Jeremiah 33:1-9

The Contrast Between Destruction and Restoration

v. 1. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, during the shameful imprisonment inflicted upon him by Zedekiah, saying,

v. 2. Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof, literally, "the Doer," He who performs what He promises and threatens, the Lord that formed it, to establish it, or, "He who prepares it to complete it," carrying out His plans without fail; the Lord is His name, Jehovah, the God of the covenant:

v. 3. Call unto Me, namely, in making a plea for the restoration of Judah, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, proclaiming or announcing great and inaccessible things, which thou knowest not, which are beyond human understanding and comprehension, which human knowledge would never expect.

v. 4. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, the various buildings making up the royal palace, which are thrown down by the mounts and by the sword, literally, "against the ramparts and against the sword," for the buildings of Jerusalem were wrecked in order to get a sufficient amount of stones to strengthen the walls against the advancing army of the invaders;

v. 5. they come to fight with the Chaldeans, the people of Judah being determined to resist the hostile army, but it is to fill them, namely, the houses of the city, with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in Mine anger and in My fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid My face from this city, this last verse being inserted by way of parenthesis:

v. 6. Behold, I will bring it, the city of Jerusalem, health and cure, by binding up the wounds of the war, and I will cure them, healing the wounds inflicted by the enemies, and will reveal unto them, His people, the abundance of peace and truth, that is, genuine, lasting prosperity.

v. 7. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel, of all those who are his children in truth, to return, and will build them, as at the first, when He first made them His people, at the time of the exodus from Egypt.

v. 8. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against Me, their guilt being removed by His forgiveness; and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me. This is the basis of the lasting covenant of salvation, the Lord's pardoning grace over against all poor sinners.

v. 9. And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all the nations of the earth, Jerusalem itself, with its congregation of believers, becoming a city the very mention of whose name would cause Jehovah to rejoice, while nations in every part of the world would praise her, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them; and they shall fear and tremble, with the fear of repentant sinners, for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it, on account of the miraculous power of God displayed in behalf of the Jews. Even thus men everywhere, in coming to the knowledge of the true God, serve Him with fear and rejoice with trembling, walking before Him and increasing daily in holiness.