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Hello! I hope you were able to dig a little deeper into Jeremiah 33:14-26 this past week. As I studied, the Spirit overwhelmed me with two themes: God’s covenants with the Jewish people and Isaiah’s mention of the “righteous Branch” from David’s bloodline. Read on to see what I mean.

Last Week’s Work

REPETITION

The two repeated concepts I noticed were promise/covenant and righteous/righteousness. It seems this passage speaks mostly to the LORD’s intentions to keep His promises to Israel, Judah, David, and the Levitical priests. I can’t wait to learn more about Jeremiah and his audience so I can piece together why the LORD felt compelled to reassert these promises to them at this time.

SPECIAL STATEMENTS

The only special statements I could see this past week were promises! I counted thirteen in the twelve verses we’re studying! But I feel the Spirit most drawing me to the five in vv15-16:

1. The name by which it will be called [is] the LORD is our righteousness.
   I’m still hoping to identify what it is in this context!
2. [The LORD] will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David;
3. [That branch] will execute justice and righteousness in the land;
4. Judah will be saved;
5. Jerusalem will dwell securely;

LISTS

Related to the list of promises above, I observed and numbered a list of six covenants the LORD described as follows:

1. With the houses of Israel and Judah for a righteous Branch from David to spring up in the coming days;
2. With David, that he would not lack a son to sit on Israel’s throne;
3. With the Levitical priests, that they would never lack a man for offerings and sacrifices;
4. With the day to come at the appointed time;
5. With the night to come at the appointed time;
6. With the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.

Dig-In Challenges

This week, let’s wrap up Step 3 by:

1. PRAYING the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
2. MINING comparisons by reading through the passage again, looking for statements of difference or similarity in or related to your focus verses. These may be statements featuring key words such as like, as, is, are, or of; qualitative comparisons indicating how one item is more or less than another; and/or contrasts which highlight or discuss how one concept differs from another.
3. MINING: Next, look for causes or motives by focusing on key words or phrases I call cause connectors. In the ESV translation of this study text, look for the connectors, for (where it means because), and so that in your focus verses, then check the text surrounding the connector for an action and the reason or explanation for that action. For example: in the sentence,
   I went to the store, for I was out of milk:
   the action = I went to the store     for [because]    the reason = I was out of milk.
   NOTE: the word for doesn’t always connect actions and reasons. To determine if it does in your verses, read the sentences containing it while substituting the word because in place of for. If the sentence(s) created from this exercise make(s) sense and mean(s) the same as the original, look for the action statement before the for and the stated reason after the for.
   With so that, you’ll also find the action first, but the sentence may be worded differently:
   I went to the store so that I could buy milk.
   The action = went to the store   and the reason = to buy milk.
4. MINING: Finally, see if you can find any conditions for action in this study text and/or descriptions of how action happens or should happen.
   – For example, does the text say if or when a certain condition exists, some action takes place?
   And/or
   – Does the author describe a method or process (for example, specific steps) taken to achieve something?
   Or
   – Does he indicate how action is accomplished more generally by or through attributes or actions (e.g., saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8))?
   Finally,
   – Does the text include any adverbs (typically words ending in ly) that describe how action happens?

These exercises are a bit more involved, but I’m confident you can do this with the Holy Spirit! Don’t forget to check your How to Dig Into Scripture Ourselves guide, and you can always reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions.