So that peace and truth need to be revealed within us first of all. We need, not merely to have amicable feelings towards others, freedom from envy and malice, but we need positive cordiality. Loving, unselfish cohesion is the true way to escape bitter habitual contention. Moreover, this peace and truth are needed in abundance. It must be said of them, as is said in the New Testament of God’s Spirit, that they are given without measure. The promise of the peace that passeth all understanding is assuredly a promise correspondent to our necessity.

II. THE FACT OF SUCH A REVELATION. Peace is revealed in Jesus Christ. In him there is the secret of a composure and a steadfastness unaffected by all the common causes of discord and instability. He had an unusual number of enemies, and this because he was so persistent in declaring righteousness; and yet all the time he had that peace within which showed how outside forces only affected the mere shell of life. In this life there was ever the joint manifestation of peace and steadfastness, and the steadfastness was explained by the fact that he came from God, continued in God, did the will of God, and so, ever having this hold on the Eternal, and being held by the Eternal, the shaking influences of time did ever more and more both to reveal his strength and their own weakness. All the exhortations of Jesus with respect to faith are meant to reveal to us the abundance of peace and truth. With what pity Jesus must look on the abortive, melancholy attempts of men to trust in the untrustworthy! and yet the unveiled magnificence of peace and truth is unseen. What we have to do is to look desiringly, hopefully, towards God’s revelation; for surely the complete revelation includes not only something gracious to be seen, but full insight to see it. The apocalypse to John in Patmos came to one who “was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.”Y.

Jer 33:10, Jer 33:11

The mournful stillness of the present, and the gladsome voices of the future.

I. THE PRESENT STILLNESS. What makes it so painful? Not all stillness is painful; indeed, stillness is often very grateful, a thing to be sought, a timely refuge for those who are stunned and confused by the clamours of the world. The stillness of night is pleasant after the noise of day. The stillness of the mountain and the wilderness seems more still when one has come from the city’s bustle. There is even something suggestive of escape into everlasting peace when one looks at the stillness of death as contrasted with all the power of sound in the previous life. But the stillness here is painful, because it does not come in any normal way; it is stillness where there ought to be soundsounds of traffic, sounds of friendly intercourse, sounds of children playing, sounds of worship. To come into the individual life, it is the silence of the dumb, the silence of that which was made to speak, intended to speak, and can only be silent because of some inexplicable interference with natural constitution. Dumbness ought not to be, and so the state of things here represented, when in the houses and streets of Jerusalem there was sound neither of man nor beast, was one which ought not to have been. There was no occasion for it in the very constitution of things. It came by man’s own bringing of it. The present silence had been preceded by many voices that ought never to have been heardvoices of threatening, voices of greedy demand, voices of revenge, voices of complaint and of indignant appeal against injustice.

II. THE VOICES OF THE FUTURE. The sounds of life are to flow back into the now desolate streets, but they are to be the sounds of a different kind of life. Sounds springing from righteousness within and from a principle of obedience to Jehovah. Sounds that come from a universally satisfied people. Not sounds of joy and gladness in palaces, and sounds of privation and despair in hovels; but sunshine falling everywhere, and everywhere the hearts of the people ready to break forth into song. In the eleventh verse there is first of all the general indication of gladness. Every one is full of healthy life, which, as a matter of course, breaks forth into joyful manifestation. Then, as a very significant illustration, there is the gladness of the bridegroom and the bride. This signifies a stable society, a hopeful prospect, the joys of home life. Probably there was no joy so demonstrative as that connected with wedding festivities. Then the joy of religion comes in to crown and conclude all. Praise to Jehovah for his goodness and his enduring mercy, and offerings of thanksgiving in his house. If joy of this kind had been absent, the other joy would not long have lasted. From what God sends down into our lives as causes of abiding joy, we must send back to him responses of intelligent and heartfelt praise.Y.

Jer 33:12, Jer 33:13

Returning flocks.

In Jer 31:1-40. there has been mention of planting vineyards, and of God’s goodness with respect to the corn, the wine, the oil. But agriculture was only one of the important industries of the land. To have set ploughmen and vine dressers to work again, and left shepherds unprovided for, would have meant only a partial restoration. God has a remembrance of all classes of the community, and all varieties of the surface of the earth. Shepherds were not to go away into exile without a special promise to comfort them. By “causing the flocks to lie down” we may take to be meant that a sense of security and restfulness will be established; and that “the flocks will pass again under the hands of him that telleth them” suggests their numerousness.. There seems to be also a distinct remembrance of the places most appropriate for flocks. Nor must we let slip the spiritual sense of this prophecy when we call to mind the references to pastoral life in the New Testament. It is the power of Christ, the Branch of righteousness growing up unto David, who makes spiritual flocks and spiritual pastors to abound. And instead of the selection from the literal flocks for sacrifices, there is the self-presentation of every one in the spiritual flock as a living sacrifice.Y.

Jer 33:15

The righteous Scion of David.

Here is a great leading prediction, which enables us to interpret as to the time and mode in which the rest of the glorious predictions connected with it were to be fulfilled. We know full well who this righteous Scion was, and when we lock at his work, we can translate all the figurative language into spiritual realities. We no longer go looking for Israel and Jerusalem in any mere local way, and the vineyards and corn lands and pastures of the restored people of God we understand to be only feeble indications of the spiritual satisfactions coming through Christ. Note

I. THE ORIGIN OF THIS RIGHTEOUS SCION. He springs from David. According to the flesh, he is connected with a name suggestive of past days of prosperity and glory. David himself is emphatically to be reckoned as a righteous stock. That he fell into grievous backslidings is not to be denied; but we know his aspirations, his sighings and strugglings after conformity with the Law of God.

II. THE IMPLIED CONTRAST WITH OTHER SCIONS WHO WERE NOT RIGHTEOUS. Scions of unrighteousness had already sprung up, had their day, and done their mischief. Their position made their character and doings peculiarly pernicious. With a disposition to act unjustly and unrighteously, they had power to act over a very large area. So we should over contrast Christ with the men of large powers who have widely influenced the world, and yet have influenced it for evil, because their powers have been directed by selfishness and error. There can be no doubt that a son of David means here one who will act as a king; and that reminds us how many kings have been tyrants, looking on those under them as merely so much convenient material, by which they might effect their plans. The exiled people, thinking of their restoration, would have to include the thought of king in the complete ideal; and surely this would bring very distinctly before them the evil some of their kings had wrought in the past.

III. THE COMING SCION IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Righteousness is emphasized as his great quality. It is needed in a king above all things that he should be just. He must not be an Ahab stealing Naboth’s vineyard. Being in a fiercer light than other men, he must be unusually careful as to the aspect of his actions. Love is not mentioned here as a quality of this Scion, not because it is not needed, but because righteousness is the great quality that, for the comfort of Jeremiah’s auditors, needed to be emphasized. Nevertheless, it is well for us to remember that this Scion of David secures righteousness, because he ever acts from a loving heart.Y.

Jer 33:17, Jer 33:18

King and priest in perpetuity.

The declarations of these verses come by a natural association after the declaration of his advent who is the righteous Scion of David. Kingship and priesthood in perpetuitythat is the general assurance; but what a difference between the assurance looked at from the point of view given by Jeremiah’s time and the point of view given by ours! We look back on the achievements of history, and then see how much more a prediction means than anything that could have been supposed possible at the time it was spoken. Observe

I. THE NEEDFUL PERPETUITY OF THE OFFICES. Kingship and priesthood cannot perish out of God’s true Israel There must always be a king; there must always be a priest. These offices, properly discharged and honoured, are as needful to the prosperity of Israel as fruitful lands and pastures well occupied with flocks. All government has to come at last to some personal authority. That the authority of some single person rests on the choice and acceptance of the many does not make that authority less needful, less real. And so with priesthood. The priestly office is needed, however it may change its forms and channels. Mediation between God and man is a necessity, which more and more unfolds its depths as man reflects more on the possibilities of his being. Even priestcraft, with its marked repugnances to intelligence and liberty, has at least this much good about it, that it is a testimony to man’s need of mediation.

II. THE WAY IN WHICH THE PERPETUITY IS MANIFESTED. The king is one; the priest is one. Looking back, we are made to see this clearly. “Of his reign there shall be no end,” says Gabriel to Mary. Whatever wisdom, power, and beneficence are in Jesus, are in perpetual exercise. Death, which ends the authority of purely human kings, only enlarged and deepened the authority of Jesus. He not only claims perpetuity for his demands, but we have ample reason now to say that the claim is admitted, And as to priesthood, what more need be said than]make a reference to the expositions of the priesthood of Jesus made in the epistle to the Hebrews? It is the priesthood forever according to the order of Melchisedec. What an abidingly helpful thought it should be that we look to a Mediator ever active in sympathy with human wants, ever understanding them, knowing them indeed far better than the subjects of them! All the externalities are gonesacrifices of beasts, furnishings of the holy place, symbolic garments of the priests, symbolic ordinances of service; but the reality remains and must remain in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. The deepest evils of human life, the evils that cause all others, are swept away by the priesthood of Jesus. And so also the greatest goods of human life, those that are seminal and full of energy towards the production of other goods, come through the same priesthood. Compared with the possibilities of the future, the predictions of these verses are, indeed, only at the beginning of their fulfilment.Y.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

II. CHAPTER 33
Promise of the most glorious future given at a moment when the destruction of Jerusalem by its own inhabitants in the interest of defence was already begun
1. Brief transition: Summons to new prayer in the sense of Jer 32:16-25, and Promise of a Hearing

Jer 33:1-3

1Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he

was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

2Thus saith Jehovah, who does it,

Jehovah, who prepares it, to complete it,Jehovah is His Name,

3Call upon Me, and I will answer thee,

And will announce to thee great and hidden things that thou knewest not.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The prophet, still in the court of the prison, receives a second time a revelation of an exceedingly comforting character. It is introduced by some words of Jehovah, which set forth His power to carry out his thoughts (Jer 33:2), as well as His readiness to afford the prophet on his request a glimpse into the great facts of the future, which the Lord intends to accomplish, notwithstanding that they are now regarded as impossible (Jer 33:3). Some would consider these words a later addition, because they cannot distinguish Jeremiahs style in them (Graf). But Graf himself has shown in opposition to Movers and Hitzig that the style of the alleged Isaiah II. is not seen in these verses, that rather the main elements (, of calling upon God, ) accord well with the style of Jeremiah. I add that , in the sense of forming thoughts, is found parallel with in Jer 18:11. The expression , as far as the meaning of the verb goes, has nothing specific about it, and the neutral signification of the feminine suffix is not foreign to the style of Jer 4:28; Jer 13:17.On , etc., vid. infra.What might most make the impression of a style differing from that of Jeremiah is this Introduction in itself, and especially the peculiar turn of Jer 33:3 : Call upon me, and I will answer, etc.But we must here well observe that these words are occasioned by the prayer of the prophet in Jer 32:16-25. The prophet had indeed already received an answer to this prayer in Jer 32:26-44. But he is here admonished to approach the Lord more frequently with such petitions. The God, who has the power to carry out His determinations, is ready and willing to afford him a glance into His great thoughts of the future. A proof of this immediately follows. Consequently the verses, Jer 33:1-3, form a bridge of connection between chh. 32 and 33. In the admonition to pray more frequently they point back to the previous context and prepare by the promise I will announce, etc., for the following disclosures.

