Jeremiah 33: 1 – 26
I will show you a new thing
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD Is His name): 3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ 4 “For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: 5 ‘They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. 6 Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. 7 And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return and will rebuild those places as at the 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 and by which they have transgressed against Me. 9 Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’ 10 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, 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 will say: “Praise the LORD of hosts, for the LORD Is good, for His mercy endures forever”—and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the LORD. 12 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the LORD. 14 ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: 15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD 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 nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’? 19 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Thus says the LORD: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’” 23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus, they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them. 25 “Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26 then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return and will have mercy on them.’”
It's easy to get into the habit of doing the same things day-in and day-out. Here are some new things to try today to give your life a little bit of a shake-up!
1. Call Your Mom and dad – They love you and probably want you to call way more than you do.
2. At a Restaurant, Let the Waiter Pick Your Entire Meal – Since they are dependent on your tip let them pick out your meal
3. Write and Send a Hand-Written Letter - Everything is email, text, and IM these days. Break out a pen, and put it on paper.
4. Give a Sincere Compliment to at Least Three People - Give a Sincere Compliment to at Least Three People - Who doesn't love a compliment? I love seeing people light-up and smile when they're complimented.
5. Tip Big - If you've ever worked in a restaurant, you know what hard work it is. You come home smelling like spoiled food, and it's a funk that's hard to wash out of your clothes. People can be rude, and the hours are sometimes brutal. Make someone's day by giving them a big tip. Trust me, they deserve it.
6. Take a Technology Break - Whenever I go on vacation, one of my favorite parts is that I get a break from technology. It's okay to cut yourself off for a day or two.
7. Wake Up an Hour Early to have a date with the Lord to pray and read God’s word - As hard as it is for me to wake-up early, I always feel better when I do. There a peacefulness in those early hours.
8. Throughout the Day, keep a List of Things You Are Grateful For - It's easy to take things for granted. Keeping a list and reviewing it at the end of the day keeps things in perspective. If you can't get yourself to write things down throughout the day, even just thinking about what you're grateful for before you go to sleep is a good habit.
9. Make a bucket list of things to do before your next birthday - It doesn't matter if you're turning 33 on your next birthday, or 20, or 63. Whatever stage you're at in life, create a list of things that you hope to accomplish before your next birthday.
Our Holy Creator Is a Great and Loving God. He warns and warns to prevent having to bring judgment. Yet even though He must correct sinful humans He Is also quick to encourage a future hope. Here in this chapter we are going to see how He will give forth a future worth hoping for.
Despite the fact of the devastation that is shortly to come on besieged Jerusalem, YHWH promises to Jeremiah that one day He will restore His people, settle them securely in the land, and will restore the Davidic kingship and the Levitical priesthood in accordance with His covenants made with them (33.1-26).
The initial promise to show these things to Jeremiah suggests that in his prison in the court of the guard, with news coming to him of the city’s sufferings under the siege, he was struggling in his soul concerning the situation, and trying to come to terms with what was involved in all that YHWH had said. YHWH thus comes to give certainty to His loyal servant, the certainty that he seeks.
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
The need for a ‘second word’ suggests that YHWH is aware of Jeremiah’s confusion as the siege gets even more severe. Situated as he was he had had plenty of time to puzzle over what appeared to be an impossible situation. Who had ever heard of a nation being destroyed and exiled from its land, only to be restored in all its former grandeur?
2 “Thus says the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD Is His name):
YHWH, however, assures him that He is easily able to produce something out of what appears to be nothing, for He is the one who ‘does things’, and then ‘fashions them’ (as He had at creation), with a view to finally establishing them. And this is so because His Name is ‘YHWH’, the One Who ‘will be whatever He wants to be’, and ‘causes to be whatever He wants to cause to be’. (Depending on the pointing both meanings are contained within the Name YHWH).
3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
All therefore that Jeremiah has to do is call on Him, and He then promises him that He will answer him, and will show him things which are both ‘great and hard to bring about’, things about which at present he has had no past knowledge of. In other words, He will show him ‘a new thing’ outside of his experience.
