2023_11_27 Insight Post- Kim Feld

Jeremiah chapter 33 contains bold words from God. At the beginning of the chapter, God reinforces who He is – “the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it.” It stood out to me that in verse 1, we are reminded that Jeremiah is still “confined in the courtyard of the guard.” It seems that God is letting Jeremiah know that He can speak to him regardless of his location or circumstances. Let’s take a look at verses 1-2:

¹ While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Lord gave him this second message: ² “This is what the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord…” (Jeremiah 33:1-2, NLT).

God gives Jeremiah a picture of future restoration. He says He will bring health and healing to His people. As the chapter progresses, He begins to talk about the Messiah – the righteous Branch that will sprout from David’s line.

God is sovereign over all He has created, and it is within His power to disrupt nature if He chooses. Everything in all of creation is subject to Him. But He is a God who keeps His promises. In verses 19-21, God says that His covenant with David to always have a descendant on the throne is as sure as God’s covenant with the day and the night and their appearance at the appointed time.

The word covenant has appeared many times in our reading this year. The NIV Exhaustive Concordance Dictionary (2015) defines covenant this way: “covenant, treaty, compact, agreement, an association between two parties with various responsibilities, benefits, and penalties.” Breaking a covenant in Biblical times was a grave offense. I love how God uses this personification of day and night. He is basically saying that just as you count on tomorrow’s sunrise and sunset, you can count on Me.

Ultimately, this chapter points to Jesus, the Messiah. He is the King-Priest who fulfills all of these promises and will one day fully redeem His people, bringing peace. If you go back to Jeremiah 31, God tells Jeremiah that He is going to bring a new covenant that is different from the one He made when He brought the people out of Egypt. Jesus is the mediator of that new covenant.

 ²⁴ You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24, NLT).

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach

Reference: NIV Exhaustive Concordance Dictionary. (2015). Zondervan.