Jer 33:1-3. Moreover the word knewest not.Who does it. This passage both in the thought and the words reminds us of Isa 46:11.Jehovah is his name. Comp. Jer 10:16; Jer 31:35; Jer 32:18. In the name of Jehovah lies the guarantee of His action. For what He is called He is.And I will announce. It might here be asked whether the prophet is promised an insight into the inner connection of the divine arrangements (in the same sense as is used of the solution of riddles, Jdg 14:12-14), or only a view of facts. I believe that the two are to be connected. The innermost grounds of the divine action are a secret to the prophet as to the angels (1Pe 1:11-12). When however the Lord shows the prophet a chain of facts, it can not only be evident to him what will happen, but also how one thing follows from another. This may have taken place in only a limited degree, yet it furnished the prophet with a bridge of connection between the past and the present. Hidden things, . In Isa 48:6 we read . The resemblance is unmistakable. The whole connection of the passage renders it incredible that the words in Isaiah are a quotation, they must therefore be so here. The reading here, , may be due to a critical error ( for ), especially as the word does not occur elsewhere in this altered sense. It is always used elsewhere of walls or cities (Num 13:28; Deu 1:28; Deu 9:1; Jos 14:12, etc.). Meanwhile it is also conceivable that the prophet may have written . He frequently modifies the words which he quotes. This might take place the more easily as the related passage, Isa 37:26, may at the same time have hovered before his mind. is not in itself inappropriate, as it may signify secluded, separate, inaccessible.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On Jer 32:3. An effect of anger and a procedure almost like that of Ahab with the prophet Micah. The same spirit prevails now-a-days. For without entering on an investigation, with what right or reason men are found who often in pretty general expressions in a call to repentance, borrow from the prophet all sorts of judicial threatening and point to this or that city, we cannot avoid seeing why they are always put in arrest, viz.: for this cause, Why dost thou prophesy what we do not like to hear? When one is sure of his cause, a noble disdain of such people would be the best means to use against them. But men cannot bear a bad conscience and threatenings of all sorts together, and the fear that it may be true has the foolish effect, that they cause the bearers of such unpleasant tidings to come to a bad end, in order to affright others from coming with similar messages. Zinzendorf.

2. On Jer 32:7 sqq. Fundatur in hoc textu locus classicus de contractibus emtionis et venditionis, quos improbant Anabaptist, probat Scriptura, sicut ostendunt hc qu jam sequuntur documenta: Pro 31:14; Mat 13:3.Frster.

3. On Jer 32:15. The prophet had often enough declared the land lost to the Chaldeans. Here, however, he must testify that it is not lost forever: his purchase was to restore confidence in the future to other troubled souls. Thus the most afflicted servant of God must again be the most hopeful.When we are outwardly prosperous, we think no one can take our prosperity from us, and when trouble comes upon us, we again think that no one can help us. Both courses are, however, equally ungodly. Therefore Gods servants must contradict both those who are at ease, and those who are in despair. The reverse is always right. In good days humble thyself, and in bad days let thyself be exalted, for then it is a great thing to do. Diedrich.

4. On Jer 32:9; Jer 32:16; Jer 32:24-25. Jeremiah also contends, but as a servant of the Lord. First he obeys and afterwards speaks about it. This is a noble way, by which every teacher, who knows the Lord, may prove himself. As soon as he observes that the Lord wishes this or that, it is not the time to expostulate, but to act, not to call anything in question, but to set to work. If then any hesitation is left, or one and another scruple, it is time afterwards to consult with the Lord about it, when one has first shown obedience. Zinzendorf. [Though we are bound to follow God with an implicit obedience, yet we should endeavor that it may be more and more intelligent obedience. We must never dispute Gods statutes and judgments, but we may and must inquire, What mean these statutes and judgments? Deu 6:20. Henry.S. R. A.]

5. On Jer 32:25. Tertullian (c. Marc, L. IV., c. 40) sees in the words Buy thee the field for money, the prophetic passage to which Mat 27:9 refers, regarding the reading as correct. Comp. Euseb. Demonstr. Ev., L. X., c. 4; Augustin, De consensu Evang., L. III., c. 7.

6. On Jer 32:27. To God there is no wonder [miracle]. There are wonders only on the lower stage of existence. Every higher stage is a wonder to the lower. Or is there only one stage of existence, and accordingly only one order of nature? When the North American savages cruelly murdered one of their number who had been on a visit to the Great Father in Washington, and told them of the wonders of civilization, as a demoniacally possessed liar, were they less in the right than our highly civilized savages, to whom it is a fundamental axiom, that there is no other world, but that which they can reach with their five senses? It is certainly not proved that there is a living, personal, omnipotent God. But this is not to be proved, it is to be felt from the heart. He who is born of God heareth His voice. To him also miracles cease to be aught irrational. He knows well how to distinguish between true and false miracles, but the former come to him like a voice from the higher world, in which he feels truly at home. For the stages of existence and orders of nature are not hermetically sealed towards each other, but the higher break through in order to lift the lower up to themselves.

7. On Jer 32:36 sqq. On the fulfilment of this prophecy comp. the Comm. on Jer 13:14, and the Doctrinal notes on Jer 3:18-25, No. 8. As the threatening that Israel should be dispersed among all nations from one end of the earth to the other (Deu 28:64-66) has been literally fulfilled, why should not this promise also be literally fulfilled, that they shall be collected from all lands whither the Lord has cast them out? Why cannot this people be destroyed? Why do they retain their peculiarities with such tenacity, that neither the most raging fanaticism, nor the most humane cosmopolitanism, which is much more dangerous than the former, can mingle them with other nations; so that we can follow the course of their national stream through the sea of nations, as it is said of the Rhine that its water flows unmingled through the lake of Constance? Assuredly this people must yet have a future. Only thus much is correct; that the real kernel of these prophecies is offered to us in a shell which the prophets prepared from contemporary events, but it is difficult to determine where the shell ceases and the kernel begins. Comp. Rinck, The Scripturalness of the doctrine of the Millennial reign defended against Hengstenberg. Eberfeld, 1866, S. 45 sqq.

