The king of love my shepherd is (A study in Jeremiah 33)

 Truth and Consequences:    

A study in the prophecy of Jeremiah

Chapter 33

By Bob Mendelsohn

Given 12 August 2022

 

Lesson Thirty-three: The King of love my shepherd is

 

INTRODUCTION

  Springtime is a time of great hope and beauty; the winter’s chills and snow and ice are melting and the sun is lingering longer. For many, this is their favourite season. It won’t be long as summer’s heat will soon be on us, and the buds on the bushes and trees will soon be blossoming. Sheep have plenty of good grass to eat, and Bondi Beach is booming again with tumbling children and splashing surfers. The world will be wonderful for many; the promise of spring and thus summer was in us last week. We had temps in the 20s and the sun shone relentlessly. I thought winter was over; winter was not complete as this week has evidenced. 

Why am I giving you this meteorological report? That you and I might think thoughts of the promise of sunshine when the sun is not shining. We need to think of promises of warmth when baby, it’s cold outside. Promises are not to be held onto when they are fulfilled; you have to hold onto promises when they are oh, so far, far away.

That said, in today’s chapter, we hear a repeat of many of the promises God made to the Judeans in chapters 30 and 31, with a new promise about King David and about Levites. Stay tuned to hear what God will say, and remember, it’s not when they are fulfilled that you ponder them. 

Let’s hear what God is saying to us in this messed up and darkening world from chapter 33 of Jeremiah. 

Verse 1 tells us the timeline of this chapter, the same as last chapter. Jeremiah is still in prison, again, like house arrest, and in this whole chapter we don’t hear anything about his prayers or his response at all. It’s all “THUS SAYS GOD” and as such is a litany of God’s thoughts, not those of the prophet. 

Verse 2, God self-introduces as is his custom, as the God who created the world, and everything in it. And that would include Babylonians and Judeans and even Kiwis. 

Verse 3, call to me, and I will answer you. It’s particular. It’s personal. God is inviting us to listen and to pray and his promise is immediate. I will answer you, he says. Can you take comfort in that promise? Today? Are you currently asking God to accomplish something? He promises to hear us. Do you believe that?

What will he tell us, great and mighty things we don’t already know. Awesome, we will have wisdom granted. We will be alerted to his plans for our neighbours and our children. Things we do not know. Like the timing of his provision. Like the times he will answer in the affirmative and times in the negative. 

Verse 4, second time, “Thus says the Lord.” And what’s the subject of this word? The houses where we live and the houses of the leadership. The defences are broken down and the enemy will enter to ruin. God says that he is open to listen to us. There are walls around the city-- they are down; there are walls around God. They are also down, but open to us! It’s a brilliant image.

Verse 5, God has hidden himself, due to our sinfulness. Our ra’ah. Listen hell may well be defined as the ultimate isolation and loneliness, far not only from the madding crowd, but also far from the Living God. If heaven is relationship and fellowship and belonging, then hell is lack of relationship and loneness and not belonging. 

Verse 6 HINEY, Behold, don’t miss this. ‘Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. God will heal, three times in this one verse, healing is coming. Yes, admit you are sick and go to the doctor of life (God) so that your healing comes. No one gets well without such an admission. 

Arucha means ‘health’ and it comes from the root ERECH, like in Erech Apayim, long or slow to anger, and I’m glad God is perhaps slow to bring healing, but it will surely come. Also I cannot get away from the last word. Truth. Telling the truth about God. About you. About your relationship or lack of one. This promise is worth writing on a post, or on a post it, or on your wall in bright colours… God will reveal an abundance of peace and truth. 

Verse 7, we’ve seen this phrase before several times…

וַהֲשִֽׁבֹתִי֙ אֶת־שְׁב֣וּת

I will restore the fortunes. Restore the captivity (that is, to erase the captivity) Not in a permanent or conclusive way, but reset factory settings, take us back to where we were before we fell. Before we were tainted by idolatry in Judah and before we were taken into captivity. 

Verse 8, God says he will both make us pure (Taher) and forgive us (Salach) for both our sins and our transgressions. Look, so many of us use different words either to soften the reality of our sin or to excuse it, but 

“The three most familiar Hebrew terms for sin occur in this verse. The verbs ‏חטא‎, “sin” (twice), and ‏פשׁע‎, “rebel,” take singular and plural forms of the noun ‏עון, “iniquity,” as their objects (cf Hos 12:9). Every indictment in the book of Jeremiah contributes to the description of Israel’s and Judah’s iniquity.”

 

And don’t miss this object word “LI” in the text. 

מִכָּל־עֲוֹנָ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָֽטְאוּ־לִ֑י

You sinned li, that is, against me. God takes our sins against people and against nature and against our families and against ourselves… he takes those sins personally and says you sin against me. That’s why fixing problems people-to-people is useful in social circumstances, but it doesn’t fix our lives. Only in repairing our relationship with God, in atonement, in blood-for-blood atonement, is our relationship fixable. Our lives are restored if we get right with God, and it won’t be good until then. 

“It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’” (verse 9)

What is the ‘it’? It’s Jerusalem. That tells me that this is a prediction that will not take place until at least 70 years hence. And what are the three characteristics that define that new city? Joy, praise, and glory. Remember those from Jer. 13.11 and from Deuteronomy 26.19, God will fulfil his promises to make Jerusalem glorious, but not from military victories. Rather, this is from God being good to the peoples of the earth. Good is used twice in this sentence. God’s goodness leads people to repentance. God’s goodness leads us to thankfulness. 

