Saturday after Populus Sion, The Second Sunday in Advent
Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-26 (NKJV)
14 “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD 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 nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.'”
19 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'”
23 Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.
25 “Thus says the Lord: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26 then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.'”
Devotion
The Lord God tells Jeremiah to say to Israel a promise: “If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne.” In other words, this promise will not be broken. The Lord God will redeem His people Israel.
“Behold, the days are coming.” The days are coming when our Lord Jesus Christ will come again in power and great majesty and judge both the quick and the dead. His Advent—His coming—is near. It is at the gates; it comes quickly. Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion, for your redemption draws near. Our Lord Jesus is coming soon. And all of the troubles of this life will cease, and we will be with Him, and all the saints, for all eternity. Behold—look up; pay attention—the Day of our Lord is fast approaching.
This is what the season of Advent is all about: our Lord’s coming. For the Israelites it was the coming of the Messiah. And we will celebrate His birth in a couple of weeks, the event for which the Israelites were waiting. He comes to us each week in His Word spoken and in the Sacrament administered. And He will come again on the Last Day to judge both the quick and the dead.
During this Advent we wait for our Lord to come. But, in this expectation, we rejoice, for His promise cannot be broken. He will come. He has redeemed us. We have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. Rejoice in this this, O Believer.
