Jeremiah chapter 33 is like long-winded messages. Hope so. Big chapter and I want to cover the whole thing. We'll see. It's going to be pulling a lot of it together. It's still dealing with an entire section chapters 30 through 33, four chapters that some theologians have called Jeremiah's Book of Comfort or the Book of Consolation. And this would have the basic idea here. It's finding comfort in God's promises. Think about life for just a minute. Sometimes life brings people to the point where they really don't feel like going on. That's just the reality of what life does. Sometimes it brings people to the point where they simply don't feel like going on. And I think it's probably impossible for any, it is impossible for any human being to count, God could, but for any human being to count the number of hopeless situations that have overtaken human hearts, that could be from any multitude of reasons. Maybe it's the loss of a job to a person who is already struggling to survive and they lose their job. Maybe it's the loss of someone's health. They find out that they have just contracted some type of disease or something. Maybe it's the loss of a loved one, like a husband or a wife, or maybe it's a parent looking at some type of destructive life in one of their children. Maybe it's some kind of a natural disaster like we've seen with some of these hurricanes and things of that nature. There are innumerable reasons why a person could be brought to a point of hopelessness. The nation of Judah, of course, remember at this point here, it's 587 B.C. and Israel had been a divided kingdom. Israel in the north, Judah in the south. It's no longer divided kingdom because the northern part called Israel has already been destroyed by the Assyrians way back in 722 B.C. And so all that remains is that southern portion of the monarchy that we call Judah. And Judah is in a hopeless situation. And the reason why they're in a hopeless situation is because they have already been invaded twice by the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar invaded in 605, took control, and they invaded again in 597 BC. And by this time, you've had tens of thousands of people have either been slaughtered or taken away by the Babylonians. Your nation is under foreign domination. You're starving. Your crops have been destroyed. And you know that it's simply going to be a matter of months before you're destroyed totally by Babylon. A total loss. A loss of your family. A loss of your possessions. A loss of your life and a loss of your culture. And you know that the reason why these things are happening, or at least you should know if you're living back then, is because of your own sin. What's happening is that God is bringing upon these people the things that they deserve because of their idolatry. And from a human standpoint, it was hopeless. And God told him it's hopeless. As a matter of fact, back in Jeremiah 7, Jeremiah wanted to pray for the people and God said, don't even pray for them. OK, because I'm not going to listen. From a human standpoint, it was absolutely hopeless. This is where the good news comes in, because even though it's a hopeless situation by man's efforts and it's a hopeless situation from a human standpoint, it's not impossible by God. Just like the angel told Mary in Luke chapter one, verse 37, he said nothing will be impossible with God. Israel was in a very, very impossible situation. But the truth is that a restoration can take place, that there is a hope and and the only The reason why it is, it's because God is able to do it. And that's the lesson that we really have to learn is that it may be impossible from a human standpoint, but it's not by God. When Paul looked at the restoration of Israel, you know, read Romans chapter 11. And, you know, Paul talks about God's work with Israel. And Paul says that God is going to take my people. He's going to restore them one day. They're like a branch that has been broken off from the tree. He says God is going to graft them in because God is able to. And then when Paul reflected upon the greatness of what God is going to do, he says in Romans 11.33, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable are His ways. Paul says they're unsearchable. You can't trace them out. His ways are unfathomable. You can't go deep enough. Paul uttered these words because of his marvel and his awe over God's promise to restore Israel one day. Now, what we're talking about here, again, we're focusing upon a promise to a nation. But guess what? By application and by principle, the promise that God makes to these people as a nation is the same principle that applies to you and me as individuals. In other words, if God says this is what I am going to do for Israel, I won't fail. And if God has made you a promise in the Scripture... By the way, be careful about claiming it's a promise if it's not written in Scripture. Because if it's not written in Scripture, you can't say, well, God has promised me this. I heard somebody on the TV saying that this morning, making those kinds of statements. I was like, I wish he wouldn't say that. God promised me something that's not written in the Bible. I don't have a promise that God has said He's going to do such and such for me. Unless it's something that I can say, here's what the Scripture says, But if God has promised you something in the Bible, and it's a principle, you can have absolute assurance that God will fulfill His Word to you. And that's the kind of thing that should give you hope. If you're His child, you know that His promises are true. Promises like this, Romans 8.28. Repeat the verse with me. We know that all things work together for good for those who love Him. Those who are called according to His purpose. Listen to that for just a minute. We know that all things work together. Some translations say God works all things together for good. We know that all things work together for good. Now, can you look at everything in your life and say, well, that's working for good? Can you look at everything in your life and say that's working for good? I'll bet you we can look at things and say, I don't think that's good. Now, by the way, that doesn't mean that we look at the situation and say, oh, that's a great situation. But listen, this is what God says in the Scripture. He says that if you belong to Him, He is taking all things and working them for good for those who belong to Him. That's a promise. That's the kind of thing that you have to take to the bank. You may look at it and say, I don't think so, or it doesn't seem like it, or I don't know how, but God says it is. That's where you have to let your theology rule your emotions. You have to let theology rule your thinking. Romans chapter 8, Paul says, look, he says, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That's a promise. No matter how badly you've blown it, no matter how badly you've stumbled, God's wrath will never touch you. God makes the promise in John 16.33 that He says, in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. Why? I will overcome the world. He said, look, in a cursed world, you're going to have problems. It's a reality. It's what Jesus said. He says, but cheer up. I will overcome it. I have conquered the curse. He's saying that even before He had risen from the dead. God has a promise in the Bible. His promise is this. He says that if you belong to Me, if you overcome through faith, He says you will inherit all these things and I will be your God. And you will be My son, My daughter. All things work together for good for those who love Him. You may look at the circumstance and say, I don't see how. And that's okay. You may look at the circumstance and say, I don't know how this is going to be for good. God didn't ask you to figure out how everything works. Matter of fact, he says, don't don't don't try to figure it out. Just know that I'm in control of it. Don't worry about trying to figure it out. And when you but when you understand that God does have plan and design and purpose, you find comfort in his promises, and that's what you have in chapter 33. God's assurance that his absolutely true and certain promise will be fulfilled. And for Israel, that means God's message to them is this. He's saying, guys. The issue is not how badly you've blown it, but the issue is how great my grace is. The issue is not how badly you have apostatized