Jeremiah 33:10 - Meaning and Application

Here is another promise about the happy state of Judah and Jerusalem after their glorious return from captivity, a return that would finally reach its full meaning in the kingdom of the Messiah.

It is promised that people who have long lived in sorrow will again be filled with joy. Everyone then seemed to think the land would stay desolate forever, with no animals in Judah and no people in Jerusalem’s streets, so that only lasting sadness would remain (Jeremiah 33:10). But even if weeping lasts for a time, joy will return. God had once warned that joy and gladness would stop there (Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9), but here he promises that they will rise again, because the captives will come back. Then their mouths will be filled with laughter (Psalm 126:1, Psalm 126:2).

There will be public joy, shown in the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. Marriages will again be celebrated with songs, as they had been before, though in Babylon they had set those songs aside and hung up their harps on the willow trees. There will also be worshipful joy. Temple songs will be restored, the Lord’s songs that they could not sing in a foreign land.

The sound will be heard not only in the temple, but also in private homes and throughout Judah: people will say, “Praise the Lord of hosts.” Nothing gives a people more honor than to make God the glory of their life, both for his power and for his goodness. They will praise him as the Lord of hosts and as the God who is good and whose mercy lasts forever. Though it was an old song, it will feel new on that fresh occasion. This was literally fulfilled when they returned from Babylon, when they sang together in praising the Lord, because he is good, for his mercy endures forever (Ezra 3:11).

Public worship of God will be carefully and regularly kept. They will bring the sacrifice of praise to the house of the Lord. All sacrifices were meant to honor God, but this seems to point especially to spiritual sacrifices, humble praise and joyful thanksgiving, “the calves of our lips” (Hosea 14:2). These please the Lord better than an ox or a bull. The Jews say that in the days of the Messiah all sacrifices will end except the sacrifice of praise, and this promise looks ahead to that time as well.

It is also promised that the country, which had long been empty, will be filled and settled again. It was then deserted, with neither people nor animals, but after their return the pastures will again be covered with flocks (Psalm 65:13). In all the cities of Judah and Benjamin there will be homes for shepherds (Jeremiah 33:12, Jeremiah 33:13).

This shows, first, the wealth of the land after their return. It will not be a place for beggars who own nothing, but for shepherds and farmers, people with real possessions and useful work. Second, it shows the peace of the land. It will not be a place for soldiers, tents, and barracks. Instead, there will be shepherds because they will hear no more war alarms, and no one will make the shepherds afraid (Psalm 144:13, Psalm 144:14). Third, it shows the industry of the land, and their return to the plain, simple life they once had before later generations became corrupt.

The descendants of Jacob had once taken pride in being shepherds at the start of their history (Genesis 47:3), and so they will be again, giving themselves fully to that peaceful work. They will make their flocks lie down (Jeremiah 33:12) and pass under the hand of the one who counts them (Jeremiah 33:13). Even though their flocks will be many, they will still count them, so they can know whether any are missing and look for them. It is wise for people, even when they have much, to keep track of what they possess. Some think this also means the flocks pass under the hand of the counter so they can be tithed, that is, one part given to God as required by the law (Leviticus 27:32). Then we may take comfort in what we have when God has received his due from it.

Because it seemed hard to believe that a people as low as they were could ever again enjoy such peace and plenty, God adds a strong promise: “I will do the good thing I have promised” (Jeremiah 33:14). A promise may move slowly toward fulfillment, but it moves surely. The days will come, even if they take a long time to arrive.

To crown all these blessings, God promises the Messiah and the lasting right standing with God, or righteousness, that he would bring (Jeremiah 33:15, Jeremiah 33:16). This is likely the great good thing God would do in the later days, the thing he had promised to Judah and Israel, and their return from captivity was only preparing the way for it. From the captivity to Christ is one of the great periods of Scripture history (Matthew 1:17).

This promise of the Messiah was given before too (Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 23:6), where it was used to confirm the promise of the shepherds God would appoint over them. That suggests the promise here about shepherds and flocks may also be understood in a picture-like way. Christ is foretold here in several ways. He is a rightful King, a branch of righteousness, not an outsider taking power for himself, because he comes from David’s line, the line with which God made the royal covenant.

He is also a righteous King, righteous in making laws, making war, and giving judgment. He defends those who are wronged and punishes those who do wrong: he will execute judgment and righteousness in the land. This may point in a lesser way to Zerubbabel, a Jewish governor who ruled fairly, unlike Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 22:17). But it also points beyond him to the one to whom all judgment has been given, who will judge the world in righteousness.

He is also a King who will protect his people from harm. By him Judah will be saved from wrath and the curse, and, being saved, Jerusalem will dwell safely, free from fear and enjoying a holy peace of heart under the rule of this prince of peace, this prince of their peace. He is also a King whom his subjects will praise: “This is the name by which they will call him.” The Chaldee, Syriac, and Latin versions read it this way. More closely to the original, it may mean, “This is he who will call her, The Lord our righteousness.”

Just as Moses’s altar was called “The Lord is my banner” (Exodus 17:15), and Jerusalem was called “The Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35), so here the city is called “The Lord our righteousness.” The point is that God’s people glory in the Lord as the one who is present with them and the one who gives them righteousness.

Mr. Gataker notes that what was said before as the name of Christ is here made the name of Jerusalem, the city of the Messiah, the church of Christ. Christ is the one who gives righteousness to his people, for he has been made by God our righteousness. By bearing this name, Jerusalem professes that all her righteousness comes, not from herself, but from him. “In the Lord alone,” says the prophecy, “I have righteousness and strength” (Isaiah 45:24). And we are made the righteousness of God in him. The people of Jerusalem will speak this name of the Messiah so often that they themselves will be called by it.