Is That All There Is?
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, I commit this day to seeking that which delights You. To You be the glory.
Read JEREMIAH 33:1-26
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Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“Come, thou long-expected Jesus, / Born to set thy people free; / From our fears and sins release us; / Let us find our rest in thee” (Charles Wesley, 1707-1788).
Think Further
The unnamed narrator, whom we shall discuss another day, reappears in chapter 32 to resume the narrative of Jeremiah’s prophetic life. Jeremiah is not merely predicting the future, however. He is announcing what God has revealed to him. Prophecy is not a function of human discernment, nor is this future revelation akin to clairvoyance. It is not read in the stars or any other arcane source of knowledge. Indeed, Christians should be most skeptical and wary of any claim to discern the future outside what God has revealed in Scripture.
Old Testament prophecies normally have multiple trajectories. They may be fulfilled in the short or medium term, but they may also have long-term fulfillment, far beyond the lifetime of the prophet. Some are yet to be fulfilled, perhaps in a future beyond our lives. Again today we read of God’s anger but also of God’s love and faithfulness, which far surpass his anger. The God who hid his face (5) is also the God who will bring “health and healing…abundant peace” (6). With prophecy’s multiple endpoints, we can sense a partial fulfillment of the promise of restoration when the Jews returned from exile in Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4), but we also must ask if that is all there is. Such magnificent restoration must be greater than the scrappy return of the exiles, followed by subjection to Greece, then to Rome, and then long millennia not yet ended, when no human descendant of David sits upon the throne of Judah (17).
New Testament writers saw the realization of these prophecies in Jesus. He is the branch sprouting from Jesse’s line (15; Rom. 15:12). He is the descendant of David who will rightly sit on the throne of David in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 5:5; 22:1-5), in the time yet to come when all prophecy will find its true end.
Apply
What are the three things mentioned in verses 6-8 that God promises to do in and for his people? Which one means the most to you and why?
Closing prayer
Lord, I’m grateful You are a God who keeps promises. Great is Your faithfulness! Thank You for eternal life in Jesus, the Promised One.
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