Jeremiah 33

MOreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time (while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison) saying See the notes on chap. 32.2. Ieremiah was forced out of the Temple, God followeth him to the Prison, and there revealeth his mind to him once and again. The wickedness of the Jews in persecuting the Prophet, could not make Gods promises of no effect for mercy to be showed to the people, after the captivity, which though made before, are again confirmed a second time, for this chapter for substance contains no more then promises of the like nature with those in the oregoing chapters..

Thus says the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it, the LORD is his name The maker thereof, that is say some of Ierusalem (so Mr. Calvin) or the maker of these promises (so others interpret it) his name is Iehovah, so as he has a sufficiency in himself to make good his word to establish Ierusalem, or to establish the word spoken by him for the establishment of it..

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee, great and mighty things which thou knowest not God either speaketh to the people to pray unto him, or to the Prophet on the behalf of the people to pray, promising him he would show him great things. Object. But how does God say that Ieremiah did not know them, when God before this time had revealed them to the Prophet, and the Prophet had revealed them. Sol. He did not know them before God had revealed them, and though God had revealed them, yet by his Prayer in the former chapter it appears, he did not fully understand them, or firmly believe them as he ought to have done..

For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword That is which in part are thrown down and shall yet further be thrown down, by the engines of War which the Chaldeans use to batter down the City, see before chap. 32.24. some read for the mounts, as if they were thrown down by the Citizens to make room for the Citizens to cast up defensive mounts, the word translated Sword may be as well translated Hammers or Mattocks, as it is 2 Chron. 34.6. it is translated Axes, Ezek. 26.9..

They come to fight with the Caldeans It is very difficult to determine whether these words contain an entire sense in themselves, or what connexion they have with the foregoing words, not to repeat mens diverse apprehensions of which a large account is given by the Author of the English Annotations, I think they judge best who think they have an entire sense in themselves, and judge that the They here mentioned are the Jews of whom the Prophet says they come, because he knew they would sally out and fight with their Enemies, but to no purpose, but to fill their houses with their own dead bodies whom he would cause in his anger to be slain., but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in my anger, and in my fury f, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city For their wickedness which they had provoked God by, and caused him to hide his face from that City which had so much of his countenance formerly..

Behold, I will bring t health, and cure, and I will cure them The latter part of this verse expoundeth the former, for by health and cure, the Prophet meaneth peace, and truth we met with the like metaphorical expression, chap. 30.17. see the notes on that place, the miserable disturbed state of a Nation being compared to wounds, and sickness, the restoring of it to a peaceable prosperous state is fitly called its health and cure., and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth By truth here seems to be meant faithfulness or stability, not truth of propositions, I will after this great wound which I have given this people, bring them again into a quiet, and peaceable state in which they shall abide many days..

And I will cause the captivity of Judah, and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first In this verse the latter part is expounded by the former the restoring of them is called building them, in opposition to the throwing them down, by the mounts mentioned, ver. 4. unless by building be to be understood not laying the foundation of their new state, but the further prospering of them in that state..

And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me Here is but one thing expressed by two phrases, the word by us translated cleanse signifies to expiate or p rifie with allusion to the legal purifications, so as cleansing must not be understood of Regeneration, but of that pardon which is mentioned in the latter part of the verse..

¶ And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: I will do so well by this people, that other Nations shall honour and praise me for my goodness to them. and they shall fear, and tremble, for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it And not only so but shall fear to ingage against a nation so beloved and favoured by me, Exod. 15.14, 16. others interpret it of a Religious fear, and trembling to which Gods mercy to the Israelites should inv te those people that should see, and hear of it, but I think the former is the most probable sense of the Prophet here..

Thus says the LORD, Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say Those of you who though you find no great difficulty to believe what I have prophesied concerning the Chaldaeans taking this City, seeing it upon the matter already taken, yet find a difficulty to believe what I tell you about the peoples returning, and the rebuilding of it. The Lord speaketh the one as well as the other, there shall be Heard again in it. shall be desolate without man, and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast.

The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say Praise the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for his mercy endureth for ever, and of them that shall bring the sacrifices of praise into the house of the LORD; for I will cause to return the captivity of the Land, as at the first says the LORD The sum of this verse is, that those that should be carried into captivity should return, and upon their return they should be in their former states, both as to Civil transactions, they should again marry, and give in marriage, and as to Civil and Spiritual joy, they should publickly praise the Lord as they were wont to do in the words of David, Psal. 106.1. and 107.1. and 118.1. and 136.1. (we have a record in Holy Writ of the fulfilling of this Prophesie upon the laying the foundations of the second Temple, Ezra 3.11.) and offer sacrifices of Thanksgiving, see Neh. 12.27..

Thus says the LORD of hosts, Again in this place which is desolate That is a great part of which is, and the other part shall soon be desolate. In all these places there shall be Flocks and Herds of Sheep, and Goats, which the Shepherd shall take care of as in former times. without man, and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks to lye down.

In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of So as to keep tale of them, as it is said they were went to do both morning and evening in those Countries. him that telleth them, says the LORD.

Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah The Lord is not yea, and nay, he cannot lye nor repent, I speak not of the present time, but there shall be a time when God will justifie every good word of this nature, which he has spoken to his ancient people..