Verse 10, Another “Thus says the Lord.” Third time. And through verse 11, the misfortunes of lack and of famine will be replaced with merriment and restoration. And the standard “Hodu” is sung, and is probably inserted by later authors to remind the people (“Sing God’s thanks as usual here.”)

Verses 12-13, there are five images of sheep and shepherds and if you think that’s about pastoral situations you are very close to right. It’s about the leadership of the ‘sheep of his pasture” namely the people of Israel and the kings. God will make those relationships back to ‘as in the beginning’ before the current kings had ruined things.

The verb ‘count’ surprised me, but when I think of the Lost items parables of Luke 15, that’s the only way the shepherd would know if there were 99 + 1. Only in counting his sheep did the shepherd know the flock. John 10 is where the apostle listed his “Jesus is the Good Shepherd” speech. And there we see that Jesus ‘knows his sheep’ and they ‘hear his voice and follow him.’ I identify with this notion. God made me one of his sheep and he loves and cares for me as a shepherd. The king of love, my shepherd is. No one “can take us out of his hand.”

Verse 14 introduces the promise he already gave us in chapter 23. The righteous branch, this one who is coming, will execute justice and that sounds royal and like a good king rather than the ones we’ve recently had to lead us. He will lead us to good, to holiness and purity. And in verse 15, another direct quote from the earlier chapter, the one who is born to us is named “Jehovah our righteousness.” Whoever this one is, he’s not only the rep of God; he IS God and that’s a massive surprise, eh?

Then verses 16 and 17, another Thus says the Lord (#4) the double surprise that only makes sense in terms of Yeshua, the greater Son of David. We read that there will never be a time without a Davidic king and without priests to perform sacrifices. This clearly is not fulfilled and we have an enigma.

Listen how Barnes solves this: “Read literally, these verses promise the permanent restoration of the Davidic throne and (of the Levitical priesthood. As a matter of fact Zedekiah was the last king of David’s line, and the Levitical priest-hood has long passed away. Both these changes Jeremiah himself foretold (Jeremiah 22:30; 3:16). In what way then is this apparent contradiction (compare Isaiah 66:20–23; Ezekiel 40–48) to be explained? The solution is probably as follows. It was necessary that the Bible should be intelligible to the people at the time when it was written, and in some degree to the writer. The Davidic kingship and the Levitical priest-hood were symbols, which represented to the Jew all that was most dear to his heart in the state of things under which he lived. Their restoration was the restoration of his national and spiritual life. Neither was so restored as to exist permanently. But that was given instead, of which both were types, the Church, whose Head is the true prophet, priest and King.”

Christopher Wright comments about Horizon 2 and 3. He says something similar to Barnes. “The NT affirms that the eternal nature of both the throne of David and the Leviti al priesthood was taken up and fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The angel declared the former (Luke 1.32-33) and Hebrews declares the latter (Heb. 8-10)”

This makes sense and we addressed it last week with the whole David restoration. It won’t be David himself, but the Greater Son of David who will make this happen and the priesthood of the Levites and their work in the Temple will terminate in 70 CE, BUT the Great High Priest Yeshua will take their place in substitution. 

Verse 20, Thus says the Lord, again. #5 in this chapter alone. If it’s possible that the sun and moon stop shining, then my covenant is breakable, BUT IT IS NOT. This will not happen as sure as I’m the Creator and SUSTAINER. Again the promises of God to Abraham and David are now reiterated and God will make this happen, for HIS NAME’s sake and in Yeshua they are fulfilled. 

Verse 24-26, people’s sins are apparent, AND YET, there it is…the interrupting grace of Almighty God. But I will ^crestore their ³fortunes and will have ^dmercy on them

God does this. Then. And in 70 years. And in Yeshua and in our lives. 

אָשׁוּב אֶת־שְׁבוּתָ֖ם וְרִחַמְתִּֽים

God, full of mercy and compassion. The Good Shepherd. Restoring the lost son to the Father, saving the 100^th sheep and bringing him back to himself. God doesn’t want any of us lost. He wants us restored. And he will do it. 

Have you encountered him yourself? Have you been born again?

 

CONCLUSION

God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? He is risen from the dead! Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life. 

 

PRAYER

Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up. 

We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 34. Until then, Shabbat shalom!

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnes, Albert, Commentary on the Old Testament. (Published by many, from 1880 on)

Henry, Matthew, Commentary.

Keown, Gerald, Scalise, Pamela, Smothers, Thomas, Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah (Part 2).  1995. 

McConnville, Gordon, Jeremiah, New Bible Commentary. 

Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.

 

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ACTUAL TEXT

Restoration Promised

 

Jer. 33:1   Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, ² “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name, ³ ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ ⁴ “For thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down to make a defence against the siege ramps and against the sword, ⁵ ‘While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness: ⁶ ‘Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ ‘I will restore the ¹fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. ⁸ ‘I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. ⁹ ‘It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’

 

Jer. 33:10   “Thus says the LORD, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without beast,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹  the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, 

            “Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, 

            For the LORD is good, 

            For His lovingkindness is everlasting”; 

            and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the LORD.

 

Jer. 33:12   “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds who rest their flocks. ¹³ ‘In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the LORD.

 

The Davidic Kingdom

 

Jer. 33:14   ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfil the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. ¹⁶ ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’ ¹⁷ “For thus says the LORD, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸ and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.’”

 

Jer. 33:19   The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ “Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, ²¹ then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. ²² ‘As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’”

 

Jer. 33:23   And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ “Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them’? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation ¹in their sight. ²⁵ “Thus says the LORD, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, ²⁶ then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.’”