8. On Jer 32:36 sqq. Is the consummation of the redemptive work possible while Israel is rejected as a nation? According to the Old Testament this question must be unconditionally negatived. This knows only a temporary rejection of Israel, which at the same time has this result, that Israel does not perish as a nation, but is preserved for future restoration. Is this law aunulled since Israel despised the gracious visitation of the Messiah, the kingdom of God taken from them and given to a people which bring forth the fruits thereof? Are thus the predictions of the prophets, which treat of a glorification of Israel in the latter days, eternally abrogated on account of the nations sin? Or can their fulfilment be found only in a spiritual manner in the Christian church, the main trunk of which was formed by a chosen few from Israel? These questions are answered in the affirmative by Bertheau (Old Testament prophecy of Israels national glory in their own land. Jahrb. f. deutsche Theol., 1859 and 1860) in accordance with the older protestant theology (comp. especially Hollaz, Exam, theolog. ed. Teller, p. 1264 sqq.) as decidedly as according to our conviction they must, on the ground of Rom 1:25 sqq., be negatived. It seems to us to be irrefragably established that when the times of the world-nations are full (Luk 21:24), Israel will obey the gospel call, and thus be prepared to welcome the Messiah (Mat 23:39); that for this reason in its dispersion among the nations of the earth it has never been absorbed by them, but preserved in separate existence for its final destination, because Gods gifts of grace and calling are . Oehler in Herzog, R.-Enc., XVII., S. 658, 9.

9. On Jer 33:3. This is the Lords declaration to His obedient servant Jeremiah. My dear child, He says, thou hast acted according to my will, without knowing why. Thou hast done well. But I will make it clear to thee, so that thou wilt wonder no more; I will tell thee that and yet more, so that thou wilt at last say., Yes, let it be so. We find such connections a few times elsewhere in the Scriptures. The Lord says, How can I hide from Abraham the thing that I do! (Gen 18:17.) And the same Lord declares to His disciples, whence comes this inclination or predisposition to tell something new to His disciples, Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you (Joh 15:16). So also is it here with Jeremiah. Zinzendorf.

10. On Jer 33:6. Healing, restoration, joy and permanent prosperity are promised by the prophet to Jerusalem at a time when all seemed lost, and it seemed impossible to regain them. How desolate must it have then appeared in Jerusalem when one house after another was thrown down to furnish means of defence! How wildly raged the tumult of war, and how comfortless was the condition of the city shut in by the enemy and completely cut off from the rest of the country! To the mind of him, who then thought of Jerusalem in the future, pictures of destruction alone presented themselves. Jeremiah, however, whose sight was sharpened by the divine anointing, sees beyond the present abomination of desolation in the far distant future pictures of peace and, moreover, of everlasting peace, such as no eye has ever seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of man. There was the patience and faith of the saints (Rev 13:10). Impossible is a word, which does not occur in Gods language.

11. On Jer 33:8. After the stubborn race has been partly annihilated and partly humbled, God will turn the captivity of the nation, as a whole. Israel cannot perish eternally. God will purify the people from their sins, by forgiveness, the only way in which men can be really freed from sin. Grace and forgiveness are the only ground on which we stand as Christians. This seems nothing to the world, and yet it is more than heaven and earth. Diedrich.

12. On Jer 33:7-13. An important doctrine meets us in these words, that it is not the gifts of God which we should seek to apprehend, but the love of God which is manifested in that He imputes not our sin to us. Otherwise we treat the Divine benefits like the fishes which swallow the hook with the bait. Heim and Hofmann. The major prophets expounded for edification, 1839, S. 509.

13. On Jer 33:14-17. All Gods promises are at the same time fulfilled by the true man, the Son of Man, the pure sprout of David. He will be a King, in whom we have perfect protection from all destructive agencies, for He will help us from sin, procuring and executing on earth justice and righteousness for all mankind. As we all together inherited sin and death from Adam, so Jesus by His righteousness has brought justification of life for all men, if we would now only take it with joy. Jerusalem will itself bear the Kings name, as he was called in Jer 23:6 : Jehovah our Righteousness, i. e., that Jehovah bestows on us the righteousness, which is the bond, which at the same time unites us to the citizens of His celestial city. Diedrich.

14. On Jer 33:15-16. [The Lord our righteousness. This is to be explained by the union of the Church with Christ (see Rom 12:4-5; 1Co 10:17; 1Co 12:12; Eph 1:22; Eph 4:12; Eph 4:15-16; Eph 4:25; Eph 6:23; Col 1:18; Col 1:24) so that what belongs to Him is communicated to her (Calvin, Piscator, Muenster).Thus, by virtue of her mystical union with Christ, and by the imputation of His merits, and the infusion of His Spirit, the Name of the Church may be said to be The Lord our righteousness; she hides herself in Him, and is seen by God as in Him; she is clothed with Christ the Sun of righteousness (see Rev 12:1) and is accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1:6). Wordsworth.S. R. A.]

15. On Jer 33:17. [When the First-begotten was brought into the world it was declared concerning Him, The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David, Luk 1:32. Henry.S.R. A.]

16. On Jer 33:13-22. [Four words, each of them full of meaning, comprise the conceptions which we attribute to the Paradisaical state. They are these: Innocence, Love, Rural Life. Piety; and it is towards these conditions of earthly happiness that the human mind reverts, as often as it turns, sickened and disappointed, from the pursuit of whatever else it may have ever labored to acquire. The innocence we here think of is not virtue recovered, that has passed through its season of trial, but it is Moral Perfectness, darkened by no thought or knowledge of the contrary. This Paradisaical love is conjugal fondness, free from sensuous taint. This Rural Life is the constant flow of summer days, spent in gardens and afield, exempt from our exacted toil. This piety of Paradise is the grateful approach of the finite being to the Infinite,a correspondence that is neither clouded, nor is apprehensive of a cloud. Isaac Taylor, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry.S. R. A.]