from me, but the issue is how certain is my promise. God says I will restore you. And now in these four chapters, chapters 30-33, what you have are a series of promises. And the last part of chapter 32, and really chapter 33, kind of serve as a confirmation because God has been making these promises. And then the last half of chapter 32 and all of chapter 33, it's so to speak like this. God says, wait, you don't believe me? Alright, I'm going to prove it to you. That's kind of what chapter 33 is all about. God saying, look, if you don't believe Me, let Me prove it to you. I will restore Israel. And that's really the heart of this whole message. God says, I am going to take My people and I'm going to bring you back one day. I'm going to put you to your own land. I'm going to take out that heart that you have, this heart of stone. Really, really cold hearted people. You know, the Jews today are very, very cold, stony hearted people, very atheistic and secular as a whole. As a collective group, the Jews are very cold and secular and atheistic as a whole, not not every single one. But what God says is he says, I'm going to bring you back to your land. I'm going to take out that heart of stone. I'm going to give you a very tender heart. He says, I'm going to pour upon My people. Zechariah 12, verse 10. I'm going to pour upon My people the Spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look upon Me and they'll mourn. This is God's promise. Now here in chapter 33, You find an outline where verses 1-13 kind of make the first confirmation of... really, actually, I would say the second confirmation, because the first confirmation came back in chapter 32, where God said, look, I am going to restore you, just as I said. Now in verses 1-13, chapter 33, verses 1-13, you come to this second way that God assures His people, and it's a promise that He's going to cleanse and heal and restore them. God is going to cleanse them of their filth, their idolatry. God is going to heal them of all the spiritual disease. And He is going to restore them. And in v. 1-13, God gives them two reasons why. First of all, in v. 1-3, let's read v. 1-3 where God says, you can have an absolute assurance that I'm going to do this because My work is greater than anything you can ever imagine. My work is greater than anything you can ever imagine. Look what He says in v. 1. The Word of the Lord, 33 one, the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the court of the guard saying, thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it. The Lord is his name called to me and I will answer you and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know. You know what God says? He says, if you will trust Me, I'm going to show you great and mighty things that you don't even know. Because when God does this work of restoration, it's something that is greater than we can ever even imagine. Anything you can conceive of. Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9. Paul is quoting actually from Isaiah 64 v. 4 when he says this, but it's this verse that says, Just as it is written, things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man." All that God has prepared for those who love Him. He says, you want to know what salvation is like? Something your eye has never seen. Something your ear has never heard. Something that hasn't even entered your heart. You know what's neat? I'll tell you what I like. Over the past few years, I've had a chance to take my family, sometimes my kids, to some places where I used to go when I was a kid in Utah. Maybe a place like hiking up in Utah where you know there's a waterfall just around the corner on this creek. Just a little bit, guys. And then you come across and you come to this creek and this waterfall. It's like, whoa, this is really neat. Something you've never seen in your whole life. And guess what? What God has prepared for you and me in terms of a restoration is the kind of thing that Hollywood can't do justice to with their best cinematography. Can't even touch it. And it doesn't matter how badly you have blown it. It doesn't matter how horribly the world has treated you. The world can give you some pretty hard blows, can't it? It really can. And it doesn't matter even if you were the one who brought it upon yourself. I mean, maybe you've lived a bonehead life and you've done a lot of stupid things and now you've got these things coming upon you. It doesn't matter how badly you've blown it. God's promise is that He is going to bring us a glorious salvation one day. And it's going to totally transcend anything that we've ever experienced. That's why Paul could say in Romans 8.18, he says, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that's about to be revealed to us. He says they don't even hold a candle. And by the way, Paul knew because you remember that God on at least one occasion took Paul. Paul says, look, I don't know if I was in my body or I don't know if it was simply in a vision, but He took me into heaven itself. And I saw things that are not even permissible to speak about. So Paul knew. He knew. He saw that side. Paul says, listen, the sufferings of this present time, he says, they're not worthy to be compared with that glory. The glory just totally outweighs anything that this life has to offer. He says all things work for good for those who love Him. Not for the unsaved, but for those who love Him. So the first reason why you can have hope, as we look at Jeremiah 33, you can have hope because God's work is greater than anything you could ever imagine. Now, it says in verse 131 that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time while he was still confined in the court. If you look back at chapter 32 with me for just a moment, you see in chapter 32, verse 2, it says, At this time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. And Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah. And as we pointed out a couple of weeks ago, apparently there was some kind of a stockade somewhere there in the vicinity of the king's royal palace. And Jeremiah had been locked up. And the reason why he had been locked up is because he wanted to go up to his hometown of Anathoth, which is about five miles north of Jerusalem. Jeremiah wanted to go up and perhaps the reason why he was on his way up is because that was his hometown. And if you remember, there was a situation where God sent Jeremiah's cousin to him because the cousin came and said, hey, I want you to buy my property. I want you to buy the property. Of course, the whole nation is being overrun by enemy powers. And, you know, then here comes the cousin says, will you buy my property? It's like, are you crazy? No. Why am I going to buy downtown New Orleans property when I know that Katrina is coming in next week? Forget about it. You know, but God said your cousin is going to come and he's going to want you to buy the property. So buy it from him. Because I'm sending him on a mission to do that. And your job is to buy the property. And the reason why I'm having you buy this property and do the deed and seal it and all of those things is because I want this to be an object lesson for all of the people that houses and lands will be purchased again in this land. In other words, yes, Babylon is coming and it's going to be the end of an era. This chapter is going to close, guys. But it's not the end of my promise. I'm going to restore you one day. There's going to be business take place again in the future. And in 70 some years from now, your land will be worth some money. That's a long hold period, isn't it? So in any case, when we read later on in Jeremiah chapter 37, what it tells us is that when Jeremiah began to try to leave the city to go up and go to Amathoth, some people accused Jeremiah and they said, ah, we know what you're doing. You're going to go and defect to the Babylonians. That's why you're leaving Jerusalem at this moment. You're going to defect to the Babylonians. He says, no, I'm going up to Anathoth. And they said, no, you're going to defect. They arrested him and that's when they put him into this stockade there in the courtyard of the royal palace. And Jeremiah is locked up. So chapter 32 and chapter 33 are happening basically all in the same time period. And if you think about it here, Jeremiah is God's chosen prophet. By the way, You go back to chapter 1 when Jeremiah was just a young boy. And God says, Jeremiah, you're My man. Go preach. Go prophesy My Word. Jeremiah says, no, no. Get somebody else. God says, no. Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you. Before you came forth, I consecrated you. I have appointed you as a prophet for the nations. My eye is on you. You are going to proclaim my word. Jeremiah didn't want to do it. And the reason why is because he knew what a miserable life it was going to be. He knew the burden of carrying that message and how he would be hated. And he was hated. He was a hated man, but he was hated because he spoke the truth. Now, what God wants to do here is God wants to remind Israel that even though they are going to be chastised for their sin, He is going to restore them. And He says the reason why you can know that I'm able to do it is because I'm the God who made everything. Look here in verse 2. He says, Thus says Yahweh. This is the so-called covenant name of God. Thus says Yahweh. Who is Yahweh? The One who made the earth. You know? That's a pretty good deal. Yahweh, the One who formed it to establish it. Yahweh is His name. You know, I've got a car I've been working on. A stupid car. Here it is, a year and a half later. The shop that is doing it, they still can't make a car. God says, I made the earth. And He made it in one day. He says, I'm the one who formed it. By the way, notice here. You see the language? The language takes you right back to Genesis 1. He's Yahweh, the Osei, the maker of the earth. He's Yahweh, the Yotzer. You see that word, the one who formed it? I love this word. Yotzer is that same term that means the potter. He's the one who forms. It's parallel. He's the maker, but he's the one who forms. It's the idea of taking pot, clay, and you're forming the pot. God says, that's who I am. God is the one who brought this material into existence and God is the one who is now forming it. He formed it to establish it, which has the idea of putting it in place and holding it in place. And, you know, creation, it really does. I mean, I don't know very much about it, but it does stagger me to think about just creation. Was it yesterday or the day before, I forget? You know where I was. It was at Starbucks. And actually, it was Anthony and Gabriel were sitting there. Yeah. And who else was there, huh? And there was a girl there, a college girl that was doing some reading, and they've spoken to her a couple of times, and she was doing some chemistry work, and I started talking to her about the chemistry. And you think about just how complicated stuff like chemistry is. Life is so complicated. DNA and genetics and all this kind of stuff. But God is the one who put it all in place. God is the one who formed it. He made it. He formed it. And He holds it all together. That's quite an amazing thing. God says, that's who I am. And what God says to them here in verse 3, He says, because I am who I am, what you can do is you can call upon Me and understand that I am able. Verse 3, call to Me and I... I'm not answering you. No, I will. Call to Me and I will answer you and I will tell you great and mighty things. When He says, I will tell you great and mighty things, He's not simply saying, well, I'll tell you them, but I will make them happen. This is the idea. I will reveal great and mighty things to you. He's talking specifically about making restoration and redemption for His people. Great things. Mighty things. The term mighty has the idea of something that's fortified, inaccessible. You can't get to it. God says that's what My redemptive purposes are. You can't figure them out unless I tell you what they are. But if you ask Me about it, I'll tell you what they are and I'll even make them happen. My people, all you have to do is come and ask Me. By the way, James 4 tells us this. You have not. Why? You ask not. Jesus said, keep on knocking, keep on asking, keep on seeking. You don't just do it once. You keep asking. You keep seeking. You keep knocking. This is what God is telling them is that if you want to have a restoration, all you have to do is come and ask me. Now, as you look at that whole concept of God restoring Israel, what we come to find out is, is that they can't. They can't. And that's why we need grace. That's why you see in Zechariah chapter 12, verse 10, God says that I'm going to have to pour my spirit upon you. But when I do pour my spirit upon you and I begin to draw you to myself, then you will respond and then you're going to realize what I have done for you. But from the human perspective, all that is necessary is to come and to ask. Psalm 145 verse 18. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him. That is, to those who call upon Him in truth. The Lord is near. God's promise is this, that if you want it, He can do something that is greater than you can even imagine. Ephesians 3 verse 20 says that God is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or even think. beyond more than you can even think. But our part, you see, is this. God says, come and seek Me for it. But you've got to do it in truth. James 1, He says if you're going to ask, you can't be a double-minded man. You can't be the hypocrite who really doesn't believe and really doesn't live for God, but then you come and say, oh, I want this. I mean, that's like a rebellious child who comes to his or her parent and wants something. And yet, they live a rebellious life. Then they come and they want something. It's like, forget about it. That's the way that God is. By analogy, that's the way that God is now. If we will genuinely humble ourselves and come with a genuine heart, then God will hear us. Now what all this means is this, is that no matter what kind of trial or problem you may be facing, like Israel has right now, because they're on the verge of destruction, God says, it's not too big for Me. I can restore you. It's not too big for me. I can handle it, so you should have hope. Now secondly, if you come to verses 4-13, the second reason you can have hope is because I can reverse even the very worst of circumstances. What are the kinds of things, when you think about life, what would be the kinds of things that people might experience in this life that would just be the absolute worst for a life situation? It might be that it's a young girl who has sinned and now she's pregnant. It might be somebody who has just found out that they have a serious disease because of their sin. It might be somebody who has just overdosed on drugs, or maybe their friend has overdosed on drugs because of their sin. There's all kinds of horrible things where you look at it and you say, oh no, there's no changing this. It's too late. Israel was in one of those situations. absolutely irreversible from a human standpoint, and the misery was something that they could not even imagine. But what God says to them in verses 4-13 is that yes, it is bad, but you can have hope because I can reverse even the worst of misery. Verses 4-5 show us this misery. Notice verse 4. By the way, see the connection here, okay? Verse 3, "...call to Me, and I will answer you. I will tell you great and mighty things which you don't know." You see the word for? That word for is in there because it's showing a confirmation of what God said. God says, "...if you will only ask Me, I will do it, because..." Verse 4, "...thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the houses of this city." concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword. Verse 4 describes what Israel was like at that very moment. He speaks about the houses of the kings and the houses which were being broken down to make a defense. The Babylonians had cast up all of these siege mounds. A siege mound was where they'd take huge amounts of earth and they would build them up against the wall of the city and they would bring Siege engines to smack against the wall so they could break the walls down and the walls were in danger of giving way. And so what they began doing is they began taking houses inside of the city. They themselves began taking their own buildings and their houses, tearing down their structures and then using them to try to prop up the walls because the walls were in danger of breach. So, you know, these guys are frantic. You know, you're tearing down all your buildings, taking all the wood, all the stones, and you're trying to shore up your walls. so that you don't