Reflections on Jeremiah 33

Jeremiah 33 (Contemporary English Version)
1. I was still being held prisoner in the courtyard of the palace guards when the LORD told me: I am the LORD, and I created the whole world.
   
2. (SEE 33:1)
   
3. Ask me, and I will tell you things that you don't know and can't find out.
   
4. Many of the houses in Jerusalem and some of the buildings at the royal palace have been torn down to be used in repairing the walls to keep out the Babylonian attackers. Now there are empty spaces where the buildings once stood. But I am furious, and these spaces will be filled with the bodies of the people I kill. The people of Jerusalem will cry out to me for help, but they are evil, and I will ignore their prayers.
   
5. (SEE 33:4)
   
6. Then someday, I will heal this place and my people as well, and let them enjoy unending peace.
   
7. I will give this land to Israel and Judah once again, and I will make them as strong as they were before.
   
8. They sinned and rebelled against me, but I will forgive them and take away their guilt.
   
9. When that happens, all nations on earth will see the good things I have done for Jerusalem, and how I have given it complete peace. The nations will celebrate and praise and honor me, but they will also tremble with fear.
   
10. Jeremiah, you say that this land is a desert without people or animals, and for now, you are right. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are deserted, and people and animals are nowhere to be seen. But someday you will hear
    
11. happy voices and the sounds of parties and wedding celebrations. And when people come to my temple to offer sacrifices to thank me, you will hear them say: "We praise you, LORD All-Powerful! You are good to us, and your love never fails." The land will once again be productive.
    
12. Now it is empty, without people or animals. But when that time comes, shepherds will take care of their flocks in pastures near every town in the hill country, in the foothills to the west, in the Southern Desert, in the land of the Benjamin tribe, and around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. I, the LORD, have spoken.
    
13. (SEE 33:12)
    
14. The LORD said: I made a wonderful promise to Israel and Judah, and the days are coming when I will keep it.
    
15. I promise that the time will come when I will appoint a king from the family of David, a king who will be honest and rule with justice.
    
16. In those days, Judah will be safe; Jerusalem will have peace and will be named, "The LORD Gives Justice."
    
17. The king of Israel will be one of David's descendants,
    
18. and there will always be priests from the Levi tribe serving at my altar and offering sacrifices to please me and to give thanks.
    
19. Then the LORD told me:
    
20. I, the LORD, have an agreement with day and night, so they always come at the right time. You can't break the agreement I made with them,
    
21. and you can't break the agreements I have made with David's family and with the priests from the Levi tribe who serve at my altar. A descendant of David will always rule as king of Israel,
    
22. and there will be more descendants of David and of the priests from the Levi tribe than stars in the sky or grains of sand on the beach.
    
23. The LORD also said:
    
24. You've heard foreigners insult my people by saying, "The LORD chose Israel and Judah, but now he has rejected them, and they are no longer a nation."
    
25. Jeremiah, I will never break my agreement with the day and the night or let the sky and the earth stop obeying my commands.
    
26. In the same way, I will never reject the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or break my promise that they will always have a descendant of David as their king. I will be kind to my people Israel, and they will be successful again.

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Chapter 33 is a continuation of chapter 32, giving greater detail to God's promise of restoration for Judah in particular and Israel as a whole. In chapter 32 Jeremiah had been imprisoned because of his prophecies of doom for Judah which were considered treasonous. He remained confined as further word came to him from the Lord. As an introduction to the message God gave to him for delivery to Judah, the Lord reminded the people of who He is. He is the one, "who made the earth, the LORD who forms it to establish it, the LORD is His name." (33:2)  In other words, the promises He was about to give them are as sure as creation itself. For the One who gives the promises is the same One who made the earth.

As if to assure the people that the promises He is about to give in no way change the reality of their destruction at the hands of the Babylonians, the Lord next gave a brief glimpse at what was about to happen to them. The houses and palaces that were torn down to provide materials for reinforcing the walls would be filled with the bodies of the men defending the city. Nothing had changed regarding God's judgment of Judah. However, the story does not end with the destruction of Judah. It is not complete without also telling of her healing and restoration.  As described in the reflections for chapter 32, what is happening to Judah might be likened to a building that has outlived its usefulness and must be torn down so a new and better building can be built on the same location. When the old building is demolished the project is not finished, nor do we describe that process as a demolition. Because the completion of the project is to have a new building we describe the whole project, even the demolition, as a construction project, not a demolition project. So it was with Judah. Judah's destruction was only the beginning of the process God had in mind for her. The completion of that process was a new nation.  God's plans for this new nation could not be fulfilled by simply making changes with the old Judah. God had tried that many times before and Judah was no better than before. The old had to be torn down completely if the nation God intended was to be built.

God's promises concerning the new nation that was to be rebuilt included three elements of blessing: 1- Judah, and all Israel, would be restored to the land, 2- All Israel would be restored to the Lord for He would cleanse them from their sin and forgive them of their rebellion, and 3 - Israel would again have a special place of honor among the nations.  As God further detailed His promises to Israel we realize that they transcend anything she had experienced throughout her history. But they will not have their ultimate fulfillment until the Millennial reign of the Messiah. Paramount among God's promises are the restoration of the monarchy continuing in the royal line of David, which was fulfilled with the coming of the Messiah, and restoration of Jerusalem as God's dwelling place. 

All of this is a picture of what God wants to do in the life of every person. He wants to reign in our lives as Lord and to dwell in us. The question we must consider is whether it is possible for God to have the place in our life He wants to have with a simple "remake" in our lives or whether it will require a total demolition of our old life to allow God to build a new life in which He can dwell and have reign?