Scripture Daily

Context No. 73 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 33:10-16: in context

10The LORD says: “Yet again there will be heard in this place, about which you say, ‘It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,’ 11the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Armies, for the LORD is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;’ who bring thanksgiving into the LORD’s house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to be reversed as at the first,” says the LORD. 12The LORD of Armies says: “Yet again there will be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of him who counts them,” says the LORD. 14“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. 15“In those days and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. He will execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. This is the name by which she will be called: The LORD our righteousness.”

Jeremiah is under arrest in the palace guardhouse, the Babylonian army is outside the walls, and the city is going to fall. This passage belongs to the promise section written from inside that siege, and it starts by quoting what people are saying out loud.

You say this place is a waste, without people and without animals, God says, and he does not correct them. It is true. Then he sets against it a sound. In these same streets there will again be the voice of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, and the voice of people carrying thank offerings into the house of the LORD. The promise is made of ordinary noise: weddings and errands, a wedding party in a street that currently has no one in it.

Then flocks passing again under the hands of the one who counts them, and a righteous Branch springing up for David. The promise is not that the ruin is unreal. It is that the silence is not the end of the recording. Jeremiah is told this while chained in a city about to be destroyed. What sound do I miss most in a place that has gone quiet, and can I say plainly that it is quiet and still expect the noise back?

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