Section VI The Book of Consolation
Jeremiah 30:1—33:26
These four chapters are the only consistently hopeful part of the entire book. Chapters 32 and 33 are precisely dated in the tenth year of Zedekiah, while the prophet was imprisoned in “the court of the guard.” Chapters 30 and 31 cannot be so easily dated. Scholars have assigned them to periods all the way from the time of Josiah to the governorship of Gedaliah. While the time of composition cannot be settled with perfect certainty, it is reasonable to assume that they were written at the same time as the other two, in the tenth year of Zedekiah.1 The tone, the mood, the viewpoint, and the subject matter have much in common.
The period when Jeremiah was imprisoned in “the court of the guard” was a dark period in the life of the prophet and the nation. Jerusalem had been under siege for a year. Famine, pestilence, and misery were everywhere in the city. But this sorrowful hour gave birth to one of the most beautiful passages in the entire Bible. Chapters 30—31 can be likened to “a Song in the Night.” Also, these chapters seem to fulfill Jeremiah's commission—“to build, and to plant” (1:10).
Morgan reminds us that:
Nearly seven years had passed since the conflict with the false prophets. Events had quietly moved on, every hour contributing fresh evidence of the divine authority of Jeremiah's teaching. Hananiah had predicted that within two years the power of Babylon would be broken; the vessels of Jehovah's house would be restored to the Temple; and Jeconiah, together with the captives of Judah, returned to the city. The prediction had been demonstrated false. Things had gone from bad to worse in the life of the nation, and now the foe was at the gates.2
Jeremiah's predictions concerning the national and international situation had proved to be correct over a period of forty years. Therefore there was no reason to question what he now gave as his insights for the future of the nation. This is not to say that Jeremiah saw the future clearly. He did not. He saw things as did the other prophets, “through a glass, darkly” (I Cor. 13:12). Much of the time the near and the far are blended in that strange way so characteristic of Hebrew prophecy. During the years Jeremiah had been given glimpses of events that were to take place “beyond judgment,” so this passage is not unique. Subsequent history in some cases, and subsequent biblical writers in others, have confirmed the authenticity of his insights.
Jeremiah is commanded to write down in a book (2) of consolation the words God has spoken to him concerning the future of His covenant people. These first three verses serve to identify and introduce to the reader the remarkable words that are to follow.3
For, lo, the days come (3) points to a certain, but indefinite, time in the future. This gives the whole section an eschatological perspective. There is also found here the clear prediction of a return from captivity. Both Israel and Judah are expected to possess again the land God had given to their fathers; the kingdom visualized is a united kingdom.
B. FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH, 30:4—31:1
The actual content of “the book of consolation” begins with v. 4. What follows speaks of pain and trouble, “but the ultimate [theme] is always that of joy.”4 It is through the valley of tragedy and unbelievable sorrow “that the people of God are to be brought to triumph.”5
1. The Time of Jacob's Trouble (30:4-7)
The salvation of the people of God is plainly set forth but it is to be preceded by a time of great trouble. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it (7) … a voice (sound) of trembling, of fear, and not of peace (5). What kind of day will it be when men will be in such convulsive pain as to clutch their loins like a woman in childbirth, with faces pale6 and lacerated with horror (6) ? The words seem to be pointing beyond the present destruction of Jerusalem to a day in the distant future. They are similar to the words spoken by other preexilic prophets concerning “the day of the Lord” (Isa. 2:12-21; Joel 2:11; Amos 5:18-20), and seem, indeed, to refer to that day. If this be true, all nations will be involved. The passage ends by calling this moment of history the time of Jacob's trouble (7), but proclaiming that he shall be saved out of it.
2. The Yoke Is Broken from Jacob (30:8-11)
A shaft of light breaks through the darkness of this awful day—I will break his yoke from off thy neck (8). Jacob's day of slavery to foreign nations will be ended, and Israel will serve the Lord … and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them (9). This does not mean that David will be raised from the dead, but that the Righteous Branch from the house of David—the Messiah—will sit on the throne, and the Golden Age will be ushered in.