collapse. He says at the end of verse four, they're trying to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword while they come to fight against the Chaldeans, that is the Babylonians. But God says, but all that's going to happen is they're trying to do this, but all that's going to happen is they're going to be filled with corpses of men whom I have slain in my anger and in my wrath. You guys can try to get away from what's going to happen, but it ain't going to work. And God made it clear there is absolutely no way out of this mess. Matter of fact, what was the only way they could actually get out of this mess and live? There was one. Surrender. God said if you surrender and you give up to Nebuchadnezzar, you can live. Just pack your bags because you're going to Babylon. But you can live if you surrender. But if you try to fight, you will die. And of course, the leadership of the nation would not listen to God. They were intent on fighting, and that was part of God's design to bring this catastrophic judgment upon them. But God says that all you're going to do is you're going to fill these houses with the corpses of men, men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath. And the reason for all of this, as God says, is because I have hidden My face from this city because of their wickedness. Remember in Numbers 6, remember the Aaronic blessing? May the Lord bless you and keep you and what? Huh? And make His face to shine upon you? Well, for God's face to shine means that He is granting His favor. He's giving His favor to make His face shine. But here God says, I'm not going to shine My face with favor upon you. Rather, what I'm going to do is I'm going to hide my face from this city. I'm not going to look with any favor upon this city, because I'm angry. My anger and my wrath. Interesting words, the Hebrew words af, anger, wrath, hema. The word anger, af, is actually the same Hebrew word that means nose, because that's oftentimes where you see the anger expressed. You know, or the word wrath, which means heat rage. It's just God's burning anger. God says, what I'm going to do is I'm going to take out my anger against you. And the reason why is because of your wickedness. It's not like I'm being. capricious about this whole thing. You guys brought this upon yourself, and now payday has come. Now, what God says is this. God says in v. 4-5, God says, listen, there's no way around this thing unless you look at the promise of restoration, which comes in v. 6-13. God says even though this is who you are, this is what you've done, that's not the end of the story. Now, I want you to think about this for just a minute. Before we move on to verses 6-13, have you ever come into a point in your life where you look and you say, you know what? There ain't no answer for this. I'll bet some of you have. And I can think of things throughout my own life where certain things have happened and you look and you say, It's not going to work. There's no answer for this. And you know what? Some of those things, they never did turn around. They never did fix themselves. Some of those circumstances. And there may be situations in your life where you would give anything to be able to turn the situation around, to change it, to make it better. And it doesn't work. It doesn't mean it's the end of the story. It really doesn't. It may be very painful to see something never work out the way you want it to. And from, let's say, from just the moral standpoint of analyzing the whole situation, you may say, gee, it sure would be good if this would turn around. And from the moral, ethical standpoint, it would be good if that thing turned around. But you know what? You've got to understand something. You and I are not in God's shoes. If we were in God's shoes, maybe we would look at the totality of everything and say, oh, I see why God is not going to allow this particular situation to turn the way that I want it to. And maybe we'd have a little different opinion about, or at least a little different response to the way that we deal with it. It doesn't mean we have to like everything. Verses 6-13, Jeremiah speaks about this restoration. A six-fold promise of how God is going to restore. Notice here in verse 6, God first of all tells them that there's going to be a total removal of all trace of curse. Behold, I will bring to it... That is to Jerusalem. I will bring to it health and healing. Health and healing. You know, a few weeks ago, I got a little bit of a cut on my toe, down by the toenail. Man, it got sore. I don't want to gross you out or anything, so I won't go into details, you know. I got a sore toe. Thing is still a little, it's getting better now, but it's been really sore. And it hasn't really been healing up until just the past couple days. Sorry, that guy is laughing at me. I don't blame you. The reason why I say that is this is because you see this word health. Behold, I will bring to it health. Arukah is the Hebrew term. It actually means new skin. If you went back to chapter eight, verse 22, chapter eight of Jeremiah, verse 22, God spoke about Israel and he says, there is no Arukah. In other words, Israel was like a sore that would not heal. It's like an open sore that just kept staying open and sore and infected. There was no new skin. God says, this is what you guys are like. But you see, the open wound is not the end of the story. Not when it comes to grace. Here, what God says is, I am going to bring to it arukkah. I am going to bring new skin. I am going to bring healing. I will heal them. If it was up to simply us, in our own miserable condition, there would be no healing. It would be a perpetual, unhealing wound. But this is what God says He's going to do. God says, I will bring a total restoration one day. Charles Weinberg puts it this way. By God's design, the Babylonian exile will have a healing effect. That brings you down to a second promise that God makes. He promises them an abundance of peace and truth, which is related. He says, I will bring health and healing and I will heal them and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. I will reveal them to them an abundance of peace and truth. When God says I'm going to reveal an abundance of peace and truth, it's the idea of I am going to make it happen. I love the way that Micah chapter 7 words it, God speaks to Israel and says, I am going to restore you. By the way, you know what the name Mikha means, right? Mi means who, kha means like, mikha, so who is Yahweh. Mikha means who is like Yahweh. What does Mikhael mean? Who is Kael? Who's like God? Michael. Who is like God? Micah. Who is like Yahweh? And if you look at the prophet Micah in chapter 7, listen to how the end of Micah finishes his message. Micah 7, verse 18. Micah says, who is a God like you? I love this. This is one of my favorite passages of the Bible. Who is a God like you? A God who pardons iniquity? There's nobody like Yahweh. A God who passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? Micah says he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in unchanging love. Unchanging love. That's that really, really rich Hebrew word, chesed. God delights in unchanging love. And then Micah says in verse 19, he will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. Yes! You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea, and You will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love to Abraham." You will give truth to Jacob. What does he mean when he says, You will give truth to Jacob? What he means is that God, You, I know, will be faithful to Your promise. You will be true to Your promise that one day You're going to restore us. And that's exactly what Jeremiah is saying here in verse 6. God will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. No question about it. By the way, you know here in Micah chapter 7 when he says, you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea? Remember how Marty Wolf this morning was explaining? The Jews call this ritual the tashlik. Because that's the word, you will cast, tashlik. where Micah says, you're going to cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. And the Jews have a ritual where sometimes they'll go out every year and they will symbolically cast breadcrumbs under the water. And they'll say, well, that's symbolic of God taking away our sin, which in fact, God is going to do for that nation one day. But when you come back here to verse 6, the point is this, is that God is going to reveal this abundance of peace and truth. Verse 7, it's a promise that God one day is going to restore everything that has been lost because He says, I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel. I will restore your fortunes. Just think about some of these. You know how right now there's kind of some issues going on where people are trying to sue maybe something like Swiss banks where they find out that these banks have money that was confiscated during the Nazi era, and people are trying to sue and get back some of their fortunes that were confiscated decades ago. God says, don't worry about it. In the end, I'm going to restore it all. Verse 8, you see a fourth promise. God says that I am going to cleanse you from your defilement. