Jeremiah 33:16

The Bible says in Jeremiah 33:16, “In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.” What period of time is the Bible talking about when it says, “Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely.” We can determine the answer to that by looking at the last phrase of the previous verse that was a prophecy concerning the Messiah. It says at the end of Jeremiah 33:15, “and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.” This refers to the One thousand year reign of Christ when Jesus rules over earth from the Davidic throne in Jerusalem. That is when “Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely.” Of course, this is consistent with the rest of Scripture on this subject about the last days. Israel is in trouble with the other nations of the world. They are mounted up against her. It has been like this since God allowed the Babylonians in the days of Jeremiah to destroy and conquer Israel and Jerusalem. This “trouble” for the Jewish people will be at its worst during the time that Jesus called “great tribulation” in Matthew chapter 24. But right at the end of the Great Tribulation is when Judah shall “be saved.” Jesus returns to the earth and miraculously saves all Israel. At this Second Coming of Christ the Israelites will look to Him and will believe on Him. It is also recorded about this same event in Zechariah 12:10 that says, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.“

The Bible says in Jeremiah 33: 17-26, “For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;[18] 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.[19] And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,[20] Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;[21] 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.[22] As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.[23] Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,[24] Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.[25] Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;[26] Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, 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.” Because the Babylonians had so thoroughly destroyed the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, many people had given up hope and concluded that God had cast them off forever. The same thing happens in our day when people suffer great sufferings. Something really bad happens that causes much sorrow, and people come to the conclusion that God does not love them any more. Of course, that is not true; but it the conclusions that some people make. Notice what Jesus said about people turning away from the Gospel when bad things happen to them. From part of the parable of the sower Jesus said in Matthew 13:18-21, “Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.[19] When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.[20] But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;[21] Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.”

The truth is that God has His purposes for all things, and even great sorrow will be turned into joy for those who follow Jesus. You must keep the faith. You must keep believing the promises of God no matter what happens. That is what will please God. It says in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” It says in Genesis about Abraham, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

The Lord wants people to realize that His promises are immutable no matter what happens. He will keep His promises. That is what the passage that we just read from Jeremiah is all about: God giving illustrations and examples to demonstrate that His promises remain steadfast and sure no matter what the current circumstances may be. The Lord went to great lengths in this passage in Jeremiah to make this point. He wants us to believe His promises, have confidence in them, and rely upon them. God compared the immutability of His promises to day and night. Just as day always follows night and night always follows day, we can count on God keeping His promises. God called this consistency of day following night in Jeremiah 33:20, “my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night.” Every morning when you wake up, you can say to yourself, “It happened again. Another day follows another night, just like always.” This consistency symbolizes God’s consistency in keeping His promises.

In Jeremiah 33:22 God compared His promise to multiply the descendents of King David and the Levites to the numbering of the stars in heaven and the sand grains of the sea. It is interesting that God would use such a comparison because that is the same imagery God used when God first made His promise to Abraham. God promised Abraham in Genesis 22:15-17, “And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” So much in human history has flowed from the promise that God gave to Abraham. The history of the nations of this earth will culminate with the Battle of Armageddon when Jesus, who was a son of Abraham and a son of David as far as His human lineage is concerned, will come to rescue the nation of Israel. All the nations of the world will come against God’s promised land, but the nations have forgotten to take notice of one very important truth: God keeps His promises. God made a promise to Abraham about the land of Israel, and God will keep that promise.

Who are the descendents of David that are mentioned in Jeremiah 33:22 that will be so great in number that they will be like the “host of heaven” and “the sand of the sea?” These are all the true believers from the beginning of the history of the world. Because Jesus Christ is “son of David” as we are told in Matthew 1:1, everyone who believes in Jesus is also a “son of David” through their relationship with Jesus Christ. Remember that David was a king. Jesus is King of kings. We will all reign with Christ as kings. How much God loves us. He will shower us with honor, not only by saving us from our sins, but also by elevating us as kings and priests. Yes, we are priests. That is why the Levites are mentioned. The Levites were responsible for the sacrifices. The sacrifices were symbolic of the one final great sacrifice that would be Jesus Himself on the cross of Calvary. Forever we will be Levites. We will show forth the sacrifice. We will proclaim, pronounce, and honor Jesus as our sacrifice. We will not let one moment of eternity pass by without the Son of God being proclaimed for what He did on the cross of Calvary. Our minds and hearts will be challenged and blessed to ever look for and find new deeds, new songs, and new praises to declare what Christ our sacrifice has done for us. We will all be kings and priests.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 34:1-7, “The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,[2] Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:[3] And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.[4] Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:[5] But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.[6] Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,[7] When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.”

Notice the first part of Jeremiah 34:1. It says, “The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD.” This demonstrates the doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures. The Holy Bible is the only book in all the world that comes from God. All other books come from man. Jeremiah 34:1 also demonstrates something about God: He loves to communicate with human beings. God wants to teach you His Word. God wants you to know Him. And Jesus wants to save you soul so that knowing God and communicating with Him will be possible for you.

Notice also what the Lord said to Zedekiah at the end of Jeremiah 34:4 and the beginning of Jeremiah 34:5, “Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:[5] But thou shalt die in peace.” God not only knows when each of us will die and by what means, but God also determines that event. It says in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Wake up. This is one of the reasons to get your heart right with God. Your life is temporary, and you will live someplace else forever. You have no promise about tomorrow on this earth. Turn to Jesus today while you still have time.

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