The overthrow of Babylon will mark the beginning of God's defense of His people,7 and will serve as a foretaste of what He will do for them right on down to the time of the End. I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity (10), is but a further guarantee that God will never forget His people. Therefore the true Israel of God, my servant Jacob, has nothing to fear, for Israel shall surely return to dwell in rest and quietness in her own land. She must remember, however, that the divine punishment that has come to her in just measure was “designed to correct Israel, and so to bring God's people to their appointed end.”8 There is much for Israel to rejoice about, for while it is God who has punished, it is that same God who will save (11). Verses 10-11 appear again in 46:27-28.
3. Zion's Wounds Are Healed (30:12-22)
For the moment, however, Jeremiah returns to Judah's present plight. Zion's wound is incurable (12), and no human help is available. The nation is destitute of anyone to plead her cause; all her lovers have forgotten her (13-14). God was the One who had afflicted Zion, but she richly deserved her suffering because of the multitude of thine iniquity.
The thought takes a sharp turn at 16. A marginal reading, “Nevertheless,” makes clearer meaning than therefore. God has punished Israel, but He will now defend her by punishing her enemies: They that devour thee shall be devoured. He is impartial in His dealings with all nations, including His own. Since God has afflicted her, He is the only One who can help her now. Healing will be performed when punishment has accomplished its purpose.
Despite the ridicule of her enemies—“It is Zion, for whom no one cares!” (17, RSV)—the day will surely come when Zion's health will be restored. Jerusalem will be “rebuilt upon its mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be” (18, RSV). AU “the things that accompany salvation” (Heb. 6:9; i.e., spiritual health) will be evident among the restored people: songs, laughter, thanksgiving, increase of number, honor, and settledness (19-20). No foreign ruler will impose his will upon them. On the contrary, their nobles … and their governor (21, ruler), who will be on intimate terms with the Lord, will be of their own race. To climax it all, the old covenantal relationship will be restored: Ye shall be my people, and I will be your God (22).
4. God's Purposes Relentlessly Executed (30:23—31:1)
In this passage the power (energy, perhaps Spirit) of God is likened to a whirlwind (23; a relentless tempest), which goes forth to execute the intents of his heart (24). He will not slacken His pace until (1) evil has been thoroughly punished, and (2) all the families of Israel (31:1) acknowledge His lordship. The term in the latter days (30:24) sounds as though the time is far off, but nevertheless certain. Ye shall consider it means “you shall understand.”
C. RESTORATION ASSURED, 31:2-40
In this chapter Israel's song of triumph rises to even loftier heights. Verses 2-22 deal for the most part with the Northern Kingdom, 23-26 mainly with the Southern Kingdom, and 27-40 with both kingdoms. The Lord seeks to assure His people that their restoration is certain. This restoration is assured by (1) God's everlasting love, (2) A joyful homecoming, (3) Comfort for Rachel, (4) The restoration of Judah, (5) The reestablishment of a united kingdom, and (6) The institution of the new covenant.
1. God's Everlasting Love (31:2-6)
God's love, manifesting itself in grace (divine favor), had aided the Israelites as they came out of Egypt, and had given them rest in Canaan. This same grace is still operating now in behalf of those living in the wilderness (2) of exile. Thus God's love has remained steadfast toward His people through the centuries; I have loved thee with an everlasting love (3).
God's lovingkindness (“faithfulness,” RSV) has worked in Israel's behalf in a thousand different ways. He has drawn them with travail and with kindness, by scattering and by gathering. This teaches that God's everlasting love “leads through tragedy as well as triumph, and … all pain and suffering are somehow or other within the compass of that love.”9
The fact that God still loves Israel can be taken as an indication that there is hope for a restoration beyond judgment, Again I will build thee (4). This restoration will include planting and reaping, rest and security, laughter and feasting (4-5). Pure worship (6) will also be an ingredient of this idyllic scene. Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.
