Jer 33 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Jer 33:1-26: 33:1-26 As the city of Jerusalem and the king of Judah were falling to invaders, God gave Jeremiah a greater understanding of his long-range plan. The promises could only come true after the promised destruction. The hope of the nation was not to be found in escape from destruction but in the purification that destruction would bring. • Jeremiah was ... confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace from the latter part of 587 BC , when the siege was underway, until the fall of Jerusalem in August 586 BC (see 32:2 ).

Summary for Jer 33:1-26: 33:1-26 ^a As the city of Jerusalem and the king of Judah were falling to invaders, God gave Jeremiah a greater understanding of his long-range plan. The promises could only come true after the promised destruction. The hope of the nation was not to be found in escape from destruction but in the purification that destruction would bring.

• Jeremiah was ... confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace from the latter part of 587 BC, when the siege was underway, until the fall of Jerusalem in August 586 BC (see 32:2 ^b).
33:2 ^c The Lord grounded this message in his power as the Creator of all things, and in the power of his name.
33:4 ^d Zedekiah and his men had torn down some structures to reinforce the city’s walls against the Babylonians’ siege ramps and swords.
33:5 ^e The men were already as good as dead because the Lord had decreed the destruction of the city.
33:8 ^f The Lord promised to cleanse and forgive all their sins of rebellion; this was the foundation upon which the new, everlasting covenant would rest (31:34 ^g; 32:38-41 ^h).
33:9 ⁱ Once the new covenant was established, all the nations of the earth would see the Lord’s blessing on Jerusalem.
Summary for Jer 33:10-11: 33:10-11 ^j Although seventy years of exile would come first, the Lord’s curse (7:34 ^k) would be reversed (25:10-12 ^l). Singing would be a hallmark of the restored worship (Ps 136:1 ^m). This prediction was fulfilled in 538–536 BC when worship in Jerusalem was restored and the foundations of the Second Temple were laid (Ezra 3 ⁿ).
33:11 ^o bridegrooms and brides: Contrast the earlier prophecies in 7:34 ^p and 25:10 ^q.
33:12 ^r The land was desolate as a result of the Babylonian invasion.
Summary for Jer 33:14-18: 33:14-18 ^s Picking up on the discussion of flaws in Zedekiah and the other kings of David’s dynasty (23:1-5 ^t), the Lord revealed the glories of the new ruler of the future.
Summary for Jer 33:14-15: 33:14-15 ^u The day will come. ... In those days: These phrases point beyond the exiles’ return to a more distant event mentioned previously by the Lord’s prophets (Isa 32:1-2 ^v). They indicate the New Testament fulfillment of God’s plan in Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd (John 10:11 ^w) and the righteous descendant (literally a righteous branch; Isa 4:2 ^x; 11:1 ^y; Zech 3:8 ^z; 6:12 ^aa, 13 ^ab).

• He: An individual, not a remnant, would be a fair judge and bring justice with his pronouncements.
33:16 ^ac The Lord Is Our Righteousness: Hebrew Yahweh Tsidqenu; see 23:5-6 ^ad, where this title is given to the Messiah. This name was a reversal of Zedekiah’s name (Tsidqiyyahu, “Righteous is the Lord”). Zedekiah did not live up to his name, but the Messiah would do so.
33:17 ^ae Though Zedekiah was the last descendant of David to rule over the kingdom of Judah, the Messiah, a future descendant of David, would be Israel’s king forever.
33:18 ^af After the exiles returned to Jerusalem, Levitical priests conducted worship in the new Temple (Ezra 6:13-22 ^ag).
Summary for Jer 33:19-22: 33:19-22 ^ah Jeremiah delivered God’s promise that the new covenant of the Lord with the descendant of David and with the Levitical priests would be as sure as the sequence of day and night.
Summary for Jer 33:23-26: 33:23-26 ^ai The Lord had rejected individuals, cities, and kingdoms, but he would never abandon his people, who stretched across many generations.