God’s Promises Never Fail: Biblical Perspective on Current Events
By Dr. Brandon Steenbock, Family Minister
Jeremiah 33:14 – “Look, the days are coming” – this is the Lord’s declaration – “when I will fulfill the good promise that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
You can picture it: The prophet Jeremiah, looking wise and calm in his prophetic garb (a comfortable brown robe, with a nice colored sash for a belt, I assume), standing on a rock or a hillside, looking up into the sky and speaking these words of God’s promise, while the people sit and nod warmly. The perfect scene for a Gospel proclamation, as the people hear and believe the Word of the Lord.
But that scene is a fantasy. Here’s the real scene: The armies of the Babylonians have surrounded the city of Jerusalem, after laying waste to the Judean countryside. Nebuchadnezzar has learned of King Zedekiah’s attempts to politically maneuver against the Babylonians by playing the Egyptians against them, all while claiming fealty to Nebuchadnezzar. The plot has failed, and Jerusalem is falling. People’s houses are being torn apart, and the lumber and stones are used to shore up defenses against the Babylonian invaders. Fires are burning everywhere.
And Jeremiah is on the ground in the courtyard of the King’s palace, in chains because he dared speak the Word of the Lord against Zedekiah.
In the midst of this, God sends Jeremiah this message. It is a message of hope, a message of deliverance to come, a message that, although everything seems bleak, God will restore the fortunes of Judah. What time does this message point to?
It’s typical of God’s prophecies – first, he points to the restoration he will bring after the exile. The people will return, the land will be restored, the nation will thrive again. But woven into the prophecy is a bigger picture, the picture of God’s ultimate salvation to be found in Jesus. As you continue from verse 14, you read about the “righteous branch to sprout up from David,” the king who will come who will be called, “the Lord is Our Righteousness.” Some of the kings that come after the exile are good men, but none are righteous, none are the Lord himself.
Only Jesus.
It would be wonderful if all across our nation and our world today, we had men standing among the people in pastoral garb (whatever that is), looking up into the sky with peaceful faces, declaring the promises of God while people nod warmly. Yes, you see that here and there. But most of what we see on the news is not so beautiful.
Warfare and bloodshed. Violence, injustice, and murder. Angry people shouting across barricades, riots in the streets. Corruption and abuse, shameful words and shameful deeds among the leaders. And all too often, those who criticize are silenced. Maybe not put in chains, but at least put in social media jail.
But the Word of the Lord is still there. It still offers hope and deliverance beyond all this trouble. There is a bigger picture than what we see in the news headlines. God is at work, and his salvation is coming. How do we know?
Because Jesus. Jesus was born, the “righteous branch” God spoke of to Jeremiah. He is “the Lord Our Righteousness,” the one whose perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection give us the righteousness we need to stand for a holy God. We have the promise of eternal life in a perfect world with him. After the violence. After the war. After the fires and terror have all ceased. When Jesus brings us out of our exile in a broken world, we will thrive. We will have peace.
So today, when you see the bad news, don’t spend time worrying about it. Acknowledge it, grieve it, pray about it. Then look past it. Not to a new president or a new policy that will fix things. None of those can give us the righteousness and peace we need.
Only Jesus. So look to him.