17. On Jer 33:19-22. [The richest promises are confirmed by the strongest assurances. Cowles.S. R. A.] As Gods arrangements in nature do not fail, still less can His word fail in His kingdom of grace, and all His word refers to the divine Son of David and His eternal kingdom of grace. Yea, the whole innumerable Israel, Abrahams spiritual posterity, shall become Davids and Levites, i. e., priests and kings, as was designed even at the beginning of Israel. (Exo 19:6; 1Pe 2:9; Rev 5:6). Diedrich.

18. On Jer 33:18-22. [Wordsworth rejects Hengstenbergs explanation that these words are to be applied to all Christians indiscriminately, and approves of the argument derived by the ancient Christian fathers from the passage in favor of the threefold order of ministers in the Christian church. He adds The Gospel of Christ and the Church of Christ possess the spiritual essence of whatever was commanded in the Levitical dispensations. Whatever was local and personal in those dispensations has passed away. The Tabernacle, the Temple, their Sacrifices, their Sabbaths, their Annual Festivals, their threefold Ministry, all these have been spiritualized in the Gospel. Sinai is perpetuated in Zion. The glory of the Law has been absorbed into that of the Gospel. See Psa 68:17, the great Pentecostal Psalm.S. R. A.]

19. On Jer 33:23-26. In the first place they will not be warned, and afterwards they will not be comforted. The true prophet however announces death to sinners according to the law, but afterwards grace for renovation and for life. Despair is blasphemy. Gods kingdom stands and will be perfected, but the fainthearted will not enter it. God answers: so long as heaven and earth are preserved by Me, it is for the sake of My kingdom, and as a pledge that it will not fail. Israel or, what is the same thing, Davids seed shall be a royal seed, and the captivity which the people must now endure is transient. It is however impossible for the worldly to comprehend this, who persist in carnal repose as though no God could punish them, and again in affliction are so despondent, as though there were no God to help them any more. Diedrich. [Deep security commonly ends in deep despair; whereas those that keep up a holy fear at all times have a good hope to support themselves in the worst of times. Henry.S. R. A.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

1. On Jer 32:16. [Before Jeremiah went to prayer he delivered the deeds that concerned his new purchase to Baruch, which may intimate to us, that when we are going to worship God we should get our minds as clear as may be from the cares and encumbrances of this world.Note, Prayer is the salve of every sore. Henry.S. R. A.]

2. On Jer 32:17-25. The Divine promises our best consolation in every affliction. 1. There are promises of Divine help for every kind of distress in human life. 2. These promises often sound very wonderful (Jer 32:24-25). 3. Their fulfilment on the part of God is guaranteed by the perfection of the Divine nature (Jer 32:17-19). 4. Their fulfilment is on our part conditioned by faith.

3. On Jer 32:18-19. Harvest [Thanksgiving-day] Sermon. To what should our admiration of the power and grace of God in the present harvest lead us? 1. To thank God. 2. To trust all to Him, that He has promised us. 3. To obey His voice. Jentsch., Gesetz and Zeugniss, 1853.

4. On Jer 32:19. The very serious and important truth, the eyes of the Lord are open to all the paths of the children of men. This should 1, shake us and awake us from our security, if some of our ways are sinful and such as the Lord must certainly disapprove; 2, humble us, if we are indeed under the discipline of Gods Spirit, and yet turn to our own self made courses, and have not yet allowed a fixed and sure heart to be imparted to us; 3, be for our comfort and encouragement, when we are often led in dark and difficult paths. J. M. Mueller, Zeugnisse v. Christo. [Witnesses to Christ]. Neues Predigtbuch., Stuttgart, 1866, S. 757.

5. On Jer 32:19. [The greatness of Gods wisdom and the abundance of His power. Proved from His nature. Rem. 1. God hath the power of making the deepest affliction of His children produce their highest happiness. 2. The contrivances of tyrants to oppress the church procure its establishment. 3. The triumphs of Satan turn to the destruction of his empire. Saurin.S. R. A.]

6. On Jer 32:39. Wedding-sermon, The promise which the Lord gives to God-fearing couples. 1. One heart. 2. One way. 3. One blessing, which shall extend to their children. Florey, 1862.

7. On Jer 32:40. Wedding-sermon. The nature and fruit of a true marriage. 1. Its nature: it is a covenant which a man and a woman conclude in the Lord, and with the Lord (put My fear in their hearts;not depart from Me;everlasting covenant). 2. Its fruit: good from the Lord without ceasing.

8. On Jer 32:40. [Teachers may put good things into our heads, but it is God only that can put them into our hearts, that can work in us both to will and to do. Henry.S. R. A.]

9. On Jer 32:39-41. The greatest and dearest of all the promises of God to a marriage in the highest degree happy and delightful. G. Conr. Rieger.

10. On Jer 32:40-41. Baptismal Sermon. The gracious promises of God, which He gives to a child of man in holy baptism. Florey, 1862.

11. On Jer 32:42. In communion of suffering of pious Christians is also a blessed fellowship of consolation, since 1, when we as Christians bear with one another, we can also with each other and by each other obtain composure with respect to whatever has befallen us; 2, our heart is revived by what remains, viz., love on earth and hope in heaven; 3, we become strong for whatever duty is laid upon us, viz., labor and courage. Florey, 1863.

12. On Jer 33:1. [No confinement can deprive Gods people of His presence; no locks or bars can shut out His gracious visits, nay, oftentimes as their afflictions abound their consolations much more abound, and they have the most reviving communications of His favor then when the world frowns on them. Pauls sweetest Epistles were those that bare date out of a prison. Henry.S. R. A.]