In exile, they truly call on Him, He will reveal His hand in an amazing deliverance.
YHWH recognizes that Jeremiah might be confused at what he is experiencing as the siege approaches its final intensity, and describes the scenes with vivid reality, before adding His assurance that this causes Him no problems.
4 “For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: 5 ‘They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city.
In a vivid, but abbreviated description, Jeremiah depicts under YHWH’s guidance the awful cost of defending the walls against the besieging army, and he draws attention to the fact that it all arises as a result of the wickedness of those very people (its citizens) who were now dying or facing death, for it was their wickedness that had drawn down on the city the anger and fury of YHWH. It is clear that he was well aware as he sat in his prison, of the heat of devastation in the city as houses were being torn down in order to strengthen the fortifications that were the main target of the besiegers, and he would have been especially so as it directly affected the palace complex where the most substantial stones would be found which were suitable for the purpose. As the siege progressed, the battering rams, dragged by the besiegers up the mounds which enabled the rams to reach the weaker parts of the walls, gradually did their work of weakening the defenses. The consequence was that the walls, once thought to be sufficiently substantial, were now crumbling before them, and in such circumstances it was common practise to strengthen such walls from the inside by adding layers of stones and other building materials, which would be obtained by breaking down suitable buildings. It was all a part of the cost of the defence of the city in the face of the daily activity of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) against the walls. And on the other side the enemy would be tearing down houses outside the walls in order to build their siege mounds.
‘Against the sword (instrument of war).’ The noun used signifies siege axes as well as swords, and indeed all instruments used by the attackers to achieve a breach in the walls, and which the defenders had to constantly face in defending those walls. During a fierce siege nothing stood still, and all kinds of weapons and instruments were used.
The account is necessarily very much abbreviated and telescoped, but it vividly brings out the mayhem and devastating effects of the continual fighting. We can visualise the siege engines being dragged up the mounds to attack the walls, accompanied by other instruments of war as men fought from siege towers, with the defendants fighting back gallantly, and their dead being dragged away to be laid in heaps in the remnants of the destroyed buildings near the wall. This is the explanation of the ‘dead bodies of men’ who were probably those slain defending the walls, and who would be dragged away when there was a lull in the fighting, to be laid in the ruins of the houses. This was so that they would be out of the way and would also have the purpose of treating them with a rough kind of respect. War was a cruel thing, but even in the midst of hostilities, men still respected their fallen comrades as best they could. They did not leave them just lying around.
they were also a reminder, as YHWH Himself points out, of YHWH’s anger against Jerusalem, and of His punishment of men whose wickedness had contributed to the demise of the city, a wickedness which had caused Him to hide His face from them rather than defending them. It was because of this wickedness that He had handed them over to the slaughter.
Vividly aware as he would have been of such conditions we can understand why Jeremiah was finding it difficult to reconcile them with YHWH’s promises of future deliverance. He would be gaining the impression that once the fighting was over, there would be little left to restore. He would not, of course, have been the only one afflicted with a sense of deep gloom, nevertheless, having no part to play in the fighting, he would have time to think of it more than most. And it was into such gloomy promise that the assurance of YHWH came.
Instead of broken-down buildings there will in the future be plasters and healing, instead of dead bodies there will be an abundance of true peace and restoration, and instead of YHWH’s anger over their sin they will receive cleansing and pardon. And the consequence of all this will be that YHWH’s Name will be exalted among the nations. Nevertheless, it is quite clear that in the case of each parallel the one must precede the other. The breaking down must precede the binding up, warfare must precede true peace. The lessons must first be learned through suffering, before the glory arises out of the ashes. But so wonderful will be what happens that it will be a deliverance beyond Jeremiah’s, and the nation’s, current understanding.
6 Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. 7 And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return and will rebuild those places as at the 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 and by which they have transgressed against Me. 9 Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’
YHWH promises that in days to come the wrecked and devastated Jerusalem, and the equally desolate Judah, will be brought back to health, bound up (covered with an effective plaster) and healed, and that the people within it will themselves be healed, and will enjoy an abundance of ‘peace and truth’ (‘genuine peace’ rather than the kind of peace promised by the false prophets). Thus the city and the land, at present experiencing such despair and hopelessness, will once more be restored to life and vigor. For He will cause the captivity and exile of Judah and Israel to be reversed, with the result that their numbers will be built up in the land so that they will be as numerous as before.