These verses reveal that Jeremiah was no gloomy or morose individual, but one who could have enjoyed the sunnier side of life had circumstances been different.
2. A Joyful Homecoming (31:7-14)
Jeremiah calls upon the people to shout for joy and to publish (7; proclaim) the news of a glorious homecoming for the captives of Israel: I will bring them from the north country, and … the coasts (8), i.e., “the farthest parts of the earth” (RSV). Time may intervene, but on the word of the Lord the thing is as good as done. What are the ingredients of this joyful proclamation? (a) The tenderness of God is revealed by the way He guides them home. He gathers the blind and the lame, the woman with child (8); He gently leads them by rivers of waters (9) and on a level path where they will not stumble. (b) That God has the heart of a father is seen in His attitude toward Ephraim, His firstborn.10 (c) The thoughtfulness of God is disclosed by the proclamation to the nations, and … isles (Israel's enemies) that, although God has scattered Israel (10), He has not forgotten to gather them again, (d) The restoring strength of God is revealed by His redemption of Jacob (11) from hands too strong for him. (e) The goodness of God is seen in all the wonderful things that He does for them; they will sing again on the heights of Zion (12); the two nations will flow together (Isa. 60:5) and flourish like a watered garden. (f) The resources of God are manifest in His supplying them with an abundance of wheat, wine, and oil. (g) The comfort of God is revealed in the happiness that will be theirs. Their mourning will be turned into joy (13). They shall not sorrow any more at all (12); rejoicing will be the order of the new day.
3. Comfort for Rachel (31:15-22)
These words are directed to Rahel (15, Rachel), the grandmother of Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim was the leading tribe of the Northern Kingdom; thus Israel is sometimes referred to as Ephraim, and Rachel is sometimes thought of as the maternal ancestor of the northern tribes. She is pictured here in uncontrollable grief at the departure of her children to exile. Ramah (height) was a high point on the boundary between the Northern and Southern kingdoms. A voice crying here could be heard for a great distance. It has also been said that Ramah was the gathering place of the exiles for deportation to Babylon in the days of Jeremiah (see comments on 40:1-6). There is a tradition that Rachel died near Ramah (I Sam. 10:2), although the traditional site of Rachel's tomb is near Bethlehem.
God speaks to Rachel and bids her refrain … from weeping (16). Her children will surely return to their own land, and there is hope in thine end (17; future). Verses 18-19 contain an account of Ephraim's repentance, which seems to be honest and sincere. Although Ephraim (20) has been a wayward son, and punishment has been administered to him, yet God's loving heart has yearned for his return. Now since he is repenting, God will surely have mercy on him. To smite the thigh (19) was a gesture of grief. My bowels are troubled (20) means, My emotions are stirred.
Verses 21 and 22 are difficult to interpret. Jeremiah passes from talking about Ephraim my dear son (20) to the virgin of Israel (21). Although both terms have been previously used, this is an abrupt change. In 21 the certainty of return from captivity is emphasized. The virgin of Israel is urged to send out an advance party to set … up waymarks and signposts to direct the returning exiles on their way home. In the latter part of 22 we are told that God has created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man, perhaps in the sense of cleaving to her loved one, as Israel will cling to the Lord in that day (Berk., marg.). Most scholars conclude that there is a proverb here, the meaning of which has been lost.
4. The Restoration of Judah (31:23-26)
God's people are further assured of deliverance and salvation by the restoration. The land of Judah (23) and her cities are pointedly mentioned, as being re-inhabited. The weight of the statement, however, is on pure religion being once again practiced in the land: The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. This is understandable since corrupt religion was the main cause of her captivity. Idyllic conditions will prevail when Judah (24) returns to her homeland. Peace and harmony are pictured, with the “farmers and those who wander with their flocks” (RSV) happily dwelling together. The weary soul (25) will find rest, and sorrowful hearts will find abundant comfort. Completely new conditions will prevail, reminding us of Isaiah's Golden Age.
