Thus saith Jehovah In this place of which ye say, It is waste, without man and without beast! in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
Jeremiah is in prison, Babylon's army surrounds Jerusalem, and the streets are already emptying. Into that setting God describes a place everyone has written off — and says that sound will return to it.
God had just invited Jeremiah to ask Him for what he could not see.
Verses 1-5. Jeremiah is still in prison, as we learn from the first verse. The siege of Jerusalem is on. Then the Lord told him to call to Him. He promised to answer, and to show him great and mighty things which he did not know. What an offer and what an assurance! Then the Lord speaks of those great and mighty things. He announces first the overthrow of Jerusalem.
"It is a waste" is the people's own verdict on the place. God does not deny the ruin. He speaks over it. One writer points out that the promise stands against all appearances. The sound God restores is not ordinary life only, but worship.
He had threatened to take from them the voice of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride. He was carrying out that threat now. Just as surely, He assures them that the sounds of joy will be renewed in their land. He gives that assurance in the face of appearances, natural results, and fears of desolation only too fitting for their guilt. And not the sounds of nature only, but the voice of those who speak His praise and bring the appropriate sacrifice into His house.
The silence here was not an accident of war. God had announced it Himself, in an earlier chapter. He even forbade Jeremiah to go to a feast, as a sign of it.
Every sign of loving sympathy was now forbidden to the prophet. So was every form of congratulation. God told him not to go into the house of feasting, to sit with them and eat and drink. The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declared that He would silence in that place, before their eyes and in their days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. God would cause all festive occasions to vanish from the land of His delight, on which His eyes always rest.
The same God who emptied the streets now promises to fill them again.
This promise reaches further than the return from Babylon. One writer tests that against what the exiles said after they were back in the land.
If you insist on applying this chapter to the restoration from Babylon, I would quote Nehemiah 9:36-37: "Behold, we are servants this day … and we are in great distress." That shows how little the return from Babylon was the fulfilment of all these promises we have been reading. Was that restoration the whole heart and the whole soul of God in favour of His people? We have seen the value the Spirit of God placed on that event. No — these promises of God were not fulfilled at that time.
Verse 10 names cities and streets, not just people. The land itself is part of what God restores.
The grace that will redeem the people will also restore the land to them for their enjoyment. In fact, the land has enjoyed its sabbaths all through their captivity and separation from God. That rest is the sign of the covenant between God and the people. So in a sense the very desolations of the land are a reminder of the unfailing promise of God, who would not give to others what He had reserved for His own. … Mercy to the people must always bring mercy to the land with it. The one will not be without the other.
- Where. God speaks this promise from a prison cell inside a city under siege — the least likely place and time for good news.
- Who says it. God repeats the people's own hopeless words about the place, and then speaks over them.
- What is reversed. God Himself had ordered the silence. The same voice that ended the wedding songs promises to bring them back.
- How far it reaches. The return from Babylon did not meet these terms. The exiles themselves said they were still servants in distress.
- What is restored. Not people only, but the land, the cities and the streets. The sound that returns is praise carried into God's house.
there shall again be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Give ye thanks unto Jehovah of hosts; for Jehovah is good, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever, -- of them that bring thanksgiving unto the house of Jehovah. For I will turn the captivity of the land as in the beginning, saith Jehovah.
God gives this promise over a ruined city, and it names the very sounds His judgment had silenced. Two questions follow. Should we measure God's word about the future by what we can see? And have the songs it promises ever been sung?
The people had written the place off as ruined. God answers that verdict. He promises those same streets wedding songs and praise.
He had threatened to take from them the voice of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride. He was carrying out that threat now. Just as surely, He assures them that the sounds of joy will return to their land. He says this in the face of appearances, of natural results, and of gloomy expectations of desolation that fitted their guilt only too well. And not only the sounds of nature will return, but also the voice of those who speak His praise and bring the fitting sacrifice into His house.
The praise in verse 11 does not stand alone. It rests on what God says three verses earlier.
In Jeremiah 33, the Spirit of God unfolds further this certainty of blessing for the people from the hand of the Lord. Judah and Israel will return from captivity. They will buy and sell, build and plant, and be a nation restored. But there is more. Jehovah says, "I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against Me" (verse 8).
This promise ends with a line Israel already knew by heart. One note on wording: where the ESV says "steadfast love endures forever," the older translation quoted here reads "His mercy endures for ever."
Next we have this form of words: "His mercy endures for ever." It declares that the Lord's mercy has stood firm, despite all the faults, all the sins, and all the unfaithfulness of Israel. This will be shown in full when the Lamb — the true ark of the covenant and the real David — is on Mount Zion. That comes even before He takes up the character of Solomon. And so this has been sung ever since David (compare v. 41; 2 Chron. 5:13; Ezra 3:11; Jer. 33:11).
Some read the whole chapter as fulfilled when the exiles came back from Babylon. One writer tests that reading against the exiles' own words after they returned.
If you insist on applying this chapter to the restoration from Babylon, I would quote Nehemiah 9:36–37: "Behold, we are servants this day … and we are in great distress." That shows how little the return from Babylon fulfilled all these promises we have been reading. Was that restoration the whole heart and the whole soul of God in favour of His people? We have seen how the Spirit of God valued that event. No — these promises of God were not accomplished at that time.
The last clause of the verse turns to the land. One writer ties its restoration to the people's own.
All through their captivity and estrangement from God, the land has enjoyed its sabbaths. The sabbath is the sign of the covenant between God and the people. So in a way the very desolations of the land are a reminder of God's unfailing promise. He would not give to others what He had reserved for His own. … Mercy to the people must bring mercy to the land with it. The one will not be without the other.
This promise reaches past Jerusalem. The nations who watch will tremble — and at God's goodness, not His judgment.
Israel will be restored and converted, and blessing on earth will follow. In all of it there will be a great display of God's being, His power and His faithfulness. Yes, and of His abounding grace too, in pardoning and blessing this guilty nation who stained their hands with Messiah's blood. The display will be so clear that all the nations of the earth will hear. They will fear and tremble at all the goodness and all the prosperity that Jehovah gives to the nation and city of His choice.
- Mercy silenced. God Himself silenced the voices of bridegroom and bride. Now He names those same sounds and promises to give them back.
- Mercy cleanses. The praise of verse 11 rests on verse 8. God first cleanses them from all iniquity and pardons all their transgression.
- Mercy endures. Israel has sung this line since the days of David. It says God's mercy held firm through every failure of theirs.
- Mercy is not yet spent. Nehemiah 9 records the distress of the returned exiles. So the return from Babylon did not use up this promise. It still waits.
- Mercy overflows. Mercy reaches the land as well as the people. The watching nations will tremble at the goodness God pours out.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts In this place which is waste, without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, there shall again be a habitation of shepherds causing [their] flocks to lie down.
Jeremiah was in prison. Jerusalem was under siege, and God had already announced its overthrow. Into that scene He promises quiet pastures in the very places about to be emptied. Why speak of resting flocks at such a moment, and when will it happen?
God invites Jeremiah to call on Him. The first of the "great and mighty things" He shows him is not comfort but catastrophe.
Jeremiah is still in prison, as we learn from the first verse. The siege of Jerusalem is on. Then the Lord said, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." What an offer and what an assurance! Then the Lord speaks of the great and mighty things, announcing first the overthrow of Jerusalem.
The same voice that announces the ruin promises the pastures.
The verse calls this place waste, "without man or beast." That same ground will hold flocks lying down to rest.
The shepherds will tend their flocks in peace in the very place where war had destroyed the most... [Israel and Judah] are both included — clear proof that no past return, and no revival of peace under Gentile rule, meets the terms of Scripture. The prophecy is still waiting to be fulfilled.
Why should a prophecy about forgiveness spend verses on sheep and grazing ground? Because in God's dealings the two cannot be separated.
The grace that will redeem the people will also restore the land to them to enjoy. All through their captivity and estrangement from God, the land has enjoyed its sabbaths — sign of the covenant between God and the people. So in a way, the very desolation of the land is a reminder of God's unfailing promise. He would not give to others what He kept for His own... Mercy to the people must always come with mercy to the land. The one will not be without the other.
So the empty land is itself a pledge: God keeps it for His own.
The verse promises "habitations of shepherds" resting their flocks. Who will those shepherds be? Jeremiah answers that the Lord appoints them Himself.
It is refreshing and cheering to find Jeremiah speaking of the time when the Lord will give pastors after His own heart, "who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding" (Jer. 3:15). "I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they will fear no more, nor be discouraged, and none of them will be missing, says the Lord" (Jer. 23:4)... he foretells the day when the Lord Himself will recover His scattered people, and "gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock" (Jer. 31:10)... the believer knows this Shepherd now, and receives eternal life from Him before He returns to gather Israel.
The promise names this place and all its cities — actual ground. Attwood reads such detail as a guide to the whole passage.
[Israel] will enjoy the material blessings of the land described in Jeremiah 33:10–18 and other prophecies. The only way to read such scriptures is literally; where the words are figurative, they stand out by contrast. God promised them the land in the first place. He had to take it from them because of their sin. It would not be worthy of Him to do less once their sin is put away.
