David Their King

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 30:8-11

Jeremiah, known as the “weeping prophet,” conveyed a bleak and harsh message to the people of Israel. His warnings were so dire that the elders, priests, and false prophets inflicted enormous pressure on him to revise what he was preaching. Like all the prophets, if you listened closely to his preaching, you would hear the soft ringing of the bells of hope.

Jeremiah chapters 30 and 31 are examples of that hope. The Babylonian captivity wasn’t the last word. Although it seemed as though there could be no coming back from the destruction inflicted upon them, God promised to break the yoke of the oppressor and set the people of God free.

Also, in harmony with the other prophets, Jeremiah tied deliverance and hope to the future Messiah, the coming David. When the LORD says in 30:9 that He would raise up David their king, he doesn’t mean that He was going to resurrect David to resume his throne and rule over Israel again.

One reason we know this is because Jeremiah gives a similar promise in 23:5-6:

Behold the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our righteousness.

The “righteous Branch” is Jesus, the David raised up by the Lord, our righteousness, and the Lord whom we serve in freedom. When we feel discouraged by the bad news and hopeless prospects of this world, we can take refuge in Jesus, our King and our source of hope. Our hope does not lie in the political structures and powerbrokers of this world, but in Jesus, who will reign, and we will be free.