"Waiting in Hope"
Notes
Transcript
Well…it didn’t take long did it? The moment we put down our forks and finished our thanksgiving feasts, radio stations began playing Christmas songs, churches began scheduling special services, our neighbors began climbing steep ladders to decorate their homes, and retail stores began pumping up their marketing, trying to convince we need everything they’re selling to prepare for all the festivities to come.
It must be Christmas.
I often find a jumbling of contradictory feelings going on within myself during this time. On the one hand there truly is a thrill in the air as this season approaches, it’s an easy time to speak of the gospel as we give gifts to others because God gave us the gift of his Son. But on the other hand, amid all the hustle and bustle of the season, I can too easily either get jaded with the overload of holiday commercialism, or can get so caught up in it that I forget the grand and glorious reason why we do all these things. Do you find all these things present in you too? Whatever you find going on within you as the festivities begin, I think it is good for us to be reminded of what the Incarnation is, why it matters, and why it simply changed everything as we know it.
Christian devotional writer Ann Voskamp describes Christmas in this way: “So God throws open the door of this world—and enters as a baby. As the most vulnerable imaginable. Because he wants unimaginable intimacy with you. What religion ever had a god that wanted such intimacy with us that he came with such vulnerability to us? What God ever came so tender we could touch Him? So fragile that we could break Him? So vulnerable that his bare, beating heart could be hurt? Only the One who loves you to death.”
What should our response to this be? The hymn captures it best: “Rejoice and be merry in song and in mirth! Praise the Redeemer, all mortals of earth! For it is the birthday of Jesus our King, who brought us salvation – his praise we sing!”
Here’s where we’re headed today the next 3 weeks. Each Sunday in Advent during the lighting of our Advent candle you’ll hear a specific theme introduced and we will bring to you a message in support of that theme. So as you heard the Pierce’s announce this morning, our focus is the theme of hope. For us today we turn our attention to Jeremiah 33:10-16 where we find ‘Waiting in Hope’ as our theme. Let’s dig in by first seeing that
God promises a future peace
God promises a future peace
The book of Jeremiah, along with the other prophetic books of the Old Testament, shouldn’t be read like a normal book as if they had an introduction, main body of content, and a conclusion. Instead they should be read as a collection of speeches the prophet gives to a certain audience, with a few brief descriptions of how these speeches affected the prophets’ own life situation. Allow me to set this historical context to get a sense of the issues at play within Jeremiah’s ministry.
We start with the prophet Isaiah who ministered before, during, and after the year 722 BC, which was the time the northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria. Afterwards the Assyrians continued to trouble the southern kingdom of Judah for some time, demanding they pay a tribute to them. This Judah did, prompting some within Judah to begin looking to Egypt for help because in their own right, the Egyptians were coming back to a position of power in the world. However, in 640 BC Josiah became king in Judah and began a reformation in the nation after he found the Book of the Law in the temple. From being so struck with what was written in God’s Law, Josiah called the nation to repentance. He stopped the tribute payments to the Assyrian king and told the people to no longer look to any other nation for help, but to look to the Lord instead.
Well, during Josiah’s reforms many things did get better within Judah, but he couldn’t completely reform the nation. And around them things continued developing among the other nations. Assyria was growing weaker and could no longer enforce other nations to make tribute payments. Egypt seemed strong but would eventually fall to the Babylonians, and in 612 BC the Babylonians decisively sacked the city Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. These same Babylonians continued their march south and began a campaign against the southern kingdom of Judah. The first time they came into Jerusalem was 605 BC, after striking fear into the people and Jehoiakim the king, they took away their first group of captives. Daniel and his friends were among this first group of exiles. 597 BC was the next time they came and after installing the puppet king Jehoiachin, they took another large group captive, and among this group of exiles was the prophet Ezekiel. Their king Jehoiachin ended up only being king for three months because the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar came back and installed another king named Zedekiah. From 597-586 BC things went from bad to worse as Zedekiah tried to save Judah, not by trusting in God, but by secretly aligning with other nations opposed to Babylon. Eventually word got out, Nebuchadnezzar found out about it, and in his anger he came back to Jerusalem in 586 BC and laid siege to Jerusalem, effectively completing their campaign against Judah.
It was during these turbulent days that God spoke to his people through the prophets Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jeremiah. And that shouldn’t surprise us really, all throughout Scripture when it seems as if all were dark and hopeless, God raises up a prophet to shine forth the light of truth.