Furthermore they will be cleansed from all their ‘iniquity’ (the root means ‘to be bent’) and will be pardoned from all their ‘iniquities’ (the consequences of their being ‘bent’ within) which assumes that they will have repented from their ‘sins’ (their ‘coming short of the mark’) with which they have sinned against Him. We can see from this how the depths of their sin is being emphasised. And it had all resulted from ‘rebellion’ (hostility to God and His ways). But now their rebellion will be over, and they will be cleansed and pardoned (as per the new covenant - 31.34). Both the depths of their sin and the greatness of their pardon is being emphasized.
And the consequence of YHWH’s goodness to them will be that ‘all the nations’ will fear and tremble as they see all that YHWH does for His people. They will realize that from then on they must treat them with care because they are YHWH’s. And all that has happened will bring home to them the wonder of YHWH, His joyous renown, His praise and His glory. We may also justifiably see in this ‘fear and trembling’ a reverent response of the nations to YHWH, another indication that finally people of all nations will turn to YHWH.
Once again we have the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of which Jeremiah is so fond, in that he first depicts the utter desolation of Jerusalem and Judah, ‘waste without man and beast’, and contrasts it with the following times of joy and gladness, when weddings will be celebrated with merriment, worshippers will give vibrant thanks to YHWH for His covenant love, and thanksgiving offerings will be sacrificed in the house of YHWH.
10 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, 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 will say: “Praise the LORD of hosts, for the LORD Is good, for His mercy endures forever”—and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the LORD.
‘This place’ clearly refers both to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah and thus indicates the whole land. At present it is a desolate waste (with Jerusalem awaiting the final denouement) and will shortly be bereft of its inhabitants and all forms of civilization, a deserted land stripped of life. But when the time comes for YHWH to act He will restore life to it, men and women will once more dwell there voicing their joy and gladness, marriages will again be joyous affairs and worshippers of YHWH will give thanks to Him for His goodness and His everlasting covenant love. The house of YHWH will have been restored, and worshippers will bring there their thanksgiving offerings out of gratitude for what He has done for them, for He will have restored Jerusalem and Judah back to what it was in the glory days. The opening and closing ‘says YHWH’ which emphasizes that it is all His doing.
In all this we must not overlook the problems that would be involved. Uprooted from the lands which they had begun to call home because of the lure of their true homeland, taking the long and weary journeys back to that homeland with all their belongings, settling into what had become a foreign environment, coping with the jealousies and scheming’s of their neighbors, struggling to re-establish themselves in the land, and to re-establish the fruitfulness of a land that had gone to waste, eventually after twenty or more years rebuilding the Temple, although but a mere shadow of what it had been before (and yet one which would last longer than any other of their Temples and would be truly the people’s), and finally after a hundred years rebuilding Jerusalem as once more a semi-independent city. It would not be easy, nor would all necessarily go well. But they were a hardy people, and eventually the land was restored. As so often God’s work was not spectacular but was ground out through the sufferings of His people.
To an agricultural people this was an essential part of the re-establishment of the land. Once again, the land, which had become so desolate, would be filled with flocks and herds. This would be the sign of its prosperity. The land would be filled with Jacobs, feeding their flocks and seeing their numbers grow. It would be back to the good old days.
12 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the LORD.
Initially the land would be waste, and would be emptied of man and beast, but then it would become repopulated with both man and beast. The ‘cities’ would be mainly shepherds’ encampments, as they gathered together for mutual protection, with their watchtowers and their sheepfolds. And they would be found all over the land, in the hill country, and in the lowlands, in the cities of the Negeb (in the south), and in the land of Benjamin (in the north), and in the places around Jerusalem and in the varied cities of Judah. There the flocks would lie down, and there they would be counted by the counters. Note again the opening and closing ‘says YHWH’ stressing that YHWH has spoken.