13. On Jer 33:6. The disease of our times is no other than a rebellious spirit, and the cause of this is no other than a want of reverence for God and His law. Discourse on the Birth-day of the king by Deacon Hauber in Tbingen. Palmer, Ev Casualreden, 2te Folge, 1, 1850.

14. On Jer 33:14-16. Jesus Christ a King. 1. From what a noble royal stock did He proceed! (Raised by God, descending from David, both by His deity and humanity heir of the throne). 2. How well has He exercised His rule with judgment and righteousness (He Himself is the Lord, who is our righteousness). 3. How far does His dominion extend! (From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth). 4. How safely does His people dwell by His help in peace ! Naumann, in Gesetz u. Zeugn., 1860, March.

15. On Jer 33:14-16. Who is He announced to-day? 1. The long promisedwith reference to His historical appearance. 2. The Son of David and at the same time Gods Sonthis is His personal significance. 3. The Lord, who is our righteousnessthis relates to His holy office and work. Anacker, in Gesetz u. Zeugn., 1860, March.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

The Prophet prophesied in the prison. The Lord confirms the word of Jeremiah. Many gracious promises are mingled with God’s determined judgments in this Chapter.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Some of Paul the Apostle’s sweetest Epistles and preaching was when he was shut up in prison: witness to the Church of the Philippians, and his preaching to the jailor, Act 16 . And certainly Jeremiah in this and the former Chapter, hath given a most eminently sweet savour of the unction of his ministry.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Method of Divine Procedure

Jer 33:1-8

Where was the prophet when the word of the Lord came unto him? He was in a good hearing place. He was “shut up in the court of the prison.” He was shut up unjustly, and therefore it was no prison to him, but a sanctuary, with God’s altar visibly in it, and God himself irradiating the altar with a light above the brightness of the sun. How hardly shall they that have riches hear the gospel! Their ears are already filled; their attention is already occupied; their hearts are fat to grossness. What keen ears poverty has! What eyes the blind man has! inner eyes, eyes of expectation. How the man with those inner eyes looks for the Healer, the Son of David! His poor blind bodily eyes are rolling without seeing the sun, or any of the sun’s creations of beauty, but his inward eyes are keeping steadfast watch, for he says within himself, At any moment the Opener of the eyes of the blind may draw nigh. We should have had no world worth living in but for the prison, the darkness, the trouble, the blindness, the sorrow, which have constituted such precious elements in our lot. There would have been no poetry written if there had been no sorrow. The poetry of what we call joy is flippant, frivolous, a jingle of words, without soul, without agony, without that shadow of melancholy which makes even joy itself a higher gladness. No man who comes into God’s house with a sense of prosperity and comfort and self-sufficiency can hear any gospel. It was not made for him; he is a blind man going to a place that is constituted into a sanctuary of colour and beauty. The wonder is why he went to the place; some motive must have operated within him that was unworthy of the occasion. God never spread a feast for the rich; whenever a rich man came near him he frowned at him; he said he could not enter with his bags of gold in his hands, he must lay them down and then come in. Jeremiah heard more in the prison than he ever heard in the palace. God knows where his children are.

There are a thousand prisons in life. We must riot narrow words into their lowest meanings, but enlarge them into their broadest significance. He is in prison who is in trouble, who is in fear, who is in conscious penitence without having received the complete assurance of pardon; he is in prison who has sold his liberty, is lying under condemnation, secret or open; and he is in prison who has lost his first love, his early enthusiasm that was loaded with dew like a flower in the morning. Whatever our prison is, God knows it, can find us, can send a word of his own directly to us, and can make us forget outward circumstances in inward content and peace and joy. Jeremiah was in prison a second time. Fools never learn wisdom; for the people who had shut up Jeremiah before had found that you cannot really imprison a good man. His influence increases by the opposition which is hurled against him; goodness turns hostility into nutrition. Who can put a prophet of the Lord into such a prison as Jeremiah was thought to be occupying? You can put his body there, but his soul is swinging around the horizon, and his heart is already among the singing angels, and the all-blessing, all-condescending God. Why live in the body? Why subject ourselves to any possibility of slavery? Why lay such clutching hands upon anything that it would be a sorrow to part with it? A great man, having lost all that he had in the world, said: “The money is gone, but the treasure abides.” Jeremiah might say: “The liberty of the body is gone for a moment, but I can pierce my way through all doors and bars and walls, though they be as rocks, and I can be enjoying communion with God on the top of the mountains.” You cannot imprison the soul. But a man may lose the liberty of his spirit; he may sell himself to the enemy; when he gives up the keys of his soul he is already in perdition. Let no man say that he cannot hear God’s word because he is in prison, in darkness, in trouble, because he is in great fear. The word of the Lord to you is, Fear God, and have no other fear; look up, and hope steadfastly in God. The gaoler thinks he has laid you under his lock and key: poor fool! his lock and key are straw, and smoke, and spider’s web. If that soul be with God, no matter where the body is.

Who is it that permits his servants to go to prison? By what name does he call himself? What is the descriptive clause in this great trust-deed of the Church?

“Thus saith the Lord the Maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; The Lord is his name” ( Jer 33:2 ).

How often do we say, Why does God permit this and that to occur, when it is so painful, humiliating, and distressful altogether? We had better not ask the question, for we could not understand the answer. Life is not a measurable quantity. No man can tell when life began; none can calculate when life will end; and all through it is a mystery of pulsation, of joy and agony, of trouble that falls towards despair, and gladness that aspires towards the celestial rest. It is all for our good; we do not know it, and we cannot see it, and we are not yet prepared to believe it; all history, however, is on one side, and that is on the side of the vindication of divine providence. Man after man rises from the boiling flood, saying: It was good for me that I was afflicted; I never understood human life until I was plunged into this sorrow; I lived a poor, little, narrow, selfish life, because I lived within the area of my own pharisaic respectability, and never knew what it was to be almost scorched to death at the very mouth of the pit of hell. Commend me to a man who has made mistakes, fallen seven times a day, and hurt himself in every muscle and in every pulsation, and who, out of it all, has come a chastened and sanctified man: how soft his speech, how kind his look, how like a touch of almightiness the out-putting of his hand! We need such men in society. We can do without the Pharisee: we cannot do without the publican’s prayer.

