The God Who Builds on Rubble Text: Jeremiah 30:18-22
Introduction: The Unshakeable Promise in a Shaken World
We come this morning to a passage of Scripture that is a defiant shout of hope in a world of ruins. The prophet Jeremiah ministered during the death throes of the kingdom of Judah. He saw the corruption, he warned of the coming judgment, and he wept as he watched the Babylonian armies surround and then destroy Jerusalem. From a human point of view, everything was lost. The city was a smoking heap, the temple was gone, the king was blinded and in chains, and the people were being marched off into a pagan land. It looked for all the world like God’s promises had failed, that the covenant was broken beyond repair, and that the story of Israel had come to a tragic and pathetic end.
And it is into that exact situation, that world of rubble and despair, that God speaks these words. This is not cheap optimism. This is not a pep talk. This is a sovereign declaration from the God who created the world out of nothing, the God who raises the dead. We live in a time of cultural disintegration. We see our own institutions crumbling, our heritage being mocked, and our faith treated as a public nuisance. It is very easy for Christians to adopt a siege mentality, to feel like exiles in our own land, to look at the ruins and despair. But we must not do that, because our God is a God who specializes in ruins. The gospel itself is the ultimate story of God building His glorious kingdom on the rubble of a crucifixion. This passage in Jeremiah is therefore not just a promise to ancient Israel; it is the grammar of redemption. It is the pattern of how God always works.
He does not promise to prevent the ruin. He promises to rebuild on top of it. He promises to take the very site of our greatest failure and shame and make it the location of His greatest triumph. This is a promise that should fill us with a rugged, joyful, and confident hope, not in our circumstances, but in the character of our God.
The Text
"Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will return the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have compassion on his dwelling places; And the city will be rebuilt on its ruin, And the palace will sit on its just place. From them will come forth thanksgiving And the voice of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them, and they will not decrease; I will also honor them, and they will not be insignificant. Their children also will be as formerly, And their congregation shall be established before Me; And I will punish all their oppressors. And their mighty one shall be one of them, And their ruler shall come forth from their midst; And I will bring Him near, and He shall approach Me; For who would dare to give his heart as security to approach Me?’ declares Yahweh. ‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’"
(Jeremiah 30:18-22 LSB)
The Divine Reversal (v. 18)
The promise begins with the bedrock of all reality: God’s own declaration.
"Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will return the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have compassion on his dwelling places; And the city will be rebuilt on its ruin, And the palace will sit on its just place.’" (Jeremiah 30:18)
Everything that follows rests on these first four words: "Thus says Yahweh." The hope is not grounded in the people's repentance or their inherent worthiness. They had none. The hope is grounded in the character and will of God. He is the one acting. "I will," He says. This is a unilateral, sovereign act of grace.
He promises to "return the fortunes." This is more than just bringing them back from Babylon. It is a complete reversal of their condition. The curse will be turned into a blessing. And notice the intimacy of it. He will have compassion on the "tents of Jacob" and his "dwelling places." God is not just restoring a geopolitical entity; He is restoring homes. He is concerned with the basic, fundamental unit of society, the family. A nation is a collection of households, and God’s restoration is always household-deep.
But the most stunning image is this: "the city will be rebuilt on its ruin." The Hebrew word for ruin here is "tel." An ancient city that was destroyed and rebuilt over and over would create a mound, a tel. God says He will build the new city right on top of the rubble of the old one. He doesn't move the project down the road to a clean lot. He redeems the very ground of the disaster. This is a profound picture of the gospel. God doesn't look at the ruin of your life and say, "Well, that's a lost cause. I'll have to start over with someone else." No, He comes to the tel of your sin, your shame, and your failure, and right there, on that very spot, He builds a holy temple for His own habitation. The cross was the ultimate tel, the place of ultimate ruin, and it is on that spot that God built the entire new creation.
And the palace, the seat of government, will be reestablished on its "just place," its mishpat. This means the civil order will be restored according to God's justice and righteousness. This is a promise of a restored, godly social order.
The Sound of Grace (v. 19)
What is the first result of this divine restoration? It is the sound of worship.
"From them will come forth thanksgiving And the voice of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them, and they will not decrease; I will also honor them, and they will not be insignificant." (Jeremiah 30:19)
The first fruit of grace is gratitude. The sound of weeping in exile is replaced by the sound of thanksgiving and celebration. True restoration is always liturgical. It results in a people whose hearts are overflowing with praise because they know they have been saved from a ruin they deserved. If there is no song in your heart, you have not yet understood the gospel.
And this restored community will be fruitful. "I will multiply them, and they will not decrease." This is a direct echo of the creation mandate in Genesis 1 and the covenant promises to Abraham. God is reaffirming His fundamental purpose for His people: to be fruitful, to grow, to fill the earth. This is the engine of a robust, optimistic, postmillennial eschatology. God’s kingdom is not destined to shrink into a beleaguered holy huddle. It is destined to grow. The Great Commission will be successful. God’s people will be multiplied, not diminished.
Furthermore, God will "honor them." They had become a byword, a reproach, a joke among the nations. God promises to restore their glory. This is fulfilled ultimately in the Church, which is honored above all earthly institutions as the bride of Christ, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Covenant Continuity and Divine Justice (v. 20)
The promise extends to future generations and includes a warning to God's enemies.
"Their children also will be as formerly, And their congregation shall be established before Me; And I will punish all their oppressors." (Jeremiah 30:20)
"Their children also will be as formerly." This is a promise of covenant succession. God’s covenant is generational. He deals with us not as isolated individuals, but as families, as households. The restoration He promises is not a one-generation flash in the pan. It is a stable, enduring reality that is to be passed down from father to son. This is why we baptize our children, bringing them into the visible covenant community, because God’s promises are for us and for our children.
Their "congregation," the gathered assembly of God's people, will be "established" before Him. This speaks of the permanence and security of the Church. Jesus said the gates of Hell would not prevail against it, and this is the same promise. The Church is not a fragile experiment; it is an established kingdom.
But grace to God's people always means judgment for those who set themselves against God's people. "I will punish all their oppressors." God is not a passive observer of injustice. He is a righteous judge and a fierce defender of His bride. This is a great comfort to the persecuted and a stark warning to the persecutors. To touch the church is to touch the apple of God’s eye.
The One Who Dares Approach (v. 21)
Now the prophecy zooms in from the restored people to their restored King. And this is a staggering Messianic prophecy.
"And their mighty one shall be one of them, And their ruler shall come forth from their midst; And I will bring Him near, and He shall approach Me; For who would dare to give his heart as security to approach Me?’ declares Yahweh." (Jeremiah 30:21)
Their ultimate King, their "mighty one," will be one of them. He will come from their midst. He will not be a foreign potentate or a detached deity. He will be a true Israelite, a man. This is a clear prophecy of the incarnation. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became flesh and dwelt among us, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.
But this is no ordinary man. God says, "I will bring Him near, and He shall approach Me." This is the language of the priesthood. In the Old Covenant, only the High Priest could "approach" God in the Holy of Holies, and he could only do so once a year, with fear and trembling, and with the blood of a sacrifice. But this King-Priest has a unique, intimate, and permanent access to the Father. The Father Himself initiates it: "I will bring Him near."
Then God asks a rhetorical question that exposes the heart of our predicament: "For who would dare to give his heart as security to approach Me?" Who has the collateral to stand before a holy God? Who can pledge his own heart as a guarantee of his righteousness? The answer is no one. No mere man would dare. To attempt it would be suicidal presumption. Only one person in all of history could do this: the God-man, Jesus Christ. He is the only one qualified to approach God on His own merits, and therefore He is the only one qualified to be our Mediator, our Ruler, and our Great High Priest.
The Goal of It All (v. 22)
Finally, the prophet brings all these glorious promises to their ultimate climax, the great refrain of the entire Bible.
"‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’" (Jeremiah 30:22)
This is it. This is the goal of creation and redemption. This is the end to which all of history is driving. Rebuilt cities, joyful worship, fruitful families, a righteous King, all of these are means to this glorious end. The ultimate blessing is not a place, but a relationship. The greatest good is not what God gives us, but that He gives us Himself. All the promises are summed up in this covenant formula: I will be your God, and you will be my people. This is heaven. This is eternal life. And this is our present reality in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, do not look at the ruins around you and despair. Do not listen to the voices that say the cause is lost. Our God is the great Rebuilder. He has sent His Son, our mighty one, to approach Him on our behalf. He has rebuilt the ruin of our own sin, and He has promised to rebuild the ruins of this world. He is gathering a people for Himself, a joyful, fruitful, and honored people. And He has sealed it with the greatest promise of all: "I will be your God." Let us live like that is true, because it is.