Text: Jeremiah 33:14-18
Proposition: What are these Days that are coming?
Introduction
In chapter 32 Jeremiah is in the court of the guard. In chapter 33 he is still there. Nebuchadnezzar is still outside the walls doing his best to break them down and get inside. Jeremiah has told the people that Zedekiah was going to speak with Nebuchadnezzar face to face and see him eye to eye. Zedekiah was going to be taken to Babylon and would be there until he died. Jeremiah told the people that God was going to make the temple and Jerusalem like Shiloh, Jeremiah 7:12. In other words, it would be destroyed, desolate, and the ark would no longer be in the city. After the temple was destroyed the ark was no longer there. Jeremiah told them that they would no longer even need it, Jeremiah 3:16. The things Jeremiah was saying seemed to contradict what God had promised to David and what he had promised to the Levites. It seemed like God had cast these two families off, Jeremiah 33:22-26, God had promised David that his son would be on the throne forever, II Samuel 7:11-13. He promised Aaron that his sons would be would have an everlasting priesthood, Exodus 40:13-15. He promised Phinehas that his sons would be priests forever, Numbers 25:13.
God is reminding his people that he has not forgotten his promises. He was going to bring them back from captivity and he would restore their fortunes. God told Jeremiah how these promises would ultimately be fulfilled. They would be fulfilled in Christ. Jesus was going to be the one to reign on David’s throne and he would be the priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
I. When the Branch of righteous would come (How would he reign?)
A. He would come when the virgin, Mary gave birth to him.
1. God promised a redeemer would come from the seed of woman.
a. Genesis 3:15
b. Eve thought Cain would be the one to bruise the serpent’s head. His name means a spear; to strike fast (from H7013). She named her second son Abel, a breath or vanity. She didn’t think she needed him. Jesus, the one who would bruise the serpent’s head, didn’t come for several thousand more years.
c. Isaiah 7:14, Jesus is the one who is the seed of woman born of a virgin. His father is God himself.
B. He would come with righteous judgement.
1. Jeremiah 33:15
2. John 5:22-30
3. Jesus is a righteous judge. He is the one who is going to call your dead body out of the grave. He is the one who will decide where you will spend eternity. He decides whether you will have eternal life or eternal death. He judges with righteous judgement.
4. He knows the thoughts of your heart
5. Matthew 9:1-6, Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking. We can get an idea of what someone thinks, but we don’t know exactly what anyone thinks unless they tell us and then we still may not know exactly what they think because they may leave out some of what they think.
6. Jesus knows every thought. He can judge every thought. He can judge every motive.
7. Jesus was wiser than Solomon
8. Matthew 12:42
9. Solomon was a righteous judge.
a. I Kings 3:16-28
b. Solomon figured out who the mother was without any DNA testing or trials. He knew in a few minutes who the mother was. He was also a righteous judge. He judged harlots fairly. He could have said, “Get out of my court I don’t want harlots in here.” He judged the harlots fairly.
c. Jesus also judged fairly
d. Matthew 21:28-32, Jesus knew the hearts of all men. He knew who had repented and who hadn’t. Jesus didn’t let popular opinion influence his judgement. Politicians let popular opinion influence their judgement. They do whatever they think will get them reelected.
e. Jesus was willing to associate with people that many would not associate with.
f. Luke 7:34-50, most people would have nothing to do with this woman.
C. He was a righteous judge
1. John Edwards is not a righteous judge. He was a senator in North Carolina. He was a presidential candidate in 2008. He fathered a child by his mistress Rielle Hunter, his cinematographer. (Someone who takes videos) He denied that the child was his for two years. He had a paternity test faked, but also had a real one done by a private company so that he could know if the child was really his. He finally admitted a few days ago that the child was his.
2. Jesus can judge with righteous judgement because he is righteous. He is without sin.
3. John 8:46
4. No one could convict Jesus of sin. He was righteous. To be a good judge or a good ruler you must be righteous.
5. We are to judge with righteous judgement. Don’t just judge how things appear, but as to how they really are.
6. John 7:21-24
7. Jesus had healed a man who had been lame for 38 years. The man was lying beside the pool of Bethesda. He was hoping to get into the pool. An angel stirred the pool sometimes and the first one into the pool was healed. The man had tried to get into the pool, but someone always beat him to the pool. Jesus healed the man. He said, “Rise take up your bed and walk.” The man did, but it was on the Sabbath day. According to rules of the Pharisees this was breaking the Sabbath. The Jews were looking for Jesus to kill him because he healed on the Sabbath and he told the man to take up his pallet and walk. The Jews judged Jesus as a sinner and they judged the man as a sinner. Neither Jesus nor this man were guilty of breaking the Sabbath. They were judging according to appearance not with righteous judgment.
II. When Judah would be saved (How was Judah saved?) (vs. 16)
A. Jesus is the savior
1. Matthew 1:21
2. Jesus could save Judah no one else could save Judah. They were sinful people who needed a savior.
3. The blood of bulls and goats couldn’t take away their sin. Jesus blood is the only thing that can take away our sin.
4. We have to be washed in the blood of the Lamb.
5. Baptism is when our sins are washed away, Acts 22:16.
B. She was made righteous
1. The only way Jerusalem could be called the Lord our righteous is because Jerusalem here is the church made righteous. Jerusalem as a physical city will never be made righteous. She was corrupt in Jeremiah’s day and she is still corrupt today.
2. The church is made righteous by Jesus.
3. Romans 5:19
4. II Corinthians 5:21
5. Revelation 19:7-8, the wife of the Lamb has made herself ready. She is clothed in the righteous acts of the saints. She is made righteous by her groom.
6. Ephesians 5:25-27, all the spots and wrinkles of sin have been removed by her groom.
III. When David won’t lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel (How would David not lack a man?)
A. His son would resurrect and live forever.
1. Luke 1:31-33
2. All of David’s other descendants died. Some were rejected by God
3. Jeremiah 22:28-30, Coniah was written down childless. He was not going to have any of his descendants on the throne.
4. Jesus kingdom is a kingdom that lasts forever. No longer would the throne be passed on to another son. Jesus will reign over the house of Israel forever. Israel here is the church.
B. Israel as a nation hasn’t had a king since Jeremiah’s lifetime. Zerubbabel was a governor after the return from Babylon, but he was not a king. Jesus is the son that fulfils God’s promise to David.
IV. When the priests and Levites would not lack a man to offer sacrifices (How can this be?)
A. After Judah returned from Captivity the priests once again offered sacrifices and they continued to do so until the Roman armies destroyed the temple in 70 AD, but Jesus gave himself to be a sacrifice and He is also a priest on the order of Melchizedek.
B. God told Daniel of his plans to end the sacrifices in the temple.
1. Daniel 9:24-27
In the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.
Jesus was crucified in the middle of the week. Jesus sacrifice of himself replaced the sacrifices of lambs, bulls, goats, and grains offerings. Hebrews 10:1-4. The old covenant was old and obsolete and it disappeared, Hebrews 8:13, about 40 years after Jesus death. Jesus put a stop to it spiritually and Titus put a stop to it physically.
And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even to a complete destruction.
2. Jesus gives us the interpretation of this. He refers to Daniel’s prophecy in Matthew 24:15. Luke 21:20 is the parallel passage and by comparing the two it tells us that the armies who surround Jerusalem are the abomination of desolation. The Romans were idolatrous people. Even though they were used by God they were abominable. They sacrificed to their ensigns after the destruction of Jerusalem. AND now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple (24) and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator (25) with the greatest acclamations of joy. (Josephus, Wars, Book 6 Chap. 6, Sec. 1). The temple was desolate before Titus came. God had already departed from the temple, the house of God was desolate, Matthew 23:37 and 38. The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, Matthew 27:51. The Romans made it desolate and completely destroyed the city and temple.
C. Jesus has take the place of the priests and Levites. They are no longer needed so they don’t want a man to stand in their place.
1. Jesus is the High Priest on the order of Melchizedek.
2. Hebrews 7:11-17
3. Hebrews 9:12 and 24-28
4. There is no need for priests and Levites to intercede for us. Jesus himself intercedes for us. He offered up his own blood. The only blood that can make intercession for us.
5. The wages of sin is death so only a death can pay the price of sin. Jesus death takes the place of my death. He gave his life, the life of the flesh is in the blood. The blood is what makes atonement for our souls.
Conclusion
We are living in “Behold Days are Coming.” The righteous Branch, Jesus, has come. He is reigning and will continue to reign. His kingdom will never end. The church is his kingdom and the gates of Hades will never over power her.
Judah has a savior. She has been made righteous.
The Son of David is sitting on his father’s throne.
The Levites are not wanting a man to offer sacrifices. Jesus has offered up his own blood as a sacrifice. The only sacrifices we offer are living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God. We offer sacrifices of praise.
Jeremiah 33:11
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