First Advent

The word Advent is defined as the beginning of an event or the coming of a person. Today and for the upcoming Sundays in December, we will be celebrating Advent which is the coming of Christ to this earth.

Like the church today, many in the nation of Israel, are waiting for the Messiah who will come in glory to accomplish His eternal plan and set up His kingdom.

Historically, the first two Advents Sundays point to Christ’s second coming and the 2nd two Advents point back to Christ’s first coming. In our text which was written around 624 BC, the OT prophet Jeremiah wrote about Christ’s second coming as the Messiah.

12 “This is what the Lord of armies says: ‘There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or animal, and in all its cities, a pasture for shepherds who rest their flocks. 13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them,’ says the Lord.

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 make a righteous Branch of David sprout; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which it will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.’ 17 For this is what the Lord says: David shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; (Jeremiah 33: 12-17, NASB).

In this prophetic passage Jeremiah is addressing:

• The Present Reality

• Facing Reality with Faith

• Facing the Future by Faith

The Present Reality

Jeremiah lived through an agonizing time in the history of ancient Israel. The nation over time had rejected the Word of God and had become morally & spiritually destitute. The people had gone far from the Lord and had assimilated other religious worldviews into their worship with disastrous consequences.

According to biblical archeology, the nation was engaged in incredibly evil practices such as worshipping demons, engaging in perverted acts, and sacrificing humans to other gods, even in the house of God. God described His people as sick and their wound, which they inflicted upon themselves, incurable, spiritually as well as physically.

In fact, the Lord brought judgment on Israel in 722 BC by raising up a cruel king from Assyria to take them into captivity, yet the two southern tribes of Israel, Judah and Benjamin still didn’t take it to heart.

But God called Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet,” to speak to the nation.

If you read through the book of Jeremiah you will see it wasn’t easy for him to walk in obedience to what God told him to say to the people of Israel. He was constantly persecuted for his message:

• He was plotted against (Jeremiah 18:18; 12:6);

• whipped and put in stocks by the temple leaders (Jeremiah 20:2);

• accused of treason, sedition, and desertion (Jeremiah 26; 37:11–16);

• imprisoned in the bottom of a well (Jeremiah 38:1–13); and then

• held under arrest in the courtyard of the guard (Jeremiah 38:14–28).

The palace officials and the priests didn’t like his message and wanted him dead. There were times when he felt abandoned by God, times he prayed that God would take vengeance on his enemies, times he questioned the goodness and constancy of God in the face of his suffering. Yet he continued to speak the truth.

Jeremiah knew their present situation was only going to get worse, he knew the horrors they would experience at the hands of the Babylonians. From chapters 1-29 he prophesied doom and gloom and so, of course, they didn’t want to hear it, but this was their present reality.

But finally in chapters 30 - 33, we see a ray of hope for God’s people. God was saying what you are experiencing and will experience is not the end of the story.

Just like in Jeremiah’s time, we are to face our present reality with a future hope. We may never find out the reasons (in this lifetime) why God allows natural evils like volcanic eruptions in the Canary Islands and wildfires in California and Australia, or the current worldwide Covid pandemic to occur and why this is part of our present reality.

We may not understand why He would allow moral evils such as division amongst the brethren in a church or allowing a tyrannical government to rule over a nation. But we can be sure that

and in the midst of turmoil and judgment on the nations or judgment on His own church, we can still trust in His goodness, justice and steadfast love for us.

Facing Reality with Faith

When we speak of faith, we are not referring to some abstract belief in a higher power or merely talking about faith in faith, in a creed or a movement, but we are speaking about a reasonable, well-founded faith in an all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present, perfectly just, holy, loving God.

God wants us to face our present reality and learn to trust Him with an ever- deepening faith. It is only through faith that we can see and trust Him for the bigger picture.

It is only by faith that we can understand the greater, higher, and eternal purpose for why He allows events to occur in our lives and around us.

Jesus had to come first to make things right between humanity and the Lord, He had to pay for the sin of the world.

He made it possible for everyone to experience the first advent. He is coming a second time to bring perfect justice, to put all things in order, and to restore all of creation back into right relationship with God, by making all things new. This type of faith is what makes people around us stand up and take notice.

In vs 6-11, God told His people He would bring health and healing, abundant peace, prosperity, security, and stability, and the truth. He will cleanse them from their sin and guilt and heal their incurable sickness. This reconciliation to God was not just referring to their spiritual restoration but that they would be restored holistically as a nation.

Jeremiah could face his present situation because he had faith in what God was going to do in the future. God wants us to live in the reality of our times and be our stability in these times of instability. He doesn’t want us to live in denial, spiritualize these things away, or run from it but He wants us to face our present reality with faith in Him.

While we wait for God’s answer He is saying: in every situation call out to Me.

even when it goes against conventional wisdom, even when you can’t see the answer yet or know when or how I will fulfill my promises.

Facing the Future by Faith

God promised that “in those days,” which is yet to come, I will gather those who were scattered and they will find rest and will count them like sheep (v. 13). In other words, sometime in the future, after the exile, after they return, after they become a nation, God will gather all those who placed their faith in Him from the beginning of time - not one will be forgotten, missing or lost, they will be all be under His personal care.  Verse 14 says,

‘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’ (Jeremiah 33:14).

God revealed the greatest promise of all to humankind through the prophet Jeremiah: the Advent of the Messiah. The righteous Branch of David is coming and He will rule this earth in perfect righteousness and with perfect justice forever and ever.

For this is what the Lord says: David shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; (Jeremiah 33:17)

Even while Jeremiah witnessed the kings of Judah fall and watched their kingdoms crumble, God made a promise, “Behold the day is coming when a King from the line of David will reign and restore His scattered and broken people.” The branch of righteousness, our righteousness from David's lineage is Jesus the Messiah who one day will reign in righteousness and judgment on His throne forever.

This was their great expectation - that a righteous King would come and set things right. Through this future King Jesus Christ, the promise of the new covenant will be fulfilled at just the right time in history through His atoning sacrifice.

Our sin was comprehensively dealt with by God’s grace and mercy because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. He came first to set people's hearts right with God, for any who humbled themselves and believed there was Healing and reconciliation in our relationship to God was accomplished.

Many are asking what does the future hold? We can make our plans but there are no guarantees in this life...except one; God will accomplish His good purposes and He will accomplish it in His own time and by His power. He knows what’s best for us and His will and timing is always perfect.

When Jesus comes to the earth the second time and sets up His Kingdom,

there will be no more sin, no more evil, no more sorrow, no more death. That is why in the Millennial, the only offerings and sacrifices will be a thanks offering.

There will be no need for a sin offering because He was the perfect once and for all offering for our sins. We can place our faith in this future hope because Christ will return. We can face the future with faith in our God. 

For those of us who have placed our faith in Christ, this season serves as a reminder to keep trusting God and walking by faith in our present situation as we look forward to the second Advent; His second coming.