“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’”

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Sometimes you just have to make a Star Wars reference. If you are a fan of the movie series set in “A time long ago in a galaxy far, far away…” you know that Episode IV--A New Hope was the first Star Wars movie and was released in 1977. (We don’t want to know that you weren’t born at that time. We get it. We’re old. But we got to see A New Hope in the theater when it first came out, so who’s really the winner here?)

The Empire is gaining strength as it acquires the ultimate weapon, the Death Star. No planet is safe as The Empire expands its power and rule. If only there were a resistance movement that could stop the powerful forces of Darth Vader, then maybe we could turn the tide of evil. As it happened, there was just such a rebel resistance movement and a powerful Jedi leader. “You’re our only hope Obi Wan.”

And that is the story of Jeremiah the prophet. I mean, without the spaceships and light sabers and a brother kissing his sister. Well, I can’t say for sure there wasn’t a brother kissing his sister, but definitely no spaceships and light sabers.

Jeremiah was a prophet during some of the darkest days in the history of God’s people. Their hearts were turned away from God. The Babylonians were attacking neighboring countries, including God’s people, as they expanded their reign. Jeremiah’s message was that soon Judah would fall to Babylon and all of God’s people would be taken captive by “The Empire.” Soon, the place they called home would belong to someone else.

As Jeremiah is proclaiming this message to anyone who would listen, God makes a strange request of the prophet. In Jeremiah 32, God tells Jeremiah to buy a piece of property. Not beachfront property. Not a vacation home away from all of the conflict. Just a plain piece of property in a land that Jeremiah himself had been telling everyone would soon belong to the Babylonians.

Who does that? Why would anyone do that? Why would anyone buy a piece of property that they know will soon belong to someone else? One word: hope. Hope in the God who brings beauty to desolate places. Hope in the God who creates springs in the dry places. Hope in the God who causes flowers to grow in the desert places. Hope that the God who was with Jeremiah in the broken places would one day restore the brokenness and make all things new.



Jeremiah saw even beyond his own time and circumstances. Jeremiah knew that humanity needed more than land and more than a country. People needed a righteous Savior. People needed a perfect King and a perfect Priest. So he declared:

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’”

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Although life is hard right now, Jeremiah declared God is not finished. God is not done. The desolate places are where a new branch will sprout. Where there is death, something will come to life. A new hope will be born.

So the people waited. And waited. And waited.

Advent is the season of waiting. In this season we join with our spiritual ancestors to remember what it must have been like to wait for the fulfillment of “the good promise.” You may be waiting for something right now. Waiting for news. Waiting for a relationship to be restored. Waiting for life to get better. Waiting for the pain to go away.

If you’re waiting, then you can understand Advent. Know that God is always at work in the waiting. God is always fulfilling “the good promise.” At Christmas we celebrate God’s ultimate work of restoration through Jesus, born as a baby in Bethlehem. A new hope has come. Even in the waiting.

Ken Sirmans