¶ In those days, and at that time will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David Whatsoever the Jews and some others say, the Branch of Righteousness here spoken of can be meant of no other but Christ, who is called a Branch out of the stem of Iesse, Isa. 11.1. The Branch of the Lord, Isa. 4.2. A Righteous Branch, chap. 23.5. (see the Notes on those places) Zorobabel though descended from David cannot be meant here, but the same who is thus called in all those paralel Texts, of whom yet Z robabel (being a good man, and descended from the Family of David may be allowed to have been a Type) but this Text far more concerneth Christ, as he in whom all the promises are founded, and in whom they are all Yea, and Amen. The Kings they had hitherto had of the line of David were most of them unrighteous men, but God promiseth that after the Captivity, they should have a Branch of David that should execute judgment and righteousness in the Land, under the protection and government of those that feared him., and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

In those days, shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely It is the opinion of some that a spiritual Salvation and security is promised under these expressions, but the most and best Interpreters rather understand it of a temporal Salvation as primarily intended though typical of that Spiritual and Eternal Salvation which is often promised to the true Israel of God; as their rest in Canaan typified that Rest which remaineth for the people of God.: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness Our Translation of this phrase is something strange, the words in the Hebrew are Pag ine Translateth them And he who shall call it the Lord our Righteousness, supplying the Verb substantive, is. He who shall call it is the Lord our Righteousness. We Translate it, This is the name wherewith it shall be called, &c. that which causes the difficulty is, that the pronoun which signifieth he is applied both to persons and things, and translated he or it, and the relative is of all cases, so may be translated who, or which, or with which, those words which our translators have supplied, is the name, are not in the Hebrew. This has made a great doubt amongst Interpreters whether, The Lord our Righteousness be the name of Christ, or the name of the City. I do incline to their opinion, who think that it is here mentioned as the name of Christ. In that sense there is nothing to be understood but the Verb substantive, is, which is ordinarily understood; so the words are thus. And he who shall call it, is, the Lord our Righteousness. The context seemeth to favour this, Christ being that Ruler mentioned v. 15. as he who shall execute Iustice, and Iudgement in the Land, besides that there is no such name any where given, either to the Jewish or Christian Church, as the Lord our Righteousness, but the full import of that name is spoken of Christ, Isaiah 45.23. which Text is applied to Christ, Rom. 14.11. Phil. 2.10. he is called the just King, Zech. 9.9. and our Righteousness, 1 Cor. 1.30..

¶ For thus says the LORD, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel This is apparently a promise relating to Christ, for Davids line had failed long since, had it not been continued in Christ, whose Kingdom is and shall be an everlasting Kingdom. So long as Israel remained a Kingdom, those of the line of David ruled over it, when that failed; Christ came in the flesh, who ruleth, and shall rule over the Israel of God for ever..

Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me, to offer burnt-offerings, and to kindle meat-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually The best Interpreters understand this of a Ministry to abide in the Church to the end of the World according to Matth. 28.20. nor is it unusual for God in the Old Testament to express promise relating to, and to be fulfilled under the Gospel by expressions, and terms proper to the Old Testament, as Isa. 66.23. and in this sense it must be expounded, or restrained to the times immediately following the Captivity, but it is generally understood, as a promise for a Gospel Ministry to succeed the Ministry in the Jewish Church, and to abide to the end of the World..

¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,

Thus says the LORD If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night By the Covenant of day and night here is meant the same with the Ordinances mentioned, chap. 31.35. Gods Law established in the course of natural causes, by virtue of which the day, and night orderly succeed one another. These verses are but a further confirmation of what was said before, and the sense of them no more then this. That the succession f the Gospel Ministry in the Church of God to abide for ever, should be as certain as the succession of darkness and light, God had established the latter in a necessary course of natural causes, and he would by his Providence take care for the other, that the effect should be every whit as certain. Though the second causes are widely different, yet God who is the first cause of both is the same, and would as certainly bring the one to pass as the other., and that there should not be day, and night in their season.

Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

As the host of heaven cannot be numbred, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me The former promise was for the stability, this for the multiplication of the Church, which is here expressed under the notion of the Seed of David, that is the members of Christ, the Jews were ordinarily called the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Iacob, but I do not remember they are any where called the seed of David, unless it be 1 Kings 11.39. where it seems also to be understood only of the Princes that came from David, nor indeed could they be so called in any proper sense; David being no common head to the whole Jewish Nation, as both Abraham, Isaac and Iacob were, but Christ is often called the Seed of David, Iob. 7.42. Acts 13.23. Rom. 1.3. 2 Tim. 2.8. and Christ is himself called David, whose Seed and whose Levites are multiplied in the multiplying of Christians, and of faithful Ministers under the Gospel, which certainly are the things here promised..

Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying This people, that is (say some) the Enemies of the Jews, but it may as well be interpreted either of the wicked Jews, wicked men being always full of groundless presumptuous hopes or sunk in despair. Or of such amongst them as were better, but weak in faith, that knew not how to give any firm assent to promises, the fulfilling of which seemed to the Eyes of sense and reason so improbable., The two families which the LORD has chosen, he has even cast them off By the two Families here mentioned the Prophet either meaneth the Kingdoms of Israel and Iudah, or which seemeth to me much more probable the Families of David and Aaron, mentioned before.? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them Thus says God they have spoken scornfully of my people, as if they should never be a nation more having Rulers of themselves, and a Ministry..

Thus says the LORD, If my covenant be not with day, and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.

Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob By the seed of Iacob, and of Abraham and Isaac are meant the Body of the Jews to whom these three Patriarchs were common heads., and David my servant By the Seed of David persons lineally descended from David who should rule over the Israel of God. The sum of these two verses is plainly no more then God had said before, that a restauration of them to their own Land should as certainly succeed their Captivity, as the night succeedeth the day, or the day succeedeth the night. God had as certainly established, and ordained the one as the other, though not as yet so established the one in the order of natural causes as the other, God would certainly have mercy on them, and in showing his mercy would take care that one of the seed of David should be their Ruler which was fulfilled in the M ssiah., so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for I will cause their captivity to return and have mercy on them.