©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 33:14-26 (ESV) - “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’
“For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The LORD has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. Thus says the LORD: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
Question to consider: How did the LORD multiply the offspring of David and the Levitical priest like sands of the sea?
In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.” (John 5:25-27)
At the time in which Jeremiah received this word from the LORD, it was to be considered a fulfillment many days in the future when a righteous Branch of David would execute judgment on the land. Jesus’ word was a proclamation that the time had come, and He was the fulfillment of it. Either Jesus was this righteous Branch of David, or He wasn’t. The disciples were willing to endure poverty, torture, and death on their testimony of their encounters with the risen Christ and His ascension to the right hand of the Father. God vindicated them as true witnesses by performing great signs in the name of Jesus throughout the book of Acts.
Before Jesus died and rose again, the disciples all saw today’s passage through the eyes of an earthly fulfillment, and it’s clear from the gospel writers that they were completely off base with this. They fought over who was going to be greatest in this kingdom and assumed that Jesus was going to take His throne at the triumphal entry and overthrow Rome. Instead, Jesus proclaimed that His kingdom was not of this world, and He taught the disciples that the greatest in His kingdom would be a servant to all.
The promise in today’s passage was so sure that the LORD compared it to His covenant with the day and night. As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the people of God would have a descendant of David executing justice in the earth. If Jesus is not this descendant, then the LORD did not fulfill His promise.
Additionally, the priesthood would never be lacking because Jesus serves as our great high priest in the order of Melchizedek (see my study on Hebrews 7:11-19) He is always before the presence of the Father interceding on our behalf. The LORD described it in terms that Jeremiah and the exiles could understand because all of the burnt offerings and grain offerings and sacrifices were made perfect in the sacrifice of Christ.
It was through this sacrifice that the LORD could promise He would cleanse them and forgive their sins. Instead of being contingent on the faithfulness of Judah, it was rooted in the faithfulness of Christ. We can say that He has multiplied the offspring of David and the Levitical priests because everyone who belongs to Christ is part of the royal priesthood. Peter declared this in his first letter, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 1:9)
All nations recognize the restoration of God’s people in Christ because they have been counted among them.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for fulfilling Your promises in Christ. Help us to hear Christ’s own words declare this along with the apostles who bore witness to Him in the world. Let this good news so fill our hearts that it overflows to our neighbor. Amen.