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 will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.’ 17 For thus says the Lord, ‘[g]David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 [h]and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices [i]continually.’”
19 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 so that he will 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 [j]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 [k]in their sight. 25 Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the [l]fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, 26 then I would reject the [m]descendants of Jacob and David My servant, [n]not taking from his [o]descendants rulers over the [p]descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their [q]fortunes and will have mercy on them.’”
This is a bit of an odd passage, in that there are things here that seem like they could never come true. And in that line of thought, some question whether this passage is original to Jeremiah since it is not found in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament scriptures from 300-200 BC).
Take for example, this idea that the Levites should never lack a man to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices. Well, that seems fine, perhaps that will be restored when the temple is restored in the last days. But why would they offer sacrifices to God after Jesus already paid the ultimate sacrifice once and for all? Perhaps they might do it for a short time, but certainly God wouldn’t expect the Jews to continue offering sacrifices for all time (continually)?
As some have said, it may even be considered an abomination to do such a thing after Jesus sacrificed Himself in our place. So what then? Well, we might look to the writings in the book of Hebrews (especially chapter 5), where Jesus has become our high priest forever. He was also of the Davidic line, so he easily fulfills that part.
Whatever the case, there is something even more important here, though it is displayed in the eternal nature of Christ’s atonement for us. Which is that God’s covenant and promises are forever. God says plainly, if you can stop the night and the day, then my covenant may be broken. But we can’t, and by that token God tells us that He is faithful, both now, and for eternity. Not just for a little while, not just for the Jews, not just for Judah or Jerusalem, but for all of us and for all time.
He is the ultimate promise keeper, and thus we are also secure in his hands just as (v. 16) He said of Judah. And just as they would be known by the name “The Lord is our righteousness”, so can we be known, now that Jesus has become our righteousness–without us needing to offer up grain or cattle or lambs. His sacrifice was perfect and complete, and He had mercy on us (v. 26) even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Put your trust in the solid unshakable foundation of God’s unchanging love, and dwell in the safety of His mighty hands.