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me." Now, we don't usually think this way, but you know, according to the law of Moses, especially when you go to the book of Leviticus, God speaks about sin and He says, your sin will defile you. Ritual defilement, where you become unclean. You are ceremonially unclean. You're not permitted to, you're absolutely forbidden to come anywhere near God or anything holy because of that defilement. different reasons could defile you. Sometimes it might be even something like you touched a dead body. You know, maybe maybe your dad died and you touched the body. Well, that means you're unclean and you would have to go through a series of sacrifices and waiting period before you could ever come near into into worship near the temple. Different kinds of sins brought defilement. And all of that was God's way of teaching the people that I am holy. And there is such a thing as sin, and your sin separates you from Me. What God says here in verse 8 is He says, I'm going to cleanse you. I'm going to cleanse you from all your iniquity by which you have sinned against Me. By the way, notice here in verse 8, there are three different words. You know, the Hebrew language has a lot of words for sin. Notice some of these words. I will cleanse them from all their what? Iniquity. Their awon. This word here speaks about something that is crooked. Something that is twisted. Something that is deviated or bent like the theological word book of the Old Testament says something that is bent and twisted because that's what sin is. And you know, we think about I was thinking about this the other day because you know you in your own language, you have certain words that have really distinct connotations. I mean, the word pervert, you know. Now you may have as a different language your first language, and maybe that word doesn't have the connotation, but if you know the English language, the word pervert has a very clear connotation to it. Well, God says you're all a bunch of perverts. You like that? Because that's what the word means. You're twisted. I will cleanse them. Now you may think, well, I'm not like that. And God says, well, compared to Me you are. I will cleanse them from all their twistedness by which they have sinned against Me." Here he uses this verb chata. You have sinned. You have fallen short of My holiness. I will cleanse you from your iniquity by which you have sinned against Me and I will pardon their iniquities. There's the word iniquities. By which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed. There's a third word. Pasha. To rebel, transgress, to defy the authority. Three different words in this one verse. Now, what God is trying to do is God is trying to help us to understand a point. We've got a problem. We've got a problem. Had this wonderful opportunity after the service this morning to speak to this young man that was here for the first time. And Gabriel met him the other day at the Home Depot. And so he came up and had a chance to speak to him for about 15 or 20 minutes. And, you know, he's a nice, you know, nice kid. I was asking him what he thought about his own salvation. And I ended up taking him to Genesis and explaining who God is and what the problem is of sin. But then I took him to Isaiah 53. And I began showing him that the issue is not how good we are, because we're not. And the issue really is not how bad we are. But the issue is how great God's Savior is. Because Isaiah 53 says this, He was pierced through. for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. He was crushed for our perversion. And the punishment for our well-being fell upon Him. And by His scourging, we are healed. All of us, like sheep, we go astray. But the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all on Him. So you see, the issue is this. God says, I'm going to cleanse you one day. That's my promise. This is an amazing thing. You know what's most amazing? God is willing to accept us. God is willing to forgive us. What an amazing thing. God is willing to forgive us. So here's the promises. Number one, verse six, the promise of a total removal of all trace of curse, a promise that He will give an abundance of peace and truth and restoration, the promise that He will one day restore everything that was lost, the promise that He will cleanse us from defilement. Verse nine brings us a fifth promise. It's the promise to make His people into a cause of praise and honor rather than a source of shame and reproach. They're the most hated people on the face of the earth. And they have been for a long, long time, the Jews. Listen to Zechariah 8, verse 13. God says, it's going to come about, Israel, that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and Israel, so I will save you so that you may become a blessing. Right now, He says, you guys are a curse. You guys are a source of shame. They're a source of shame to God. And just they themselves are a source of shame and reproach. Now, it's kind of interesting because when you look at the Jews, you know, you can see that statistically speaking, you know, they at least from a certain perspective, they dominate the entertainment industry. Look at all the credits at the end of the movie, right? Schlossberg, Goldberg. I'm not making fun of them. That's that's a reality. the entertainment industry. Look at, you know, brilliant minds and things like, you know, science and mathematics and what ratio of these brilliant minds are Jews. Even in their state of unbelief, God is still granting that Abrahamic favor upon this nation, even in their rebellion. But the fact of the matter is this, is that if you look at them as a people group, they're very hated. The nation is hated. And God said this. God says, listen, Israel, what's going to happen when I restore you one day? Verse 9. Now you see in verse 9 it says, it shall be to me a name. He's speaking in particular here about Jerusalem, their city, their capital city, their representative city. It is going to become for me a name of joy and praise and glory before all the nations of the earth. This is what I'm going to do. People are going to look at you and they're going to praise. No more reproach. And the reason why this is going to be is because the nations are going to hear about all the good that I do for them. Oh, well, just just look at, you know, Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. In Ezekiel, you see this picture where the armies of the earth are invading Israel to destroy. They're coming in to wipe them out. It's going to happen in that tribulation period. And these armies of the earth that are invading these battles of Armageddon, these final conflicts at the end of the age in that last seven year tribulation period, and God says, I'm going to wipe them out. Their bodies are going to be strewn across the hillside. They're going to become food for the birds. But God says when it's all done, they will know that I am Yahweh. They will know that I am the God of Israel. They will know who I am. God says I am going to be sanctified through them. Because He's going to act on their behalf. And so what's going to happen, verse 9, is He says, Jerusalem is going to become for Me a name of joy and praise and glory before all the nations of the earth, which will hear of all the good that I do for them. And then all the nations, they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it. Jerusalem itself. R.K. Harrison makes these comments. R.K. Harrison is an amillennialist. I am almost sure, unless he's with the