Hope (Jeremiah 33:14-16)

Not too long ago, before digital technology, if we were taking a photograph, we would need to load film into a camera, take the shot, wait until we had filled the roll of film, take the film to a chemist or some other place to be developed, and then wait at least a few more days before we would finally see the photo. There would sometimes be significant amounts of time between taking a picture and seeing the result. During that time, we needed to wait to see the photo and hope that it was a good picture.

Many stories in the Bible are about people who were waiting and hoping for something good to come. For example, this week’s Old Testament reading from Jeremiah 33:14-16 was written to people who were being called to wait in hope for someone to save them. They were living in Jerusalem roughly two and a half thousand years ago and were under siege by the Babylonian Empire which was the greatest superpower of that time and place. They had surrounded Jerusalem and were slowly starving the people who lived in the city into submission before destroying it. In the chapters of Jeremiah around this passage, the prophet passed on God’s promises of peace and prosperity for the future. Even while they were living with the threat of destruction by a foreign army, God promised to rescue them, restore them, and renew their lives. In chapter 33:14-16, God promised to raise up a king from among David’s descendants who would ‘do what is just and right throughout the land’ (v15 NLT) so the people of Jerusalem could live in safety and the nation of Judah which surrounded it could be rescued from those who threatened to destroy it.

The Saviour Jeremiah promised didn’t come straight away. Instead, Jerusalem was destroyed and its inhabitants were taken to Babylon as slaves (which is where the stories of Daniel and Esther are set). However, those who heard God’s promises of a Saviour through Jeremiah and believed them found hope. While they waited for God to keep his promise and send a descendent of David to save them, his people lived in hope, even when it seemed like there was no hope at all.

This waiting in hope continued until the time of Jesus, about five hundred years later. Instead of being under siege from the Babylonian army, Jerusalem and Judea were under the rule of the Roman Empire. The Romans didn’t destroy the city like the Babylonians or take the Jews to a foreign country as slaves, but, like the Babylonians, they were a foreign power that exercised control through military force and violence. Like any invading army, they took away peoples’ freedom and put down any rebellion with brutal force. Like their ancestors, the Jews of Jesus’ time knew Jeremiah’s prophecy of a Saviour who would come from the family line of David, would ‘do what was just and right throughout the land’, would save the people of Judea and bring safety to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Like their ancestors before them, they waited in hope for the coming of the promised Messiah.

When the Messiah for whom they were waiting and hoping arrived, however, he was not what they expected. Instead of establishing a political kingdom through force and violence, he proclaimed a spiritual kingdom of peace and love. Jesus wasn’t a Messiah who raised an army to fight against injustice and oppression. Instead, he did what was just and right by suffering injustice and oppression with his people and giving his life for us on the cross. Jesus didn’t save the people of Judah by driving out the Roman armies but by being crucified so we can live as God’s dearly loved children in a new relationship with him and each other. Jesus brought safety to God’s people by being the presence of almighty God with us in everything that happens in life, by overcoming everything that threatens us by dying on the cross, and filling us with his resurrection life which is stronger than death.

This kind of Saviour doesn’t make a lot of sense from a worldly point of view. Like the inhabitants of Jerusalem who faced the Babylonian and Roman armies, we tend to want a Saviour who will drive out our enemies through strength and force. However, Jesus, the descendant of David that Jeremiah talked about, comes to us to exercise his authority through grace and love, giving himself and his life for us to set us free, and protecting us from everything that threatens us, harms us or would take life from us. Jesus is the Saviour for whom we wait, even during the toughest times, and as we wait for him, we find hope.

Thankfully, we don’t face the might of foreign armies or the threat of a prolonged siege like the people of Jerusalem. We live in a peaceful nation which is not experiencing conflict like many other parts of the world. However, we still face enemies which threaten our freedom and safety. These enemies which can lay siege to our lives and threaten our wellbeing can include depression, anxiety or addiction. There can be times when we are surrounded by fear, guilt or shame like a besieging army with seemingly no escape. Loneliness, isolation, grief or loss can wage war on our hearts and souls like an invading army. When we face enemies like these, Jeremiah speaks to us over the centuries to promise us that God will send a descendant of King David who will ‘do what is just and right’ for us too. He will rescue us from our battles, keep us safe from everything that oppresses us or makes war against us, and he will deliver us from everything that wants to take life from us. Like the Jewish people at the times of both Jeremiah and Jesus, we might not see it happen immediately, but as surely as Jesus gave his life for us on the cross and is risen again to give us life, he is coming to do everything God promised through Jeremiah. And like the people of Jeremiah’s and Jesus’ times, we can find hope in God’s promises to save us and keep us safe.

It can be hard to imagine what it was like to wait weeks before seeing a photo we had taken when now it happens instantly on our phones or digital cameras. In a world where we aren’t used to waiting, it can be difficult for us to wait in hope for God to keep his promises, to send us a Saviour ‘who will do what is just and right’ for us, to save us and keep us safe. As we begin the season of Advent, we hear the good news that God has already sent us David’s descendent, Jesus, to save us. The day will come when he will fully deliver us and keep us safe from everything that threatens us and our lives. At times we can wonder why God hasn’t already done what he promised and what we hope he will do. Advent is a time of waiting for God to complete his saving work in our lives through Jesus, either in this life or the next. Like the Jewish people in the times of Jeremiah and Jesus, as we wait in faith-filled expectation for God to keep his promises to us in Jesus, we can find hope to sustain us.

More to think about or discuss:

• What is something you can wait for? How does waiting for something also help you find hope as you wait for it?
• What might be an ‘enemy’ that you face? How can Jeremiah’s promise that Jesus will come to do what is just and right, to save you and keep you safe, give you hope?
• How can finding hope by trusting God to keep his promises to you in Jesus help you in your life? How might you be able to share that hope with someone else?