Betrayals

by: Michael Wilcock

The darkness would deepen throughout Jeremiah’s life. But here he is shown the light at the end of the tunnel.

For three chapters (21 through 23) he has to condemn first the remaining kings of Judah, and then its prophets, for having repeatedly betrayed their trust. It is those betrayals that are about to bring catastrophe upon the nation.

But one day the Lord will bring his people home from the darkness of exile. God speaks about that return with three kinds of picture language. New “shepherds” will care for them, with himself as the chief Shepherd (vv. 3 and 4). The “tree” of David’s royal family will sprout a new Branch, to rule them in a new golden age (v. 5). And the tragic figure of Zedekiah, last king of Judah, points to the day when his name – in Hebrew sadik (“righteous”) + Yah (“Lord”) – will come true in the person of a new King, “The Lord our righteousness” (v. 6).

In the midst of darkness and betrayal Jeremiah speaks of a wonderful future. We cannot second-guess God’s methods and timings; we are seldom told in advance the “how” and the “when.” Judah’s exile would end 70 years later (that he did tell them), but it would be 600 years before the promised King would appear, and 2,000 years after that we still do not see all the promises fulfilled.

But they will be.