The point in what follows is not so much the proper descent of the kings and priests mentioned, as the fact that they will be those who have been chosen and appointed by YHWH. Both the Davidic kingship and the Levitical priesthood had been chosen and appointed by YHWH to maintain a pure kingship and a pure priesthood, and that was why they were kept ‘in the family’. The theory was that they would be properly bred to their posts, inheriting the virtues of their ancestors. One thing in which northern Israel had so disastrously failed was in dispensing with the Davidic kingship and the Levitical priesthood, appointing instead kings and priests of their own choice who had soon proved their lack of worth. But Judah was also suffering because whilst they still had a Davidic kingship and a Levitical priesthood, their ‘Davidic kings’ did not walk in the ways of David, and their ‘Levitical priests’ did not walk in the ways of Aaron.
Thus YHWH’s promise is not only of a Davidic King, but of one who will be a Shoot of Righteousness. And His promise is not only of a Levitical priesthood, but of one that will offer sacrifices truly ‘before YHWH’. In other words, He will provide true Kingship and true Priesthood of a type which is pleasing to Him. The main spotlight is, however, on the Righteous Shoot from the house of David, who is then described in more detail, with the true priesthood being a necessary adjunct so that true worship will be ensured.
14 ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
YHWH now repeats His promise of a coming David who will introduce righteousness (compare Isaiah 9.7; 11.1-4). The days are coming, on the assured word of YHWH, when He will perform the good word that He has spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. For in those days He will bring forth a shoot of righteousness to David, a righteous and true Davidic king, Who will bring about justice and righteousness among His people. The promise is basically Messianic. He will introduce a reign of righteousness.
15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
The promise of the coming righteous king began in Genesis 49.10. It was confirmed in 2 Samuel 7.12-13, 16; and ripened in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isaiah 9.6-7). It has already been confirmed in Jeremiah 23.5-6 in words similar to those used here. It was, of course, finally fulfilled in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring about righteousness and in the establishment of His eternal kingship.
16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’
While there was a shadow of a fulfilment after the exile when Judah was delivered and Jerusalem dwelt safely under a Davidic ruler, and an even greater fulfilment in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when His people were covered and endued with His righteousness under His Kingly Rule, it is only through His eternal Kingship, and the establishment of His heavenly kingdom, that this promise could be truly fulfilled. It is vain to look for it in an earthly kingdom. For it is only in a heavenly kingdom that His people can enjoy the perfect righteousness of YHWH. It is an idealistic state.
17 “For thus says the LORD: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’?
YHWH’s words are carefully chosen. He promises that there will always be a descendant of David available to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, not that one will always be sitting on it. Indeed the latter situation could not be true in exile. And it was from the line of David’s successors that Joseph, Jesus’ father, was king elect in Israel, as Matthew’s genealogy demonstrates, and that the right passed on to Jesus as the eldest son.
He also promised that there would never be a lack of a Levitical priest to offer the regular offerings and sacrifices, while such a priest was required. Unlike Isaiah Jeremiah did not foresee the day when the regular offerings and sacrifices would be required no more, because Another would have been offered up as an all-sufficient sacrifice (Isaiah 53; Hebrews 7-10), but he did recognise that YHWH would always make provision for man’s atonement.
Both promises have been fulfilled. On the return to the land a descendent of David was available to govern Israel, leading up to the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, and there was an abundance of Levitical priests for the renewal of Temple worship. It was only when the sacrificial system finally ceased, never to be renewed, spiritually at the death of Christ, and literally at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., that the line of Levitical priests ceased. For by then we had One Who was chosen by God as both King and Priest to act on our behalf for ever. (Today we could not find either a genuine Davidide other than Jesus Christ, or a genuine Levitical priest).
19 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Thus says the LORD: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers.
the vital word is that YHWH’s covenant with David His servant, and with the Levitical Priesthood is as sure as the covenants which result in the continual series of day and night. The first covenant was that there would always be a son available to rule on the throne of David His servant, and the second covenant was that none other would be allowed to offer offerings and sacrifices other than the Levitical priesthood, His servants. Both were fulfilled, the first in that Jesus Christ received the eternal throne of David, and the second in that the Levitical priesthood was restored after the exile and continued its ministry of offerings and sacrifices until Lord Jesus Christ came and offered up a heavenly sacrifice which was not one that the Levitical priesthood could offer (as the writer to the Hebrews makes clear), thus terminating the Levitical priesthood which had thereby lost its purpose and ability to act, a termination confirmed by God in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.
This solemn promise was necessary at this time. The seed of David appeared to be in a precarious position, with Jehoiachin in prison in Babylon, and Zedekiah and his sons, and the whole house of David, in peril of their lives in Jerusalem, whilst the priests could well have been a target for Nebuchadnezzar’s revenge, or may have become ‘lost in the crowd’ once they were in exile and no longer required. That neither happened was a fulfilment of this promise.
22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’”
The main aim of the statement was in order to indicate the certainty that neither would die out while they were needed as there would be a plentiful supply. That this was fulfilled comes out in that the line of David continued adequately, with an heir always available, and the number of Levitical priests available to serve in the coming new Temple after the exile were numerous. By the time of Jesus there were so many Levitical priests that they drew lots for the privilege of offering incense in the Sanctuary (Luke 1.9).
In this final affirmation YHWH gives the assurance, either that He has not cast off either the family of David, nor the family of Aaron, despite what others are saying, so that both have a part in His future purposes. At no stage, in fact, in these verses has YHWH guaranteed the eternal permanence of the Levitical priesthood. All that He has promised was that while the ministry that they had been chosen to perform was there to be done, it would be they alone as His chosen priests who would do it. They are not, however, specifically mentioned in this final word from YHWH at all, while the families of David and Jacob are.
23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus, they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.
The reference to ‘this people’ is always a reference to unbelieving Israel/Judah. This is a comment being made by unbelieving Israel/Judah as they claim that YHWH has broken His promises and has cast off the two families whom He chose. Some see the two families as referring to those of David and Aaron, whom He has chosen. And as a consequence unbelieving Israel are seen as rejecting the idea that Israel can ever again be a true nation because its two recognized pillars, its king and its priesthood, have been removed. In their circumstances of despair, it was understandable that they should feel this, but YHWH wants them to know that their words are not true. However, He goes on to say that He has neither cast off the seed of David, nor has He cast off the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the true Israel. Both continue before Him. The inference would appear to be that they are the two families now being spoken of, so that the Levitical priesthood is no longer in mind. Either way the important fact is that Israel have not been cast off, they are only being chastened.
25 “Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26 then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return and will have mercy on them.’”
Once again YHWH uses His covenant with day and night and adds His appointment of the ordinances of Heaven and earth, as a guarantee of permanence. And what are to be permanent are ‘the seed of Jacob’ (then expanded to ‘the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’) and ‘the seed of David my servant’, with the latter ruling over the former.
The ‘seed of Jacob’ and ‘the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’ were technical terms indicating all who subscribed to the covenant of YHWH, for by this time (and even from the beginning) it included more than Jacob’s direct blood descendants. Through the centuries many ‘foreigners’ had been incorporated into Israel in accordance with Exodus 12.48 and all were ‘the seed of Jacob’, as were the mixed multitude of Exodus 12.38 which had been incorporated into ‘the seed of Jacob’ at Sinai. Their descent was by adoption. The process would continue after Christ’s resurrection when the early Jewish church, the true remnant, the ‘holy seed’ of Isaiah 6.13, opened its doors to Gentiles who became believers and were thus incorporated into the new Israel, ‘the Israel of God’ (Matthew 21.43) becoming ‘Abraham’s seed’ (Galatians 3.29) and circumcised though the circumcision of Christ (Colossians 2.11). Today ‘the seed of Jacob’ continues in the whole body of true believers in Christ.
Jesus Christ was ‘the seed of David’ because He was adopted by Joseph, who was of the seed of David, as his eldest son and heir (demonstrated by his naming Him - Matthew 1.25.
And all this would occur because YHWH would cause their captivity to return’, that is, would deliver them from exile, as a result of His compassion and mercy.
