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Jeremiah 33-34
Chapter 33: "The Branch of David"
The prophecies in this Chapter date from the same period as those in Chapter 32, when Jeremiah was confined in the Court of the Guard in Zedekiah's palace. Of the twenty Davidic kings who ruled Judah during the 400 years between David and the Babylonian captivity, only a few were good men who served Yahweh and were worthy of the title "sons of God" (2 Sam 7:14).
- Oracle #1: Judgment and forgiveness for Jerusalem (verses 2b-9)
- Oracle #2: The return to normal life for the returned exiles (verses 10-11)
- Oracle #3: The Messianic Branch of the House of David (verses 12-16)
- Oracle #4: Continuation of descendants for the House of David and the ministerial priesthood (verses 17-18)
- Oracle #5: The assurance of the eternal nature of the Davidic Covenant and the ministerial priesthood (verses 20-22)
- Oracle #6: The assurance that God has not rejected Israel (verses 25-26)
The last four oracles concern God's faithfulness to the covenant promises to David, the Aaronic priesthood, and Israel.
Jeremiah 33:1-9 ~ Oracle #1: Another Promise of the Restoration and Unification of Israel
As Jeremiah's captivity in the Court of the Guard continued, God comforted His prophet. In this oracle, God emphasizes His Divine Name, Yahweh, (the name by which God said every generation should invoke Him in Ex 3:15b). Yahweh assures Jeremiah that everything is going according to His divine plan. He has not abandoned His prophet and will continue to confide in him, telling Jeremiah, "Call to me and I will answer you; I will tell you great secrets of which you know nothing."
God tells Jeremiah that the city will fall to the Babylonians with a terrible slaughter in judgment for the people's collective sins. This disaster will happen because God will not intervene on behalf of the city. However, as is always the case with judgment oracles, God follows His dire prophecy with words of hope.
Question: Using the divine "I," in what five ways does God promise to do mighty works to bring about the restoration of the people, physically and spiritually?
Answer:
- I shall bring them remedy and cure.
- I shall reveal a new order of peace and loyalty.
- I shall bring back the captives.
- I shall cleanse them of their sins.
- I shall forgive their sins.
Jeremiah 33:10-11 ~ Oracle #2: The Towns and the Fields of Judah will be Repopulated
Despite the people abandoning Yahweh and His covenant that brought about the judgment of the covenant curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28, God will not abandon His people: for Yahweh is good, for his faithful love [hesed] is everlasting.
Jeremiah 33:12-16 ~ Oracle #3: The Institutions of the Messianic Age and the Messianic Prophecy of "The Branch
This oracle of restoration only names the different parts of the land of Judah, listing Judah's territory from the tribal lands of Benjamin that marked the northern border of Judah to the Negeb on the southern border. Then verses 15-16 Yahweh confirms the future coming of the Davidic Messiah. It is a prophecy confirmed as fulfilled in the New Testament Gospels (Mt 1:1-17; 16:18; Mk 1:1; Lk 1:31-33; Jn 1:32-33, 41).
Jeremiah 33:17-18 ~ Oracle #4: Continuation of Descendants for the House of David and the Ministerial Priesthood
Despite the hardships of the exile, Yahweh reaffirms His commitment to the Davidic Covenant and the Aaronic priestly Covenant during the period of Babylonian captivity. When the people return from exile, a Davidic king does not take the throne of Judah, but descendants of Aaron return and take up their duties at Yahweh's altar of sacrifice in the rebuilt Temple. King Cyrus of Persia allows the exiles to return, Then the heads of families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, in fact all whose spirit had been roused by God, prepared to go and rebuild the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem ... (Ezra 1:5). The Book of Nehemiah lists the returning families of the priests and Levites in Nehemiah 7:39-43.