Verse 26 constitutes a sudden break in the thought. It is not quite clear as to who the speaker is. It cannot refer to God or the exiles, so the most likely figure is the prophet. The verse would imply that the prophecies just enunciated had come to him in a dream. Since they were hopeful and pleasant (contrary to Jeremiah's usual proclamations), it is understandable how they might seem sweet to him.
5. Reestablishment of a United Kingdom (31:27-30)
Three things seem to stand out in these verses. (1) God will bless a returned Israel and Judah with prosperity (in both man and beast, 27), and they shall be one again. The divided kingdom had been a great grief to the prophets; now that breach will be healed. (2) There will be a reversal of God's policy concerning the welfare of the land. Because of Israel's sin, His policy had been one of punishment—to pluck up, and to break down (28); but since punishment has done its healing work in their hearts (cured them of idolatry), God's policy now is to build, and to plant. (3) There will be a new type of morality demanded. Individual responsibility will be the mark of the new age. Heretofore the basic unit of responsibility had been the nation. Apparently the people of Jerusalem and the exiles already in Babylon had complained that it was unfair for them to have to suffer for the sins of their fathers. Thus the proverb, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge (29), will no longer be true. Every one shall die for bis own iniquity (30). This new emphasis in morality will constitute a marked advance in the faith of Israel. It can be conceived as paving the way for Jeremiah's idea of the new covenant, and also as preparing the way for the gospel age.
6. Institution of a New Covenant (31:31-34)
Jeremiah's conception of a new covenant was born out of his many years of experience in the prophetic office. In the reforms of Josiah he had seen his people pour all their hope into outward forms of religion, but with no corresponding improvement in ethical living. Nationalized religion did not furnish adequate grounds for the individual to feel personally responsible. Thus “the old religion broke down at the point of individual responsibility.”11
It was apparently during Josiah's reforms that Jeremiah became convinced that the only hope for the nation was an internal, individual revolution: “Break up your fallow ground … take away the foreskin of your heart” (4:3-4). As the years went by, the prophet seems to have become more and more convinced that religion must be individualized.12 His own experience bore out the fact that individual religion was possible. He himself knew God and had fellowship with Him; this relationship was immediate and internal. What was possible for him should be possible for every individual in the nation.13
It would be foolish to say that Jeremiah saw everything with perfect clarity. However he was able to see the outline of things to come, and this is what he passed on to the Hebrew people. What then are the distinctive features of the new covenant as set forth by Jeremiah?
(1) The new covenant will be eschatological in character, for it lies at the heart of the redemptive purposes of God. It is not a divine afterthought. Just as Mosaic religion was a part of the redemptive scheme, so the new covenant will appear in the fullness of times.
(2) The next feature will be the introduction of a new methodology. Heretofore God had worked through the nation as a unit, but the nation was soon to disappear. In order to accomplish the purposes of God, a new method must be found. He will now work through the individual. God's new methodology will involve three things: (a) A different kind of motivation, I will put my law … in their hearts (33); (b) Immediate knowledge of God, They shall all know me (34); (c) Individual pardon for sin, I will forgive their iniquity. God could deal now with the mainsprings of human action. Then, in working through the individual, religion could become universal.
(3) There will be a new spiritual dimension. Religion will no longer be merely external; inwardness will be the dominant note in the future. Heretofore the laws of God had been written on tables of stone; now they are to be written in the heart. Instead of treating outward symptoms, God will be dealing with inner principles. Under the new covenant men will respond from inward motivation, rather than from outward forms of compulsion.
(4) There will be a new relationship. Under the new covenant, man's relationship with God will be intimate and personal, They shall all know me (34). Under the old covenant, man's relationship with God was formal; under the new, it would be spiritual. When the law is written in the heart, religion has a dynamic quality that carries infinite possibilities.