Who distresses us? God. Who comes in the night-time and takes away from us everything we have in the house? God. Who turns our purposes upside down, and blows them away like smoke in a high wind? God. It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth good in his sight. But “take not thy Holy Spirit from us.” That is the only withdrawment that can make a man for ever poor. If we imagine that this world is a complete little place in itself, having four corners of its own, and that within those four corners the game or trick of life begins, continues, and ends, then it will be impossible for us to be other than downcast, moping, melancholy; but if we believe that this little earth is part of a great household of worlds, that there are filaments connecting all the spaces with one centre, ligaments of light and most sensitive, though invisible life, binding into one unity the whole scheme and purpose of God, then we shall have a sky over our earth, a sky with a sovereign sun all day, and stars struggling to tell us their secret music by night. What is the kind of world we live in? Is it a world of God’s forming or a world of our own imagining? Are the stars held by a hand equal to the occasion, or may they at any moment fall down and crush the under worlds? Let us live in a universe that is centralised by the throne of the living God, and then whatever happens will be to our profit, not immediately and visibly always, but in the end invariably and constantly. Let all history start up from its grave and declare this with thunder voice, if it fall back again into its sleep. Such a testimony will awaken the world and cheer the Church. Let it be known then, now and evermore, that it is the Lord that allows his prophets to go to prison, that sits and looks at gaolers locking them up, and that comes down at the right moment to liberate them and give their word boundless enlargement.

On what conditions does the Lord grant fuller revelations of himself? The answer is in the third verse:

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” ( Jer 33:3 )

He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. The condition is, “Call unto me”: recognise my existence, rely upon me, lift up thy voice in prayer, pray without ceasing; do not pray to thyself, for thou art an empty fountain, but pray to me, for it is in answer to prayer that I enlarge and brighten my revelations to mankind. What is this calling unto God? Is it a verbal exercise? Is it a mere act of exclamation? Nothing can be further from the meaning. It is a call that issues from the heart; it is the call of need, it is the cry of pain, it is the agony of desire, it is enclosure with God in profound and loving communion. If we have received no answers, it is because we have offered no prayers. “Ye have not because ye ask not, or because ye ask amiss,” you have been praying obliquely instead of directly; you have been vexing yourselves with circumlocution when your words ought to have been direct appeals, sharp, short, urgent appeals to Heaven: to such appeals God sends down richness of dew, wealth of blessing, morning brighter than noonday. God will show his people “great and mighty things.” For “mighty” the margin reads “hidden”: the change is not for the better. “Great and mighty things”: when does God show his children little and impotent visions? The words great and mighty, noble and glorious, belong to the administration of God. There is nothing little. The bird in the heavens upon its trembling wing is only little to us, it is not little to God. He counts the drops of dew, he puts our tears into his bottle, he numbers our sighs, and as for our groans, he distinguishes one from the other; these are not little things to him, they are only little to our ignorance, and folly, and superficiality. We have betaken ourselves to the foolish exercise of measuring things, and setting them down in inches and in feet, in furlongs and in acres, in leagues and in miles; but God looks at souls, faces, lives, destinies, and the least child in the world he rocks to sleep, and wakes in the morning, as if he had not else to do; it is the stoop of Fatherhood, it is the mystery of the Cross. As to these continual revelations, they ought to be possible. God is infinite and eternal, man is finite and transient in all his earthly relationships; it would be strange if God had told man everything he has to tell him, it would be the miracle of miracles that God had exhausted himself in one effort, it would be incredible that the eternal God had crushed into the moment which we call time every thought that makes him God. Greater things than these shall ye do; when he, the Paraclete, is come, he will guide you into all truth; grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; add to your faith, until you scaffold yourselves up into brotherly love and charity, for from that pinnacle the next step is right into heaven.

There is a sense in which revelation is final, and there is also a sense in which revelation is progressive. The root is final, viewed from one point, and yet it is ever increasing, viewed from another. What flowers there are by intermixture and inter-blending; what colours yet lie to be discovered by the eyes of art; what mysteries there are even in occasions and instances which we think are exhausted. There is an originality of combination, as well as an originality of creation. He who can readapt is, in a sense, a creator. That is what is left for human genius under divine direction to do not to write a new Bible, not to build a new Golgotha, but to search into hidden meanings and seize the vaster aspects and larger implications of facts, that they may become helpers to a truer conception of the majesty and love of God. Enlarging revelation, in this sense, is essential to the continued vitality and power of the Church. When the Church becomes a mechanical repeater of its own dogmas it ceases to have power. There is a genius of absorption, there is an inspiration which belongs to the appropriation of commonplaces, and a turning of these commonplaces into the very bread and water of life. Herein the Bible stands apart from all other books. It can be read many times, and at the close of the last perusal it asks the guests to come again, for the feast has but begun. There are men to whom no revelation can be granted; there are rooms in our dwelling-places the sun cannot get at. The sun is larger than any house we can build, yet the smallest building we can put up may shut out the sun. An eyelid can exclude the noontide. The question is, Are we in need of further revelation? Do we call for it? We may call for it speculatively, and no answer will be given; we may ask for it for the sake of mere intellectual delectation, and the heavens will be dumb and frowning: but if we try to outgrow God, then we shall know what God is in reality; he challenges the sacred rivalry, he appeals to our emulation to follow him and study him, and try to comprehend him; and then how like a horizon he is, for we think we can touch him in yonder top, but having climbed the steep the horizon is still beyond. To cleverness God has nothing to say; to vanity he is scornfully inhospitable; but to the broken heart, to the contrite spirit and the willing mind, to filial, tender, devout obedience, he will give himself in infinite and continual donation: “To this man will I look, for I see my own image in him, my own purpose is vitalised in his experience the man who is of a humble and contrite heart, and who trembleth at my word, not in servility, but in rapture and wonder at its grandeur and tenderness.”