Jeremiah 33:19-22 ~ Oracle #5: Assurance of the eternal nature of the Davidic Covenant and the Ministerial Priesthood
The Catechism states concerning this passage: "Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step toward this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love. And so, the truth of creation is also expressed with growing vigor in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People (CCC 288). In the creation event, Yahweh laid a foundation and established the natural/physical laws that govern the earth and the cosmos and remain fixed. Every faithful believer can rely with confidence on the continuation of these laws throughout every generation until Christ's return in glory. We should view the physical laws of the universe as a sign and pledge of the unshakeable power and faithfulness of God's covenant relationship with humanity.
Jeremiah 33:23-26 ~ Oracle # 6: The Promise of the Continuation of the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants
The two families Yahweh rejected are the rulers of Israel in the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. God promised kingship over Israel to the sons of the family of David. When they failed in obedience to the Laws of the Kings (Dt 17:14-20; 1 Kng 10:14, 26-28; 11:1-13), Yahweh humbled them by offering the same promise of kingship to Jeroboam, a prince of Ephraim (1 Kng 11:29-39) who also failed in faith and obedience. However, God's rejection of the failed leadership of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms does not mean He has rejected the Abrahamic or Davidic covenants.
Chapter 34: Zedekiah's Covenant and the Liberation of Hebrew Slaves
Chapter 34 divides into three oracles Jeremiah is to present to the king and the covenant people:
- Oracle #1 declares the fate of Jerusalem and King Zedekiah (verses 2-5).
- Oracle #2 reaffirms the law concerning the liberation of Hebrew slaves in Exodus 21:2-6; Leviticus 25:39-43 and Deuteronomy 15:12-13 (verses 13-16).
- Oracle #3 is a judgment oracle against the Jerusalemites for their failure to grant freedom to Hebrew slaves that they swore to liberate in Yahweh's name (verses 17-22).
Between oracles 1 and 2 is the episode of Zedechiah's covenant ceremony with the Jerusalemites in which they agreed on oath to liberate all Hebrew slaves.
The first oracle dates to the first Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar's army was also busy conquering the fortified cities to the south and southeast Jerusalem (34:7). The second and third oracles date to Nebuchadnezzar's temporary break in the siege when he withdrew from Jerusalem to meet the threat of the advancing Egyptian army sent by Pharaoh Hophra (known to Egyptologists by the Greek form of his name, Apries, who reigned from 589-569 BC). The Egyptians sent a military force in at attempt to rescue their ally, King Zedekiah (see 34:21b and 37:5-8). The third oracle ends with a prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar's army will resume the siege of Jerusalem and will conquer the city (see 34:21).
King Zedekiah still had time to send emissaries to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and save the city like his brother King Jehoiakim (reigned 609-598 BC) did in 605 BC (2 Kng 24:1). Unfortunately, he stubbornly refused to listen to Jeremiah's oracles from Yahweh, urging him to surrender to the Babylonians.
Jeremiah 34:1-7 ~ Oracle #1: The Fate of Jerusalem and King Zedekiah
In 588 BC, Jerusalem was under attack by Nebuchadnezzar's army. Of all the other towns in Judah, only the two fortified cities of Azekah and Lachish remained defiant in addition to Jerusalem (verse 7). Azekah was about 19 miles south-west of Jerusalem, and Lachish about 12.5 miles south-west of Azekah. An ostracon (potsherd with writing) dating to this period testifies to the resistance of these two cities.
Question: What is the message Yahweh commands Jeremiah to give King Zedekiah?
Answer:
- The Babylonians will take Jerusalem, and they will burn the city to the ground.
- Nebuchadnezzar will capture Zedekiah and send him to Babylon.
- Zedekiah will die in peace and not by the sword.
- Zedekiah will be properly mourned by his people.
Jeremiah 34:8-11 ~ The Failure to Liberate Hebrew Slaves
This event took place while the Babylonians were still besieging Jerusalem when the situation for Zedekiah and the city was desperate. According to the Law of Moses, all Hebrew male slaves were to receive their freedom at the end of six years of service and the beginning of the seventh. Wives were only included if the male entered his term of slavery when he was married (Ex 21:2-6; Lev 25:39-55; Dt 15:12-13). The Israelites/Judahites were not adhering to this law (Jer 34:13-14) just as they were not observing the Sabbath rest every seventh year (Lev 25:1-7, 18-22) or the laws concerning the Jubilee Year every fifty years when slaves, no matter what the length of service, were released (Lev 25:8-17). Zedekiah, however, decided to liberate all Hebrew slaves, males and females, no matter the length of service, which may suggest this was a Jubilee Year. He made the release of Israelite slaves a covenant agreement for the entire population of Jerusalem and ratified the covenant in an oath-swearing ceremony in Yahweh's name at the Jerusalem Temple (34:15-16).