(5) There will be a new level of morality. Judah had suffered from a “deceitful” and “desperately wicked” heart (17:9). There was great need for a moral transformation—a changed heart. Under the new covenant this will he a glorious possibility. True religion will, henceforth, have aspirations based on a personal knowledge of God, and will operate from spiritual laws written in the heart. The result will be that new moral principles will govern society.
The restoration of Israel reaches its climax with the institution of the new covenant. These are perhaps the four most important verses in the Book of Jeremiah, because they forecast so much of what has happened in the field of religion since his day. Paul took up Jeremiah's idea, making a clear distinction between the old covenant and the new (II Cor. 3:6, 14-16). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews begins and ends his exposition of the ministry of Jesus by quoting Jer. 31:31-34.14 Jesus himself instituted the Lord's Supper by saying, “This is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many” (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24). Individual religion can trace one of its beginnings to Jeremiah. He was the chief link between the old order in Israel and the new.15
7. Perpetuity of the Nation (31:35-37)
God here makes the people a promise regarding the future of the nation. Israel is guaranteed an existence as long as the sun and moon (35) shall last. The ordinances mean “the fixed order” of nature (RSV). Thus far God has kept His word to His people. The survival of Israel as a distinct entity is one of the miracles of history.16 “It is hardly explainable on any but super-naturalistic grounds.”17
8. The Rebuilding of Jerusalem (31:38-40)
God further confirms His word to the nation by saying that Jerusalem will be rebuilt. The statement, “The days are coming” (38, RSV), throws the passage into an eschatological perspective, and one may expect to find here a blending of the near and the far. The mention of a measuring line … Gareb … Goath … brook of Kidron (39-40) could refer to the time of the return under Ezra and Nehemiah. On the other hand, the disappearance of all unclean places and the sanctification of places that had once been used for burying the dead and casting rubbish may have reference to the spiritual Jerusalem of the Messianic age.18 Although the earthly city has been captured and recaptured many times since Jeremiah's day, it has never been thrown down … for ever. It still exists. This cannot be said concerning Nineveh and Babylon.
D. RESTORATION DRAMATIZED, 32:1-44
In this chapter the dominant note is still optimistic. God led Jeremiah to portray in dramatic action a prophecy of the reestablishment of the nation. In order to better understand what takes place here, one should read also cc. 37—38.
1. The Prelude (32:1-8)
The time is the tenth year of Zedekiah (1), about 597 B.C. The place is “the court of the guard” (2, RSV), which was a part of the palace complex in the city of Jerusalem.19 Jeremiah was in prison because of his prediction that Jerusalem would be taken by Nebuchadnezzar: Zedekiah … shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy? (3) The king and his princes were highly displeased with the prophet, for he seemed to be a traitor to his own nation. He had prophesied that Judah's king would become a captive and thus “speak to [the king of Babylon] personally and see him face to face” (4; Moffatt; cf. 21:9; 38:2). But Jeremiah's predictions were in the process of coming to pass at that very moment. The Babylonians were just outside the walls, and the city was in danger of being taken at any time.
One day Jeremiah heard the word of the Lord (6) to the effect that Hanameel was coming to see him about the field in Anathoth, for it was his by the right of redemption (7). Sometime later when Hanameel came to the prison and asked Jeremiah to buy his field, the prophet records, Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord (8).
