When we look at the headlines, it’s hard to see how Jesus could be the one Whose coming Jeremiah foretold in chapter 33. If He’s the righteous Branch, the Son of David, then where’s the justice and the righteousness on the earth (Jeremiah 33:15)? If He’s the One Who sits on the throne of the house of Israel (Jeremiah 33:17), why haven’t our fortunes been restored (Jeremiah 33:26)?

And this question was just as urgent for the generation that experienced Jesus’ earthly ministry. For even though they recognized Him to be the Messiah, the Son of David (Matthew 21:9), He did not even try to lead a rebellion against the Romans. Instead, He allowed them to crucify Him. And only 40 years after He died, the Romans not only crushed a revolt the Jews mounted against them, but went so far as to tear down the Temple of God. That meant the Levitical priests would never again be able to offer sacrifices to God, in spite of Jeremiah’s promises (Jeremiah 33:18). So how could Jesus possibly have fulfilled all these prophecies?

In the first place, we need to remember that, in peering hundreds of years into the future, the Old Testament prophets sometimes conflated the events of Jesus’ first coming with that of His second, much as mountain peaks, which look adjacent to each other when seen from a distance, can actually be separated by valleys miles and miles across. Yes, Jesus will execute justice and righteousness on the earth – but principally when He comes again, just as He predicted in Matthew 26:64. Until that time, we have to wait and trust His promises, just as the people of Jeremiah’s day had to do.

But there’s another sense in which Jesus has already fulfilled so many of Jeremiah’s prophecies, not in a physical but in a spiritual sense. For Jesus already rules and reigns, with all authority in Heaven and on Earth already given into His hands (Matthew 28:18). And as our Great High Priest, He has offered up a complete and perfect sacrifice for all who trust in Him (Hebrews 9:24-26; 10:10), enabling us to draw near to God, even into the Holy Place (Hebrews 10:19-22), which no one of Jeremiah’s generation could hope to do.

So, while we wait for Christ to reveal Himself to the whole world in power and purity, let us go on trusting in His promises, just as His people had to do in the days of Jeremiah. For God’s promise to bless us through His Messiah is as fixed and unchanging as the stars themselves (Jeremiah 33:25-26).

Jeremiah 33:14-26 (NASB)

14 ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.
16 ‘In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she shall be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’
17 “For thus says the LORD, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;
18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to prepare sacrifices continually.'”
19 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
20 “Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day, and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time,
21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.
22 ‘As the host of heaven cannot be counted, and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'”
23 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24 “Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them’? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight.
25 “Thus says the LORD, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established,
26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.'”