Now then comes a new question: what did God say through Jeremiah to his people? That answer isn’t easy to hear. The entire book is almost entirely dedicated to one thing: God rebuking his people, God judging his people, and God reminding his people of his freedom, his right, and his desire to hand his people over to the Babylonians. In chapters 2-20, God judges Judah for their idols, for their false religion, for listening to false prophets of peace, for breaking the covenant, he tells them of coming judgment, and the need for repentance. In chapters 21-24, God says he himself will fight against his people and alongside the Babylonians, for the many sins of Israel, and the only way to save themselves is to go into exile and into captivity. In chapters 25-29, God tells his people that he’ll send for and send out all the hosts of the north into Judah to take his people away in exile for 70 years. For being God’s mouthpiece for all this, God’s people responded by arresting Jeremiah for speaking against them and the holy city of Jerusalem but they end up letting him go free because they think Jeremiah will think more clearly about what he says after being arrested and warned so severely.
But in chapters 34-36 God brings more rebuke to his people, this time for rejecting his Word. They arrest Jeremiah again in chapter 37 because they now think he’s in with the Babylonians. After arresting him, they threaten to kill him, and throw him in a deep well for speaking against them in chapter 38. But once again they release him and when Jeremiah speaks again, he picks up exactly where he left off, warning that they’re about to be taken off into exile, and in chapter 39 that’s exactly what happens. Jeremiah 39:1 “In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it.” The book of Jeremiah ends in chapters 40-52, with the aftermath of the exile and God’s judgments against the surrounding nations, and the last nation in the book of Jeremiah to be judged is none other than Babylon herself.
Perhaps now you understand a bit more of why Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. Not only do we see God speaking judgment through him to God’s people, but all throughout these chapters we get little peeks here and there at the toll these things are having on Jeremiah himself. The book as a whole is a long and ugly picture of the destination we’ll arrive at if we continue on rejecting the Word of God. But, though judgment is the main thrust of the book, there are moments where the light of hope and promise shines through like the morning sun. Specifically, right in the middle of the book there is a whole chunk (chapters 30-33) where we see God promise a return from exile, promise a new King on the throne of David, and promise a new covenant which would bring God’s people the greatest possible redemption and restoration. It is in this middle portion where we find our text for our first Sunday in Advent. The context for Jeremiah 33:14-16 begins in 33:10-13, so we’ll begin there.
To a people being given over to exile due to their own unfaithfulness, comes the promise of the faithful God. A promise from God about God remembering, fulfilling, and bringing God’s own promises to pass. What does this mean for them? It means future restoration. This would’ve been nothing short of shocking to them. In Jeremiah 33:10 God mentions what all his people are saying. That Jerusalem, the holy city, was a waste place, an abandoned ruin, desolate, without man or beast walking about. But as chapter 29 mentioned briefly, the Lord had plans for his people, plans to prosper and plans to not harm them. God says, again in
Jeremiah 32:41 (ESV)
I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
Even more so later in Jeremiah 33:3, God says he has great and unsearchable things to tell his people. What are these plans to prosper? What are all the good things he will bring upon them? What are the great and unsearchable things he desires to tell? Into the context of the desolate city of v10, comes the bright hope of reversal in v11.
Jeremiah 33:10–11 (ESV)
...there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “ ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.”
Weddings, usually, are an occasion of covenantal celebration, where one man and one woman give thanks to God and enter into covenant before God and one another. They are occasions of dancing, laughter, cake, where gifts are given and toasts of all kinds are made to the happy, new family. God expands on this in v12-13 saying in the desolate Jerusalem shepherds will once again have abundant work keeping and counting their flocks. Exile and war would’ve meant that social events like this and normal everyday vocations like shepherding would’ve come to an end, but here he promises a redemptive reversal to their exile, such that all these things will occur once again.
I know that this has been a lot of information, a lot of explaining, but let’s put this all to some imaginative use for a moment. Can you imagine this? Imagine, all of us here at First Baptist Devine being conquered, enslaved, lined up, and ordered to march to a faraway country where we could no longer worship freely and live as we desire to. Then imagine... years go by…no not years…decades!…and the sense of losing hope settles in, but hoping against hope that God will rescue. Then imagine him doing just that! God rescuing us out and bringing us back, imagine us gathering back here once again for the first time in a long time. Can you imagine how loud that first song would be?! Can you imagine how wonderful our fellowship would be?! Can you imagine how long and delightful that first sermon would be?! As Jeremiah writes Jeremiah 33, the people of Judah may be leaving, but God tells them he will one day bring them back to the same city, to sing the same song, to the same God. Weddings will occur, festivities will be enjoyed, soldiers will turn back into shepherds, and peace will reign where devastation once ruled. This is what God is promising to his people!
But this was only the beginning of the story. God would not only bring them back and give them peace, he would give them a new King characterized by peace.
God promises a King of peace
God promises a King of peace
Jeremiah 33:14-16 says the following,
Jeremiah 33:14–16 (ESV)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 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. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
The people of God had many kings in their time, a few of which are noteworthy and exemplary models of righteousness for the people, we think of David, perhaps Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah. But by and large, most of their kings were exemplary models of unrighteousness. Here God says he’ll fulfill his promise of old and give his people a new King.