2. Act I: Faith in Action (32:9-15)
And I bought the field of Hanameel … and weighed him the money (9). Every legal step was taken with precision. Since the Hebrews did not use coined money, the silver was weighed. The matter was properly written up, and duly witnessed (10, 12). Two copies were made according to the law and custom; one was sealed, and the other left open (11). Baruch (13) was instructed to put them in an earthen vessel, in order that they might be preserved many days (14). This transaction gives us the details of a real-estate transaction in preexilic Judah, the only instance in the OT where this is done.20
The whole transaction was an act of faith on the part of Jeremiah. The prophet •was painfully aware that the field he purchased in Anathoth, a few miles north of Jerusalem, was even then in the hands of the Babylonians. Although he knew this, he paid “the full fair price”21 for the land, and was careful to see that all legal requirements had been met. Before a large group of witnesses he dramatized his faith in God's word that houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land (15). Apart from a hope of restoration, this act would have been meaningless. It is evident from the following passage that Jeremiah himself did not know how this could be, but faith faces the impossible and cries, “It shall be done!”
3. Act II: Faith Put to the Test (32:16-25)
After the transfer of the property had been completed, Jeremiah took himself to prayer. What he had acted out seemed so humanly incredible that he felt the need of talking to God about it. In this prayer of communion he dwells first on the greatness of God as Creator (17), then on His lovingkindness, wisdom, and might (18-19), and finally reviews His redemptive acts in behalf of His covenant people (20-22). Made thee a name (20) would be “didst win for thyself … renown” (Smith-Goodspeed). He deplores the unfaithfulness of Israel, and recognizes the reason for the present plight of the nation, therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them (23). Mounts (24) were siege mounds. Jeremiah's mind apparently turns back across the history of Israel, the preaching of the other prophets, and his own long years of experience, and cries, What thou hast spoken is come to pass (24). He seems to be saying, “I know all this, yet my finite mind cannot grasp how Israel is to be restored. It seems such an impossible thing,” but thou hast said unto me … Buy thee the field, though (KJV, marg.) the city is given to the Chaldeans (25).
G. Campbell Morgan has well said, “Obedience by faith does not mean that there will be no inquiry, no question, no sense of difficulty … if there be no risk, then there is no faith.”22 The Bible nowhere indicates that faith is easy to come by, or that genuine faith has no questions to ask. The contrary is more nearly the truth. God has never been displeased with honest, sincere doubt, nor does God fail to help His perplexed children.
4. Act III: The Faithfulness of God (32:26-44)
God's answer to Jeremiah's perplexity is fourfold. (1) By changing Jeremiah's statement in v. 17 into a very probing question, Is there any thing too hard for me? (27) He declares that He, “not the Chaldean (Nebuchadnezzar), is the Lord of history.”23 (2) He reiterates the certainty of judgment; therefore the immediate outlook for the city is, indeed, grim (28-36). (3) The way of redemption hes through tragedy, but redemption is certain. God will not fail to gather them out of all countries (37) to repossess their own land. “Moreover, there will be a regeneration of heart and soul, and the people will not depart from their God.”24 (4) Jeremiah's act of faith is confirmed as authentic: Fields shall be bought in this land (43). Men shall … subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses … (44).
E. FURTHER ASSURANCES OF RESTORATION, 33:1-26
The oracles of c. 33 continue the theme of judgment and restoration. The appearance of the Messianic King and the picture of ideal conditions in a united kingdom bring the Book of Consolation (cc. 31—33) to a glorious climax.
1. The Divine Invitation (33:1-3)
God speaks to Jeremiah a second time in the court of the guard, and shares with him His secret plans. Verse 2 is difficult as there seems to be something missing. The RSV follows the Septuagint: “Thus says the Lord who made the earth.” This makes the verse intelligible, and is perhaps the best solution. God is now conceived to be stressing His role as the Creator, and with it His sovereignty over men and nations.
The background of His gracious invitation in 3 is the desperate condition of Jerusalem: famine, pestilence, the prophet's own brush with death (38:7-13), and the imminent fall of the city.25 Call unto me, and I will … shew thee great and mighty (hidden) things (3). The invitation here is to Jeremiah, but he represents all of God's servants. The verse highlights prayer as one of the great agencies through which God reveals spiritual truth to men. It also shows “the need for human cooperation if the Divine revelation, which God is willing and anxious to unfold, is to become possible.”26
2. Afflicted Jerusalem Is Healed (33:4-13)
Verses 4-5 bring the reader to the very eve of the fall of Jerusalem. One can feel the sense of desperation that prevails among the people as the city makes its final stand. Mounts (4) would be siege mounds. Houses built next to the walls are torn down and the space and material are used in the defense of the city. The prophet's heart is breaking because the end is in sight. God's word is still the same: I have hid my face from this city (5). There will be no reprieve.