Centuries have passed, and the land still does not look like this.
Health and cure, abundance of peace and truth, a complete return from the captivity of both Judah and Israel, cleansing from all their iniquity, complete forgiveness — all are promised. And remember: none of these promises has been fulfilled... The delay may be long, and still put off according to His eternal purposes. But at the appointed time these days will surely come.
Vine names the reason that day will last.
Jeremiah 33 shows us that the glory and gladness and greatness of that day of blessing will last. It will last because of the Branch of righteousness, the Man of the house of David, our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Ruin first. God gave this promise inside a prison, to a city He had just said He would overthrow. He announces the ruin and the rescue in one breath.
- Rest where war raged. The flocks lie down where the fighting was heaviest. God promises peace to the worst-hit ground, not to somewhere else.
- Land follows people. Grace that pardons the nation also restores its fields. Mercy to the people and mercy to the land never come apart.
- A Shepherd over shepherds. God appoints the shepherds Himself, and believers already know that Shepherd today.
- Still ahead, still sure. Israel and Judah are both named, so no past homecoming has fulfilled this. The wait ends with the Branch of righteousness.
In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that counteth [them], saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah speaks these words from prison, while the Babylonian army closes in and the land is about to lose its people and animals. Against that ruin God names one region after another — the hills, the lowland, the dry south, the towns around Jerusalem — and promises that in each of them shepherds will count their sheep again.
The picture is ordinary: no armies, no sieges, just a shepherd counting his flock. One writer sets that quiet scene against what those same places had suffered.
The shepherds will tend their flocks in peace, in the very places where war had destroyed most.
"The one who counts them" points to a real practice. The shepherd held out his rod, and the animals passed under it one at a time. He saw and counted each one. One writer ties this counting to the ransom money each person offered.
The allusion in Exodus 30:13-14 is to the sheep passing under the rod of the shepherd as he numbers them (Ezekiel 20:37). "I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant." The priest took the place of a shepherd, counting the sheep of God's hand. The true mark of each sheep came under his eye — the ransom money it offered. So he entered each one in the book of the covenant. In the same way the good Shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep. Their names stand in the Lamb's book of life, because the atonement-price has been paid for each.
That rod does more than count. It is also a tool of correction, and one writer draws a lesson from it for believers today.
Many Scriptures connect comfort with the rod of the Lord... In Jeremiah 33:13-14, Jehovah speaks of His flock as counted under the rod, and says He will do the good thing He has promised... Think of the comfort God has in mind for His earthly people as He passes them under the rod. He deals with them in this way because they are His. Should we not value all the more the great goal the Lord has in view for His people today? He passes us too under the rod of correction. In that chastening He removes whatever does not suit Himself, so "that we may share His holiness" (Hebrews 12).
Sheep need pasture, so the promise must reach the ground itself.
The grace that will redeem the people will also restore the land to them for their enjoyment. All through their captivity, far from God, the land has enjoyed its sabbaths. That rest is the sign of the covenant between God and the people. So in a sense the ruins of the land are a reminder of God's unfailing promise. He would not give to others what He had kept for His own... Mercy to the people must always come with mercy to the land. The one will not be without the other.
Some read this chapter as fulfilled by the return from Babylon. One writer answers with the words of the returned exiles themselves.
If you insist on applying this chapter to the restoration from Babylon, I would quote Nehemiah 9:36-37: "Behold, we are slaves this day... and we are in great distress." These words show how little the return from Babylon fulfilled the promises we have been reading. Was that restoration the whole heart and the whole soul of God in favour of His people?... No: these promises of God were not accomplished at that time.
The chapter does not stop with the flocks. Two verses later the promise turns to a Person, and one writer marks how His reign then differs from His place now.
"In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."... It is Messiah present, but not in humiliation, not a sufferer, but in power and glory. He is reigning. It is not a question of an earth-rejected King, sitting at God's right hand on His Father's throne. It is the great King reigning on His own throne, the throne of His father David.
- Counted — "the one who counts them" pictures sheep passing one by one under the shepherd's rod, each one seen and counted as his own.
- Ransomed — each sheep goes into the book because the price for it has been paid. The good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep.
- Corrected — the rod that counts also chastens. It removes what does not suit God, so His people share His holiness.
- Restored — the flocks need ground to graze on, so mercy to the people arrives together with mercy to the land.
- Reigning — peace where war ruined most waits on the righteous Branch raised up for David. The return from Babylon left the people still slaves, so the promise still stands ahead.