Why does God hide his face? Will he tell us the explanation of the cloud in which his countenance is enveloped? Even this condescension shall not be larger than the love of God. In this very paragraph God tells the reason why he hides his face. It is the unchangeable reason. This moral action that proceeds through the Bible never changes. Men can wrestle with the history of the Bible, and prove their futile cleverness in the rearrangement of things which need not be re-arranged; but they find everywhere that the knife of criticism comes upon the nerve of immoral purpose; and there, if criticism be reverent, it begins to pray. What is the Lord’s account of his having retired from his people, and from the city of his choice?

“For all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city” ( Jer 33:5 ).

Nothing but wickedness can drive him away. He never left any man’s house, saying, This place is too poor for me; he never gave up any blind man, saying, I only enjoy the companionship of those who can behold and admire the wonders of nature; he never dropped a little child because it was too heavy a burden for him to carry; he never abandoned the sick-chamber because he loved sunnier places, where flowers bloomed and birds sang. He would never partake of the meal of wickedness, he would never sup with the devil. Here comes the greatest cloud of mystery that ever settled upon human life. Here it would be easy to be indignant, reproachful, and disastrously critical upon one another; but let the strongest man forbear, let the mightiest brother amongst us prove his brotherhood by his forbearance; let those who are little and mean use their critical hatchets presently, blessed be God, they will lop off their own hands. Every man must enter into this cloud, and find his own confession-chamber within its darkness. Have I been wicked? After what manner has my wickedness run? Have I been unjust, oppressive, untrue, selfish? Have I turned away from God secretly whilst yet spreading still more broadly to the public gaze the banner of a nominal profession? Have I kept back the wages from the hireling? Am I carrying money to which I have no right in honesty? Have I been indolent, unfaithful, dishonourable? Have I kept the word of promise to the ear, and broken it to the heart? Why this darkness? Why this cloud that will not lift? Why these eyes that cannot see? Why this hell-pool that bubbles at my feet? God be merciful to me a sinner!

Do not let us reproach one another. You can see where I might have been wise: perhaps, in some moment of more or less unconscious vanity, I may imagine I can see where you might have been wise. We need no such criticism. It is the play of bad men; it is the trick of wicked spirits. Every man knows his own heart, and is carrying a burden of sin, and has to put up with a spectre that looks at him through the darkness of night. Let him that is without sin cast the first stone; let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. We have seen many such fall, and no man has pitied the critic when he fell. But will God be overthrown by wickedness? Never! “Where sin aboundeth, grace doth much more abound.” Grammar cannot explain that text; you cannot parse it into its true significance; the heart must feel it by a sudden inspiration. God’s “much more” is a line that angels cannot measure. We must forecast the future as God sees it. There are prophecies in the New Testament as well as in the Old, and all these prophecies set Christ upon the uppermost seat. The outlook of the New Testament is an outlook of brightness for the nations. They shall come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God; all nations shall call the Redeemer blessed; he shall reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet; the last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death. None rose in the old dispensation to struggle with that monster; he was accepted as a necessity, his action had been reduced to a law of nature: but the Lion of the tribe of Judah will wrestle with Death and overthrow him. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death; he shall be dashed to pieces like a potter’s vessel. So wickedness shall not overbear and destroy the goodness of God. The Lord Jesus Christ has undertaken to deal with sin. He fights sin with a Cross, he fights death with death, but with death that involves resurrection. Viewed in one aspect, the history of the world is the history of a tragedy; the catastrophe of it is a pit and a second death: but viewed from the Cross of Christ, life leads to life, and the higher life to life higher still, and the highest life dies into immortality. Take great views of God’s government; do not be puzzled and persecuted by changing details, but get such a grasp of life as will enable you to command details into life, each occupying its own point in an infinite series; and through that process you will find rest, dawning heaven, assured immortality.

Will God undertake to pass from wickedness to goodness? Can he work any miracles here? Why, it is within the darkness of wickedness that God works his greatest miracles.

“Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth” ( Jer 33:6 ).

There are no greater words in all human language than “health,” “cure,” “peace,” “truth.” There is nothing here about gem and gold and stones hiding the shadows of night within the glories of midday; but here is health, here is cure, here is peace, here is truth, and these are the gifts of God. “I will bring it.” He is as a man who has gone to bring something for the comfort of his household. There is no figure suggestive of humility that God does not adopt to represent the action of his omniscience, the condescension of his pity. This is a sovereign act, this is the mystery of grace, this is the kingdom of God, that the King himself should serve, should go on an errand to bring health, and cure, and peace, and truth. This is the voice of the Son of God: I go to prepare a place for you; I go to prepare, to make ready against the time of your coming: and, see, if there be aught wrong in the house, the blame will be mine; if there be aught wanting in the palace, blame me: I go to prepare a place for you; if the roof be not tempest-proof, blame me for the destroying flood; if there be not light enough in the palace, blame me for not making sufficient arrangements for the flooding of the house with glory; if the pillow of your rest has a thorn in it, charge the existence of that thorn upon my cruelty: I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go away I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there may ye be also. God will “bring,” Christ will “prepare,” the Holy Spirit will “lead,” and thus the whole Trinity may be said to be engaged in the service of man.

A grand evangelical declaration succeeds and closes this preliminary statement:

“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” ( Jer 33:8 ).

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker