Jeremiah 33:6-9

YHWH Confirms His Promise Of Future Restoration (Jeremiah 33:6).

These verses must be seen as being closely connected with Jeremiah 33:5 for it is in the light of the words there that these promises are made. Indeed there is a certain pattern here which partially parallels Jeremiah 33:5. Instead of broken down buildings there will in the future be plasters and healing, instead of dead bodies there will be an abundance of true peace and restoration, and instead of YHWH's anger over their sin they will receive cleansing and pardon. And the consequence of all this will be that YHWH's Name will be exalted among the nations. Nevertheless it is quite clear that in the case of each parallel the one must precede the other. The breaking down must precede the binding up, warfare must precede true peace. The lessons must first be learned through suffering, before the glory arises out of the ashes. But so wonderful will be what happens that it will be a deliverance beyond Jeremiah's, and the nation's, current understanding.

Jeremiah 33:6

“Behold, I will bring it a plaster and a healing,

And I will heal them,

And I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth,

And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return,

And will build them, as at the first,

And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity,

By which they have sinned against me,

And I will pardon all their iniquities,

By which they have sinned against me,

And by which they have rebelled against me.

And it will be to me for a name of joy (a joyous renown),

For a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth,

Who will hear all the good that I do to them,

And will fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it.”

YHWH promises that in days to come the wrecked and devastated Jerusalem, and the equally desolate Judah, will be brought back to health, bound up (covered with an effective plaster) and healed (compare Jeremiah 30:17), and that the people within it will themselves be healed, and will enjoy an abundance of ‘peace and truth' (‘genuine peace' rather than the kind of peace promised by the false prophets). Thus the city and the land, at present experiencing such despair and hopelessness, will once more be restored to life and vigour. For He will cause the captivity and exile of Judah and Israel to be reversed, with the result that their numbers will be built up in the land so that they will be as numerous as before.

Furthermore they will be cleansed from all their ‘iniquity' (the root means ‘to be bent') and will be pardoned from all their ‘iniquities' (the consequences of their being ‘bent' within) which assumes that they will have repented from their ‘sins' (their ‘coming short of the mark') with which they have sinned against Him. Note that this last is repeated twice. We can see from this how the depths of their sin is being emphasised. And it had all resulted from ‘rebellion' (hostility to God and His ways). But now their rebellion will be over and they will be cleansed and pardoned (as per the new covenant - Jeremiah 31:34). Thus both the depths of their sin and the greatness of their pardon is being emphasised.

And the consequence of YHWH's goodness to them will be that ‘all the nations' will fear and tremble as they see all that YHWH does for His people. They will realise that from then on they must treat them with care because they are YHWH's. And all that has happened will bring home to them the wonder of YHWH, His joyous renown, His praise and His glory. We may also justifiably see in this ‘fear and trembling' a reverent response of the nations to YHWH, another indication that finally people of all nations will turn to YHWH (compare Genesis 12:3).