Yirmiyahu 33 | The Eternal Dynasty of the House of David

In the book of Shmuel, God promised David an everlasting dynasty — a line of kings that would endure forever. Even if a king were to sin, God assured that while he might be punished, but would never cease of being king: "I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me; and should he do wrong, I will berate him with the rod of mortals and with human affliction. But My loyalties shall not move from him, as I removed them from Sha’ul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom will be ever steadfast before you, and your throne will be secure forever" (Shmuel II 7:14–16). The Kingdom of Yehuda stands on the brink of destruction, and it seems that this promise is not being fulfilled.

Throughout this period, Yirmiyahu warned the people of Yehuda that the eternity of the Temple, the city of Jerusalem, and the throne of David depended on their conduct, but they refused to listen. When the destruction struck, they were shaken. They raged against God, feeling that He had abandoned His promises, broken His covenant with the house of David, and forsaken the Temple and the priesthood. This is how God describes their complaint: "Have you not observed what this people have said? ‘The Lord has rejected these two families which He had once chosen’? They scorned My people, so that they will never again be a nation in their eyes" (Yirmiyahu 33:24).

Psalm 89 of Tehillim is devoted to this very claim. It opens with lofty proclamations of God’s covenant with David: "I have formed a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn to My servant David… I will not violate My covenant, nor alter what My lips have uttered" (Tehillim 89:4, 35). Yet only to accuse with rage: "But You – You have forsaken, You have spurned; You have grew furious at Your anointed… Where are Your loyalties of old, Lord, when You faithfully swore to David?" (Tehillim 89:39, 50). How can one respond to the psalm’s charge? Has God truly forsaken His covenant with the house of David?

This is precisely the role of the prophecy in our chapter. God emphasizes the eternal nature of His covenant with David and with the people of Israel, promising that the day will come when He will return the exiles and show them mercy: "This is what the Lord said: Only If I had no covenant with day and night, and if I had not established the laws of heaven and earth, would I reject the offspring of Yaakov and of David My servant, and not select any of his offspring as rulers over the offspring of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov – for I will bring them back from their captivity and have compassion for them" (Yirmiyahu 33:25–26). We must reread God’s promise to David. He pledged that David’s offspring would reign forever. This signifies eternity, but not continuity. The throne of David will never be replaced by another dynasty, and until the end of time, there will always be a king from David’s lineage. However, this does not mean that in every generation there will be a king upon the throne. There will be times when the throne stands empty, and in those times, we will pray for the return of a king from the house of David.

God remembers His covenant with David: "For this is what the Lord said: There will never cease to be someone of David’s line to sit upon the throne of the House of Israel" (Yirmiyahu 33:17). And so He promises: "In those days and in that time, I will make a righteous scion blossom forth from David, and he will dispense justice and righteousness in the land" (Yirmiyahu 33:15). The hope for a righteous king from the house of David has appeared earlier in the book, where we explained that the phrase “The Lord is our righteousness one” referred to Tzidkiyahu. Yirmiyahu invokes this name again to emphasize that the hope has remains alive. We continue to await a righteous king from David’s line who will fulfill this hope. Even in our own generation, there is no king from the house of David, and we continue to pray for the fulfillment of this prophecy: "In those days Yehuda will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell in safety, and this is He will call her: ‘The Lord is our righteousness one’" (Yirmiyahu 33:16).