Hebrew slaves (34:15); if so it was a gift for which they didn't show their gratitude.
Jeremiah 34:12-16 ~ Oracle #2: Yahweh's Judgment
Oracle 2 is an indictment against the king and the people. The covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt in verse 13 is the Sinai Covenant. Despite their failure to keep the laws concerning slaves in the past, their action in "cutting a covenant" in a liturgical ceremony and swearing in Yahweh's name to release all their Hebrew slaves pleased Yahweh, and He saw it as an act of national repentance. However, any goodwill generated from their first act was erased by the second act of going back on their sworn oaths and recovering the slaves.
Question: What are the two points in Yahweh's indictment against the citizens of Jerusalem?
Answer:
- The Judahites and their king were not obedient to the laws concerning slaves in the past.
- They swore an oath in Yahweh's name in His Temple to free their slaves, but they changed their minds by abandoning their oaths to take back their slaves. The result was that they all sinned by profaning the name of Yahweh.
Jeremiah 34:17-22 ~ Oracle #3: Judgment for Failure to Keep the Vow to Free the Slaves
Oracle 3 is the judgment following the indictment in Oracle 2. The covenant ceremony to release the slaves took place in the Temple because, in addition to the oath, the covenant ceremony had to be ratified by a blood sacrifice. Oath swearing and blood sacrifice followed by a sacred meal are the elements of covenant making (Gen 26:28-31; 31:44, 53-54; Ex 24:5-11; Jos 9:11, 14-15; Ps 50:5). It is because of the necessary blood sacrifice that the literal Biblical term is to "cut a covenant" and not "make a covenant," referring to the sacrifice of the animal.
DAY 247 Tradition and the Canon of Scripture
CHALLENGE: “Tradition may be valuable in some ways, but it can’t be allowed to play a determinative role with respect to Scripture.”
DEFENSE: It is precisely by Tradition that Scripture itself is determined.
How do we know what belongs in Scripture? Various criteria have been proposed, the most fundamental of which is inspiration, for Paul says, “All scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16).
It’s true that if a book is inspired then it is Scripture, but this is not a practical test, for inspiration is not an objectively verifiable literary property (see Day 229).
Another test is “apostolicity”—that a book was written by an apostle or approved as Scripture by the apostles. The difficulty is that, like inspiration, apostolicity isn’t a detectable literary quality. It must be known by means apart from the text.
The way the early Church determined inspiration when the canon was being recognized was whether a book had been handed down to and read in the churches as apostolic. As Evangelical scholar C.E. Hill notes:
Christian writers often spoke of their Gospels (and other books) as handed down to them. Christian writers of the second century do not speak of choosing the Gospels, or of the criteria they might have created for making such choices. This is not the way they thought. When speaking of the church’s part in the process they instead use words like “receive,” “recognize,” “confess,” “acknowledge,” and their opposites. Just like the faith itself, which had been “received from the apostles and transmitted to its children” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:1:praef.; cf. 1:10:1), so the Gospels themselves were “handed down to the church by the same apostles (Against Heresies 3:1:praef.; 3:1:1, 2) (Who Chose the Gospels?, 231–32).
The act of handing something down is what tradition is. The Latin verb tradere, from which “tradition” is derived, means “to hand down.” Tradition is thus the means by which we know which books are Scripture, giving it a determinative role.
The teachings handed down from the apostles also were used to identify false scriptures that disagreed with this teaching (see Day 138). Tradition—in the form of apostolic doctrine—thus also played a determinative role in establishing the canon.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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