See in v15 that the King is called, not David himself, but a righteous Branch springing up from David. The people would’ve remembered the great Davidic covenant of 2 Samuel 7, where God promises to establish the throne and kingdom of David forever. They would’ve also known that this promise was initially fulfilled in David’s son Solomon, who would build the Lord a house in the great Solomonic temple. But Solomon ultimately failed to usher in the peace and permanence promised to David. So who are we talking about here? Was it Hezekiah? Was it Josiah? In small ways perhaps, but they too didn’t quite fit the magnitude of the promises in 2 Samuel 7. Who then is the Branch springing up from the line of David? It is none other than the One who is both David’s son and David’s Lord, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Matthew would begin his gospel with Jesus’ genealogy as the Son of David (Matthew 1:1-17), Peter said in his sermon at Pentecost that Jesus’ resurrection was the moment when God established David’s throne forever (Acts 2:29-32), and Paul begins his great letter to the Romans with a statement that the gospel concerns one Man, Jesus, who was descended from David by the flesh (Rom. 1:4).
See in v15 that Christ the King will execute justice and righteousness in the land. Unlike all the unfaithful kings of old, Christ the King will be flawlessly faithful and will live and lead justly and righteously. In his ministry and in his Kingdom, the humble are exalted while the exalted are humbled, the sinful and lost find welcome and redemption, while the proud and arrogant find rebuke and judgment.
See in v16 that God’s people, because of the coming of Christ the King, will be saved and will dwell securely. This King will not look to other nations to save God’s people, because being God himself, he will save his people himself. Not by waging a mighty military campaign against all their enemies, but by initially humbling himself by becoming one of us at his birth and ultimately allowing himself to be killed by all their enemies. But though he died and was laid in the tomb, death died when Jesus burst forth in resurrection power, accomplishing victory against the evil one for all who would believe in him. This is how will he save his people. See then what v16 ends with? Christ the King is righteous, and because he is righteous, all those who place their faith in him are given his righteousness as a gift, so much so that the very people of God will be called ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ What a promise of light to a people in darkness!
So What?
So What?
So what does this have to do with you and me? We’ve called this first Sunday in Advent “Waiting in Hope.” Do not forget that hope was absent in Judah at this time. This was a promise of hope originally made to those heading out of Judah into exile in Babylon. For them, this almost unbelievable promise would’ve given them a present hope in a future yet to come. They looked ahead and put their faith in the coming King who make all these sad things untrue.
These great promises were partially fulfilled when they returned to the land 70 years later, but they lacked this righteous King who would be righteous for them and make them righteous in him. So they still looked ahead in faith that he would come. And of course, come he would. These great promises would be ultimately fulfilled when David’s Branch, Jesus Christ, was born. His coming meant salvation for all those from all nations who believed in him and followed him.
And for us today, we look back on all these things being fulfilled. We read of him coming, living, dying, rising, and ascending to rule and reign. We hear the gospel preached. We who have believed in him experience the power of salvation. We rejoice in the gift of his righteousness though we’re still sinners. And regardless of how hostile this world is to us, we love the safety and security of dwelling and abiding in him forevermore.
At times our sense of exile is deep, isn’t it? We are deeply aware that we were made for far more than we currently experience. We are deeply aware that things are not as they should be in the world. And if we’re honest, we’re deeply aware that we are not as we should be either.
I mean, let’s just consider the season we have now entered. Christmastime brings with it moments of sadness and sorrow, doesn’t it? I mean, there comes a time where we look and see that even the happiest parties we attend sometimes have unhappy people at them. That the merriest of meetings only last for a short time. And, as the years roll on, the hand of death makes painful gaps in the family circle. Even when we are in the midst of wonderful Christmas merriment, we cannot help remembering those who have passed away. I know that we don’t talk about these things much out in the open, but there are few of us that do not feel this when the holidays come around.
If we each spoke truth today, I suspect that many of us would admit that there are sorrowful things inseparably mixed up with a Christmas party. In other words, there is no Christmas gathering, or earthly gathering for that matter, that is not without a mixing of emotions. Happy and sad. Joy and sorrow. Celebration and lament.
And yet, may you gain a Christmas hope this morning! The people of this passage looked forward to the hope that would one day be revealed. We look back at the hope that has been revealed. But for the time being, we are like they were…exiles, sorrow-filled aliens in this world...waiting like they did in Babylon for the fulfillment of God’s promises. We also look ahead, waiting in faith for the return of our King, for his Second Coming, when he shall come back to usher in his kingdom in full and take us once and for all out of exile and into the heavenly land, to the New Jerusalem where he shall ever be our King, we shall ever be his people, and his praise shall ever be on our lips! We will be united to him eternally and reunited with those whom we love who went to the grave in Christ. There comes a day, my friends, a glorious day, that will outshine the gatherings of Christmas… There comes a day where there will be a gathering where there will be joy without sorrow. Where there will be merry without tears.
The peace and hope of Christmas now reigns in part, one day it shall reign in full!