Lord now. If he's with the Lord, he's a premillennialist. But R.K. Harrison says the name of Jerusalem will be synonymous with God's loving mercies to his penitent people. Whether or not he's a remember an all-millennials would not believe that these are literal promises for literal Israel. They spiritualize these things and say, well, that's for the church. That's what you'd have in, let's say, for example, the reformed church. is as they would take and in covenant theology that you typically find in, you know, either Presbyterian or Roman Catholicism or any of the kind of like the reformed branches of Christianity, they would take these things and say, well, that's being fulfilled right now in the church. And that's kind of the background of R.K. Harrison. And I shouldn't speak, I'm almost positive that that's where he's at. But when you look at some of these guys, even though they may hold that theological view, at least they're kind of honest when they come to what the individual verses say. And they say, well, this is what it means. What I'm getting to is this, is that it's very clear. God says, this is what I'm going to do for you, Jerusalem. By the way, just think about the character of God, the nature of God, the faithfulness of God, the trustworthiness of God. If all of these promises really are being fulfilled in the church and Jeremiah is speaking them to his fellow Jewish countrymen. What if these things are really they're being fulfilled by us in the church, but they're not being going to be fulfilled for these Jews literally? What good are the promises, huh? I mean, it's like God plays this trick on you and you say, wait a minute, I thought you were going to do this. And then God says, oh no, no, no. I had a little bit of a caveat in that statement I made. I really meant the church. No, this is exactly what it says. It's God's promise to His people. Verses 10-13, you get a sixth promise. It's a promise to take away death and misery and replace it with life and joy. Thus says the Lord. Yet again there will be heard in this place of which you yourselves say, it is a waste without man and without beast. That is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate and without man and without inhabitant and without beast." Kind of interesting. Look what God does to Jeremiah. You know what God says in Jeremiah? Jeremiah, this is what you are saying. Jeremiah, you are saying that Jerusalem is going to be wiped out and blown away and without inhabitants. Now, question for you, was Jeremiah making these predictions? Yes! But why was Jeremiah making these predictions? Because God was telling him to say that. God said, Jeremiah, tell them that the place is going to be wiped out. Everybody's going to be killed at fights and the city's going to be wiped out. No animals. No men. But it's kind of interesting, God kind of throws it back in his face. Jeremiah, this is what you are saying. But God says, but there's the second part of the message. Thus says Yahweh, verse 10. Again, there will be heard in this place. Now go to verse 11. The voice of joy. the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who say, give thanks to Yahweh of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. So what God is telling Jeremiah is this. Yes, you are proclaiming My message of destruction, but that's not the end of the story. And the reason why is because God is making a promise that He's going to take the death and the misery and all of these things, and God says, I'm going to replace it one day. Now, beloved, this promise is something that applies to you if you understand it properly. And here's how it works. In this present life, there's going to be hardship and pain and affliction. That's reality. But God does say that all things are working together for good for those that love Him. And Paul does say that the sufferings of this present time, they are not worthy to be compared with the glory. Just imagine the scale. Here's the glory. He says the sufferings, they don't compare with the glory that's going to be revealed. Why does God give us these kinds of promises in the Bible? So that you can have a little bit of hope to go on. Because quite frankly, if it wasn't for some of these promises, wouldn't you sometimes just feel like giving up? Maybe so. Maybe so. Jeremiah, you're giving this message out that things are going to be wiped out. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to take and I'm going to replace it with the voice of joy and gladness. Bridegroom. The bride. There's going to be weddings. There's going to be celebrations and parties. And there's going to be people who say, Hodu la'aronai ki tov, ki le'olam chasdo. You know that song, don't you, Cynthia? You see, middle of verse 11, give thanks to the Lord for the Lord is good. It's a song that one of her professors taught her, Bill Schlegel, and he taught me that song in our group about 11 years ago. It comes from Psalm 136. Oh, do la'aronai kitov. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. Ki le'olam chasdo. For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Praise God, is what it says. Because God is good. Praise God because His love never fails. That's what it means. His lovingkindness is everlasting. His promise to you will never give out. God will not turn His back on you! Men may turn their back on you. Right? Men may. Now, fortunately in life, there are many times we have people that stay in our corner no matter what. I mean, that's nice when you have somebody that doesn't betray you. But sometimes in life, people will betray you. But God will never betray you. His loving kindness is everlasting. That's what gave Jeremiah hope. I mean, go to the book of Lamentations. Now, what God says, go to the middle of verse 11. God says, I'm going to do all these things and you're going to praise me because I am going to restore you. Look at verse 11. There will be these people. who come and bring a thank-offering into the house of the Lord." So you're going to have Israel restored and bringing the thank-offerings into the temple because God says, I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at the first, says Yahweh. That's meant to be exactly what it says. I will restore them. Verse 12, thus says the Lord of hosts, there will be again in this place, which is waste, without man or beast, and in all the cities a habitation of shepherds who rest their flocks." You remember Psalm 23? He makes me lie down in the green pastures. Same verb. He makes me lie down. God says, well, that's what's going to happen again. You're going to have the shepherds here bringing their flocks and giving their flocks rest. Verse 13, in the cities... And by the way, notice the language here. Kind of like going to all the different geographical parts. When you're in Jerusalem, Jerusalem is kind of up in the hills. If you go a little bit north, you've got some plains. If you go a little bit to the east, you've got some wilderness. If you go a little bit to the southwest, you have what's called the Shefla, the hill country. If you go way down in the south, you've got the desert, the Negev. And he's talking about the whole land in verse 12. He says, verse 13, this is going to be in the cities and the hill country, the cities of the lowland, the cities of the Negev, the land of Benjamin, all the environs of Jerusalem. And in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the One who numbers them." It says Yahweh. To pass under the hands of the One who numbers them means that here's the shepherd. He's bringing them in. Let's see. Ah, come here. Dolly. Oh, how are you, sweetheart? Dolly the sheep, you know. There's Dolly and here's Chip. Chip has come back. He ran off, but we've got Chip back, you know. And so, here's the shepherd counting his sheep that he knows by name, brings them into the fold, and then seals it off with his gate. Maybe he himself sleeps in front of the gate. The shepherd who loves his sheep. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to restore you. I'm going to bring you back to safety. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. These are God's promises. These are God's promises. And they won't fail. They won't fail. Verses 14 to 26. If you want a short sermon, you've got to leave. Because I'm going to preach through verses 14 to 26 too. Verses 14-26. God gives a final confirmation to Israel that He's going to do what He has said. And these 13 verses here is where God says, I'm going to make it happen, guys, because what I'm going to do, verses 14-26, I'm going to give you your King. He's going to do it. Think about everything that we just saw in these first 13 verses where God says, this is what I'm going to do! And maybe you say, but how? God says, here's how. I'm going to bring you your King. Verse 14, Behold, the days are coming. Behold, the days are coming. What does this mean? When you see this expression, days are coming, there are a few places in Jeremiah where it might refer to God's promise of bringing that immediate judgment. There are a few places where days are coming where God says, I'm going to thrash you. But the majority of these expressions, the days are coming in Jeremiah, it's referring to His promise when that point in time when God restores Israel by these messianic blessings. Now we know that Jesus Christ came 2000 years ago, and that was the beginning of the messianic age because the Messiah came. But by God's design and because of Israel's hardness, that was not the point in which these messianic blessings began to be realized by the nation of Israel. OK. So the messianic age arrived 2000 years ago, but by God's design and because of Israel's stubborn hardness of heart, that was not the point at which the messianic blessings began to be realized by Israel. When are these blessings going to be realized by Israel? by God's design at that point when Jesus Christ returns and He pours His favor out upon this apostate nation and opens their blind eyes and their hard hearts to respond. This is what this is referring to right here. Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Now here in these verses, what we find are a seven-fold description of this King and how God is going to bring this King. First of all, the time frame, verse 15, behold, he says, in those days and at that time. When is this going to happen? In those days. I don't want to take you to all the verses where you find this expression. You can do that on your own and make little cross references in your Bible like I have on my Bible. But it's talking about the messianic age. the return of Jesus Christ. We're talking here about the return of Jesus Christ when he restores Israel in that tribulation period that follows the rapture of the church and how he brings God's kingdom to this earth. That is the first description of the king, the time of the king. It's when he returns. Number two, the origin of the king. Look at verse 15. In those days and at that time, God says, I will cause a righteous branch of Jose to spring forth. He's Mexican. No! I will cause a righteous branch of Edom. No, he's not English. I will cause a righteous branch from who? Dawid. The king of Israel. Who does this king come from? He is a descendant of King David. This is really neat stuff. I hope you think so. If you don't, you need to check your theological health. I will cause a righteous branch. Now, if you want to take this literally, I will cause to branch a righteous branch. You see this expression? I want you to put your finger in a couple of places. We're going to dive around a couple of places. Put one finger in Zechariah chapter 3, another finger in Zechariah chapter 6, a third finger in Jeremiah chapter 23, and a fourth finger in Isaiah chapter 4. And I'll let you save your thumb for just a minute. Because we're going to go one other place now. First of all, I want you to take I want to take you to Zechariah chapter three. And the reason why I'm taking you here is because Zechariah is one of the last prophets of the Old Testament age. And Zechariah is about 100 years or about roughly 60 years after Jeremiah. The year is about 520 B.C. So he's writing at really the kind of the culmination of the end of the Old Testament era. And you find this expression branch used. Now, what I'm what I want to focus on for you is just for a moment is for you to look at this word branch. The Hebrew word is Zemech, P-S-E-M-E-C-H, or if you have a theology professor, Zemech, like we had. Tzemach. The word branch. Tzemach. Because this term is an extremely rich word. Look at Zechariah 3 and verse 9. Behold, God says, the stone that I have set before Joshua on... Excuse me, go back to verse 8. He says, now listen, Joshua, you high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you. Here's Joshua, the high priest. Giving this symbolic explanation where Joshua, the high priest, is symbolizing Jesus Christ, that's what it is. Joshua is here. Now, Joshua was a high priest, which meant Joshua had to come from what tribe? Levi. Jesus Christ being a king comes from which tribe of Israel? Judah. So Joshua is symbolizing Christ, but remember, Jesus is not from the tribe of Levi, but there's symbolism. Listen, Joshua, you high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you. Indeed, they are men who are a symbol. There's some symbolism here. They are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in my servant. Who? The branch. The branch. This word branch is a technical expression that refers to the Messiah. That is what it is. Look at chapter 6. Look at chapter 6, verse 11. God tells the people, I want you to take this gold and silver that you've collected, make this crown and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and then say to Joshua, thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, a man whose name is Branch. For He will branch out from where He is and He will build the temple of the Lord. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord and it is He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. And thus, He will be a priest on His throne and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices." Remember, in the Old Testament, if you were a king, you could not function as a priest. Just go ask King Uzziah. He tried to burn incense in the temple and God struck him with leprosy. At the same time, if you were a Levite and you were a priest, you could not be the king because the king had to come from the tribe of Judah. But what God does is God takes this high priest Joshua and says, Joshua, I want you to dress up like a king because you're going to symbolize the Christ who's going to come. You're going to symbolize the Messiah because the Messiah is going to be a king and a priest at the same time. Only he's not a priest because he's a Levite. He's a priest because I have sworn to him that he will be a priest. Psalm 110 v. 4, the Lord has sworn a truth from which he will not turn back. You are a priest forever. God swore an oath. He is the mediator between God and men. Now, you see this word branch. Now, go back to Jeremiah 23. You see the word used about 100 years earlier by Jeremiah, chapter 23, in verse 5, Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will raise up for who? David. See, who does this branch come from? He's from the family of David. David lived from Jeremiah's time frame. David lived 400 years before that. But God says, I'm going to raise up from David's family a righteous branch, and he will reign as king. and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. And in His days, Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely." And this is His name. Who is this King? Who is this branch? This is His name. Yechua Tzedekenu. His name is Yahweh. Our righteousness. Who is this King? He is a man, but He's more than a man. He's Jehovah. He's God in flesh. Go back 100 years before this. By the way, it's time to get your thumb out. Go to 2 Samuel 23, but before you get there, go to Isaiah 4. Isaiah 4 and 2 Samuel 23. Isaiah 4 is 100 years before Jeremiah. Isaiah 4. Isaiah 4, verse 1. God speaks about the kingdom age. He says seven women will take hold of one. I'm not going to be the Anza Monastery anymore. Seven women will take hold of one man. Saying, we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes. Only let us be called by your name. How do you like that? Seven women wanting to marry you. Talk about multiple offers on real estate. Boy, that's what it means. By the way, That kind of goes back to the former section that really ties in with chapter 3 where God is talking about how bad it will be. There will be no men left after God's judgment. And all the women will just be wanting a husband. Look, we'll pay our own way. Just marry us. Even if we're one of many wives. But actually, verse 2, there's a break in the section. Look at chapter 4, verse 2. In that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, And the fruit of the earth will be the pride and adornment of the survivors of Israel. And it will come about that of all who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy. Everyone who is recorded for life. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion, that's the Temple Mount, and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke and brightness of a flaming fire by night. For all the glory will be a canopy and there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day and refuge and protection from the storm and rain. It's the picture of God's Shekinah glory when Jesus Christ is ruling from Jerusalem. But notice in verse 2, it calls Him the branch of the Lord. He'll be beautiful. Now, last spot I want to take you to here, and that's 2 Samuel 23, verses 1-5. Among David's last words before he died, one of David's psalms that he wrote and spoke by the Holy Spirit What David is doing in this verse is David is praising God for the promise that the Messiah is going to come from His family. That's what this is about. And for time's sake, I want to bring you right down. You know what? You guys, you know, I got a lot more material to go. You know what? You can do what you want. I mean, if you have to leave, I'll understand that. We've got an hour right now. Let me tell you why I'm finishing, because as you may know, this could be the last sermon that I'm preaching, you know, with our move. So I've got to finish it. So if we get to 79 minutes at the end of the CD, it's time to put on another one. Chapter 23. These are the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, declares, The man who was raised on high declares..." Notice the Hebrew parallel structure. It repeats itself with different words. It's the same idea. David, the son of Jesse, declares, "...the man who was raised on high declares, the Mashiach of God, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel. The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me. Number two, His Word was on my tongue. Number three, the God of Israel said. Four, the rock of Israel spoke to me. He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises. A morning without clouds when the tender grass springs out of the earth through sunshine after the rain truly is not my house, so with God." What David is focusing on is God's promise to bring the Messiah, the ruler, from His family. And he says how beautiful this promise is. He has given me this promise. Verse 5, Is not my house so with God? For God has made an everlasting covenant with me. What is that covenant? He said, David, from your descendants will come Christ. He's going to be one of your descendants. An everlasting covenant He has made with me, ordered in all things and secured for all my salvation and all my desire." Now look at here, verse 5. Will He not indeed make it grow? Guess what the verb is here? The Hebrew verb is samach. Will God not indeed cause it to branch? In other words, this covenant that God has made with me, He has sworn to me that my child somewhere down the line, my descendant, is going to be God in human flesh who will rule forever. Will not God cause this promise to branch? And so what began to happen is that the people of God who had these promises took this promise that God was going to cause The Covenant promised to branch or to sprout, and they said, well, we'll just call him the branch. And so this expression, the branch is a messianic title that comes back in all likelihood right to this psalm right here. All of that to bring us back to Jeremiah 33. What does God say here in Jeremiah 33? Verse 15, in those days and at that time, God says, I will cause a righteous branch of David to spring forth and he will execute justice and righteousness on the earth, which speaks about the actions of this king. A third description, he will execute justice and righteousness, which is exactly what we need. Somebody who can rule righteously. That takes us to verse the next verse, and it speaks about the city that belongs to this great king, the city of the king. Notice here in verse 16. In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. God will never again let his people live in oppression from enemy powers. By the way, just in case you would ever think that that Israel already realized these promises. Some people say, well, you know, after the Jews got taken away by Babylon, what happened is, is that they got released from their Babylonian captivity 70 years later and they came back to the land. And so God fulfilled all those promises to them. Not. Go to Nehemiah 9, verse 36. They say, we're slaves on our land. The kings that are over us oppress us. And everything that we grow, they get it. We're slaves. They've never been free. They've never been autonomous. They've never had a king to be an autonomous, sovereign monarchy again. God says, I'm going to restore you one day. And here's what's going to happen. Verse 16, you're going to dwell in safety. Now look at the city here. And this is the name by which she will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. Now, I just want you to be aware of this when you look at chapter 23, verse five, and it says this is his name, Yahweh, our righteousness, the Lord, our righteousness here. It's not speaking directly about Christ, but it's speaking about his city. Jerusalem, his capital. This is the name by which she will be called. It is a feminine pronoun. This is the name by which she will be called. So closely identified as the king with his city that she even bears his name. Her name will be the Lord Our Righteousness. Are these staggering promises? You bet they are. That's why in verse 17, God says, For thus says the Lord, David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, God's promise here to David is this. David will never lack a man. Now you say to me, wait a minute. For the last 2600 years, David hasn't had a king sitting on the throne in Jerusalem. Well, you have to understand that when God makes this eternal covenant, that doesn't mean that there cannot be a period of chastisement before there is the final fulfillment of that eternal covenant. Matter of fact, if you go back to the Davidic Covenant, when God spoke these promises, God said, look, if your descendants sin, I will chastise them. And that's exactly what happened is the nation has been experiencing 2600 years of God's spankings. But God says, I am going to restore you. And in the end, he says there will be an eternal dynasty and David will never again lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel. Furthermore, not only will the king be ruling on the throne, but guess what? The king will have a companion as well. And you know who that companion is? It's a priesthood. Look at verse 18. And the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to prepare bloody sacrifices continually. It doesn't say bloody, but it's the word zevak. Blood sacrifices. You know what God says? God says when the New Covenant finds its fulfillment, not only will David be ruling in Jerusalem, but guess what? There's going to be a restored Levitical priesthood. Offering sacrifices and a temple. Burnt offerings. Rain offerings. Blood sacrifices. And you say, wait a minute. No, that doesn't fit my theology. Because Jesus Christ is the final sacrifice. And so it's impossible that there could ever be a sacrificial system again that doesn't fit my theology. Well, I guess your theology needs to change. That's what I would say. Now, I mean, if it's different when it when it comes about and actually, you know, God doesn't do this, I guess, you know, I'll have to say, well, I'm sorry, Lord, I was wrong about that interpretation. But if we want to take the language for what it says, God says there is going to be a restored Levitical priesthood and they will be carrying out sacrifices. Bear in mind that it is not because the law of Moses has been reinstituted. The law of Moses is gone. This is the new covenant. But what God says is there is going to be restored priesthood. Charles Dyer says the promise here was that the Levitical priesthood would not be extinguished. God was referring back to his promise that he made to them. By the way, in Numbers chapter twenty-five, God made a promise to Phinehas and said,