A Promise of Restoration

Jeremiah 33

            With the end of Jerusalem near and Jeremiah in a personally tight spot, the Lord offers a promise of restoration, a promise that His anger will not burn forever, that He will not forget the plans and purposes He has in store for Israel. The Lord promises health and healing, cleansing, and prosperity for Jerusalem. He promises the restoration of both the north kingdom and Judah.

            The people of Israel looked forward to that in the normal way. They expected a return from exile and the establishment of Israel as the foremost of the nations. And there was a return. But as we saw in Ezra, when the old-timers who had seen Solomon’s temple wept over the poverty of the temple they had just rebuilt, things weren’t what they expected. When they returned, their city was a shambles; they didn’t even have a wall for almost a hundred years. The Persians were enlightened masters, but they were still the political masters—until they were replaced by the Greeks, who were in turn replaced by the Romans. No wonder that by Jesus’ day, the people of Israel were thinking the Lord had not yet kept all of His promises!

            In truth, this must be understood as a messianic promise. The one who would reign on David’s throne was the one who first reigned from a cross and who now reigns from heaven. Right now, there’s no earthly kingdom, even though the entire earth is His to rule. So, there is a spiritualizing of these promises, fulfilled in the church, living in joy and peace despite the raging of the world around them. And the final fulfillment waits for the last day, when all of God’s enemies will be set under His feet and He will make all things new. That’s what Israel should have been looking for; that’s what we look for.