Even though God's decision to destroy the city cannot be repealed, He does not leave the prophet hopeless. Afflicted Jerusalem will be healed. Verse 6 contains God's goal of restoration: moral health and material well-being, “I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity” (6, RSV). As at the first (7); i.e., as in an earlier, happier day. Verse 13 indicates that all sections of Judah shall share in the restoration. The rest of the passage indicates that God's method of restoration involves three things:27 (1) In Jerusalem's particular situation, destruction is the gateway to restoration. Death is the gateway to life. There is to be no slight healing of the situation; all evil must be swept away. In the redemptive processes of God “old Israel” must die in order for “new Israel” (the Church) to arise.
(2) Moral cleansing is the gateway to spiritual wholeness (health); I will cleanse them from all their iniquity (8). If spiritual wholeness is ever to exist again in Israel, a radical moral cleansing is necessary. The Hebrew for cleansing (taker) is a strong word and means “to purify” or “make clean.” Spiritual health is God's goal for man. Where there is spiritual wholeness, there will be the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness … the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord (11). But the moral cleansing comes first. There must be a “purification of the springs of life, in order that life may become full of joy and full of gladness.”28
(3) Spiritual health is the gateway to material well-being. This too is always God's order. However, men often try to reverse it. They put the primary emphasis on material prosperity and vow that this will bring spiritual blessedness. But sinful men have always gotten matters turned around. First let there be spiritual wholeness; then there will be heard the voice of them that … shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord—the voice of the bridegroom … bride (11). In this place, which is desolate … again … shall be … shepherds (12). Afflicted Jerusalem will be healed, but on God's terms, and through eternal principles.
3. Davidic Kings and Levitical Priests (33:14-26)
The lofty language of this final section is designed to bring the Book of Consolation (cc. 30—33) to a splendid climax.
(1) The opening words, Behold, the days come (14), immediately throw the whole passage into an eschatological perspective, and point to the coming of a new order which is to find its fulfillment in a certain but indefinite future. (2) The material is addressed both to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah and points to the expectation of a united kingdom when the new order arrives. (3) At the proper time, God will raise up a true offspring of David, the Branch (“Shoot” or “Sprout”) of righteousness (15). These words are almost identical with 23:5-6. There is a difference, however, for here the Messianic name, The Lord our righteousness (16), is applied to the city of Jerusalem. At first glance this seems rather strange, but on second thought, it is to be expected. The holy city has taken on the character of its King. 29 (4) In the new order the Davidic house will never lack for a man to rule the kingdom (17), and the Levitical priest-hood will never lack for a man to perform the proper religious duties (18). The two pillars of God's administration30 in the world have always been the kingship and priesthood, the state and the Church. (5) In order that His people may have a sure hope, God binds himself by a pledge that, as long as His covenant of the day, and … night (20) lasts, His word to Israel will not fail. Ordinances (25) are the orderly processes of nature. (6) To those who were doubtful about the future of the nation, God had an answer. He assured them that the promise made to the Davidic and Levitical houses (20-21) stood good for all the seed of Jacob (26). Thus mercy to both Israel and Judah is doubly sure.
These prophecies have never been fulfilled in a narrow nationalistic sense. Perhaps they were never meant to be, for the new order could never be like the old, any more than the butterfly is like the cocoon from which it comes. But in a spiritual and wider sense the prophecy has been fulfilled: “Jesus Christ is ‘the root and offspring of David.’ “31