First Sunday in Advent: Old Testament, Jeremiah 33:14-16                 

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Here we begin once again a new church year. And the voice which rings through our first meditation, our first preparation if you will, is that of dear old Jeremiah. “The weeping prophet,” as he is known, declares here with a somewhat uncharacteristic joy, that God will come and rebuild what has been lost through disobedience and judgment.

God assures His people that the promises He has made to them will indeed be fulfilled. For both the houses of Israel and Judah, promises that they will be rebuilt in the same fashion as they began. Clean. Innocent. With the voice of mirth ringing in the people’s ears. Jerusalem will receive a new name and it is the very name of the Lord. “....it will be called: ‘The LORD our righteousness.’”

You see the cleanness of the city and consequently its people will not be a cleanness of their own effort. But it will be by the hand of the LORD. His righteousness and blessedness will be theirs. And by extension ours. In the book of Revelation the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven looking like a bride adorned for her husband. We, the people of God, are that city. We are righteous in His righteousness, and in that alone.

That’s good news. Good news for a new year. God be praised!