City houses are being destroyed by those who came to fight the enemies. Is this not an image of how often human efforts lead to results directly opposite to what was intended? Those who would like to protect actually ruin, because they are guided by limited human ideas. But the One who warned the people about the threat of destruction wants to save them from it. Just when the disasters He foretold begin to fall on sinners, He confirms that the hour will come when the good word He spoke about the people will be fulfilled.

Against the background of the promises of the people's future joyful life in unity with the Lord, revealed through prophecy, the promise to raise up a righteous Branch for the house of David stands out. It must have been hard for Jeremiah's contemporaries, and for Jeremiah himself, to imagine that this did not refer to an earthly king. But for a long time now there have been no kings on Israel's throne, nor do Levites offer sacrifices in the Jerusalem Temple; for almost two thousand years even the Temple itself has been gone.

But for those who believe that the word of the Lord is unshakable, historical circumstances do not cancel the deep fulfillment of the prophecy. For the reign of the only King, who made the chief sacrifice in the universe, cannot cease.

Today the prophet speaks about something that is usually very hard for us to understand: God's faithfulness to us. We are always inclined to perceive God as anything at all except a loving Father. And if we do speak about His faithfulness, we understand by it either His readiness to punish any disobedience, or, on the contrary, a pretext for our permissiveness.

In this same chapter, on the streets of deserted Jerusalem, on the eve of the city's capture, Jeremiah recognizes His faithfulness as the irrevocability of His love, the irrevocability of His promises to people. For many of Jeremiah's contemporaries, God's faithfulness meant that God would preserve Jerusalem in any case for the sake of the Temple; but the prophet sees something else: the Lord will preserve the remnant of the people not for the sake of the Temple, but for the sake of His love, for the sake of the promise given to David.

The people need a leader—a true leader appointed by God. And so, in the days when Jerusalem and the whole Davidic dynasty are perishing, the prophet promises that God will preserve a “Branch”—a descendant of David who will lead the renewed kingdom. Historically this will not happen: even after the exile, Judah will no longer be an independent kingdom (apart from a few years under the Maccabean dynasty). But alongside outward, “great” history there is another history, in which faith sees more deeply than ordinary knowledge. This prophecy will not be forgotten; it will become messianic, referring to the coming King who will not only save Judah and lead it to God, but will become the Light of the world and the Hope of all nations.