The Eternal Covenant With Levi (3)

For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers(Jer. 33:17-21).

The question that was submitted with this text is: "How has the promise to the Levites been fulfilled?"

We ended our discussion of this passage from Jeremiah in the last News by pointing out that the promise of God is really a promise of the full realization of His covenant of grace; that, indeed, the text itself speaks of God’s covenant, though it refers to God’s covenant with the creation. We also noticed that God reveals to Judah that the covenant rests upon His faithfulness and His work. Just as man is unable to break God’s covenant of the day and of the night, so man is unable to break God’s covenant with His people. Hence, His promise to restore the monarchy of David and the priesthood of Levi will surely be fulfilled.

What a great comfort that was to Judah and is to us! Judah was unfaithful. The nation broke God’s covenant and worshipped idols. The nation brought upon itself the fierce wrath of God resulting in the captivity. From every human point of view, that was the end of the nation. But God is faithful. He will not forget His covenant. He maintains it as surely as He maintains the cycle of day and night in the creation!

So also for us the same is true. Many want to make God’s covenant with His people a conditional covenant. In that case, the realization of God’s covenant rests upon our fulfillment of the conditions attached to the covenant. How utterly hopeless! How hopeless for Judah about to go to captivity as the just reward of their terrible sins. How hopeless for us who always transgress God’s covenant and make ourselves unworthy of His blessing! But God maintains His covenant! That is the great theme of this text.

What is that final fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah—of which we have spoken so frequently? The prophecy is specifically said to be "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel" (17); and, "Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually" (18). In other words, there will be an everlasting establishment of the throne of David and an everlasting restoration of the Levitical priesthood.

It is clear that this fulfillment takes place in the coming and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is this so strange? Was this so strange to the elect in Judah? That remnant who looked with longing to the day when the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent? Was it strange to that small number of elect who knew that their full salvation had to come from God alone?

The Scriptures are clear that Christ is the fulfillment of this promise. Christ is the fulfillment of the promise made to David: "Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant ... Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven" (Ps. 89:19-20, 27-29).

And then we read these glorious words of God’s faithfulness in contrast to our unfaithfulness: "If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. [This threat, for Judah, was the captivity.] Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon [cf. God’s covenant with the day and with the night, in Jeremiah 33:20], and as a faithful witness in heaven" (Ps. 89:30-37).

No wonder the angel Gabriel, in informing Mary that she was to be the mother of Christ, said to her, "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:30-33).

The prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled in the coming of Christ! In Him God establishes the heavenly kingdom of which Judah was but a dim picture.