God had previously told Jeremiah not to pray
for Judah. But now Jeremiah is given words that have
encouraged many today: “Call to Me,
and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not
know” (v3). He is to call upon the
Creator (v2) in a time of hopelessness (v4-5).
This is what Jeremiah does not know:
that after leaving His people in desolation God is going to restore them
fully! He will regather them and then
cleanse them (v6-9). The desolate will
be joyful (v10-11); the land will flourish again (v12-13).
Included in this is a God’s promise to maintain
His covenant with David and the ministry of the Aaronic priests and the Levites
(v17-18). God’s punctuates this with
words of certainty (v18-26). As sure as
day and night, God will do this. And in
the closing words of the chapter God also reaffirms His covenant with Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. GOD WILL KEEP HIS WORD!
Were these promises fulfilled in the return
from the Babylonian exile? Certainly
not! The days that are coming are the days of the Messiah
(v14-16) at which time things will happen which have not yet happened.
·
v14: God promises one
Nation: the united house of Israel
and house of Judah.
·
v15a: In
those days and at that time points to a specific time. The Messianic
title, “Branch” is used again (cf. Jer. 23:5-6 for an identical prophecy). The Messiah
is of the seed of David, a Branch from the same tree, and thus qualified to sit
on David’s throne.
·
v15b: The Messiah is a
Branch of righteousness. Thus His
reign will be characterized by justice and righteousness. The reign of Manasseh was so evil that it was
the reason God would not relent of His judgment. The reign of the Davidic King Messiah will be such that God will bring great
blessing.
·
v16: Because of this Branch of righteousness Judah will be saved. In other words it will not merely be a matter
of laws requiring righteousness among the people (e.g. 2 Chron. 14:4). It will be because Messiah
will be, “The LORD
our righteousness.” We see the Messiah’s deity: He is the LORD! And we see that Messiah is the righteousness of the people.
Believers in Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah)
have found a perfect fulfillment of this prophecy in Jesus of Nazareth. He was declared to be Son of David and Son of God
(Luke 1:32), a fact powerfully confirmed by His resurrection from the dead (Rom.
1:3-4). And He is our
righteousness. He satisfied the demands
of the law (Rom. 8:1-4; 10:4) and all who come to Him by faith are justified
(declared righteous; Rom. 3:21-26; 2 Cor. 5:21).
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