Jeremias 33

Jeremias 33

Trapp writes "This is that he shall call her, Jehovah our righteousness; called the Church shall be by Christ’s own name, which is a very high honour, as being his spouse, and making up one mystical body with him. On the other hand here is an excellent comment by an older commentary (1800's) - "This is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.—It will be noticed that, while this reproduces the language of Jeremiah 23:6, it does so with a remarkable difference. There the title, “The Lord our Righteousness,” is given to the future King, and the passage has accordingly been used as a proof of the full divinity of the Christ, who is that King. Here it is given to the city, and, so given, can only mean that that name will be, as it were, the motto and watchword of her being. She will be a city marked by a righteousness which will be the gift of Jehovah; He will inscribe that name on her banners, and. grave it on her portals. It is obvious that this throws light on the meaning of the title as applied to the King." (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers) The Apostle Paul elaborates on those days writing "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." "AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your (Gentile's) sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they (Jews) are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Read that dogmatic statement again, especially if you have been given the false teaching that God is finished with the nation of Israel! Irrevocable means not able to be changed, reversed. It is FINAL!). For (term of explanation) just as you (Gentiles) once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their (the Jews') disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, in order that because of the mercy shown to you (Gentiles) they (the Jews) also may now be shown mercy." (Romans 11:25-note, Romans 11:26-31-note) Note - If God is finished with the nation of Israel then we need to clip these passages out of our Bibles much like Thomas Jefferson did to those supernatural passages he refused to accept as truth! Here is the ESV Study Note on this passage. I include it because the ESV notes often interpret passages related to prophecy using a non-literal approach (sometimes even ascribing the promises given literally to Israel to the New Testament Church), but in this passage they are "spot on" as the English would say... "Various interpreters have claimed that Paul is speaking of: (1) the salvation of the church of Jesus Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, throughout history; or (2) the saving of a remnant of Jews throughout history; or (3) the salvation of the end-time generation of the Jewish people in the future. The first view is unlikely since throughout chs. 9–11 Israel and Gentiles are distinct ethnic entities. Furthermore, in Ro 11:25 Israel refers to ethnic Israel, and it is difficult to see how the referent could suddenly change in v. 26. Finally, Ro 11:28 indicates that ethnic Israel is still distinguished from Gentiles, for “they” in Ro 11:28 clearly refers to ethnic Israel. The third view, that Paul refers to the salvation of Israel at the end of history, seems most likely because: (1) it fits with the promises of God’s future work in Ro 11:12-note and Ro 11:15-note; (2) it is difficult to see how the salvation of a remnant of Jews all through history would qualify as a mystery; (3) the future salvation of ethnic Israel at the end of history (Ed: I would be more specific here and say that at "the end of the age." Read the question of the disciples in Mt 24:3) accords with the climactic character of this passage; and (4) it demonstrates finally and fully how God is faithful to fulfill his saving promises to His people (Ed: "His Chosen People Israel") (Ro 9:6-note). “All Israel” does not necessarily refer to every single Jewish person but to a very large number, at least the majority of Jews (Ed comment: I disagree. One needs to look at Zech 13:8-note where the "all" would be "one third" of the "remnant" that by grace through faith believe in their Messiah). The Deliverer coming from Zion probably refers to Christ (cf. 1Th. 1:10-note), suggesting that the Jews will be saved near or at the second coming. (Ed comment: There is no "Probably" to it - The context clarifies this for no other "deliverer" other than Messiah could remove ungodliness!) (Note - the "note" added after several of the passages is a note from my commentary on that passage, not the ESV original note). Daniel describes in those days in explaining Nebuchadnezzar's dream and a "Stone" spring forth as it were! “You continued looking until a STONE (Messiah - cp Ps 118:22, Isa 28:7, 1Pe 2:7-note) was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. 35 “Then (When? At the time the STONE strikes the statue = ) the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the STONE that struck the statue became a great mountain (Figurative description of the King's worldwide Kingdom) and filled the whole earth. (Da 2:34-35-note) “And in the days of those kings (Which kings? The "toe stage" [~ten toes] = Da 2:41-43 correlating with the 10 horns of Da 7:7-note, "ten horns" = "ten kings" - Da 7:24-note) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45“Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.” (Da 2:44-45-note) Jeremiah 33:17 "For thus says the LORD, 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; PROMISE OF A PERPETUAL DAVIDIC ROYAL LINE For - Always be alert to this strategic term of explanation, asking what it is explaining? Thus says the LORD (Jehovah) - "Although the monarchy and the priesthood were suspended during the exile, Jeremiah proclaimed there would be both an eternal Davidic kingship and an eternal Levitical priesthood (Jer 33:17-18) in the coming days. However, the fulfillment was not realized at the return from Babylon (Ezek 1:8; 2:2, 40-54; 8:15-20)." (Dyer) For Jehovah's covenant with David read 2Samuel 7:8-16 and 1Chronicles 17:4-14. David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne - He is not referring to a constant presence of Davidic rulers (and in Jer 33:18 Levitical priests) but only that David's royal line will never cease. It has been more than 2000 years since David had a descendant on the throne of the house of Israel, but that does not negate this prophecy. Ultimately it will be fulfilled in the King-Priest Christ Jesus as foretold in the prophecy of Psalm 110:4 = "The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” This prophecy is fulfilled in Christ as discussed by the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 5:1-10 and Hebrews 7:17-28. Dyer observes that "Some have felt that this promise failed because the monarchy ended in 586 BC when Jerusalem fell. However, God did not promise an unbroken monarchy but an unbroken line of descendants from David who would be qualified to sit on that throne when it was reestablished. David’s line would not fail before the righteous Branch of David came to claim His throne (cf. Lk 1:31-33). The genealogies of Matthew and Luke show that this promise was fulfilled, as Messiah Jesus was able to trace both His legal line through Joseph and His physical line through Mary back to David (Mt 1:1-16; Lk 3:23-31)." (Ibid) Jamieson - David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne. The promises of the perpetuity of the throne of David shall be fulfilled in Messiah, the son of David (2Samuel 7:16; 1Kings 2:4; Ps 89:4; Ps 89:29; Psalms 89:36; cf. Luke 1:32-33). The normally amillennialist Reformation Study Bible surprisingly writes "This promise is not finally to restore the monarchy, but to inaugurate the messianic kingdom (Jer 23:5; 30:9; 2Sa 7:12–16; cf. 1 Ki 2:4)." However the study notes don't say when the Messianic Kingdom will be inaugurated, which of course will be at the beginning of the Millennium. Jeremiah 33:18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.'" PROMISE OF A PERPETUAL LEVITICAL PRIESTLY LINE The priests had an indispensable role in the Mosaic covenant (Ex. 28–29), and indeed they had a covenant of their own with the Lord... “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the sons of Israel. (Nu. 25:11-13) The Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me - This is the only reference in Jeremiah to the restoration of the Levitical priesthood. Weinberg writes that "The Levitical priesthood is assured a permanent ministry (cf. the promise to Phinehas in Num 25:13). As legitimate priests, they will serve the Lord." Christ's priesthood does not follow Levi's line, but the line of Melchizedek, the priest of Salem (Ge 14:17-20). It follows that the prophetic promise of Jeremiah 33:18 is not fulfilled in priesthood of Messiah, for He was not of the tribe of Levi (Heb 7:14-16). Priests...to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually - These sacrifices in no way are for the purpose of atonement of sins, for when Jesus died on the Cross, He cried "Tetelestai" which means "It is Finished" and "Paid in Full." There is nothing to add to the full payment for sins wrought by the shedding of His precious blood! Thomas