Who are the two families mentioned in Jeremiah 33:24?

Question

Initial the text had spoken of the release from captivity of the two houses of Judah and Israel

KJV Jeremiah 33 : 7

And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

Later on it speaks of two families which are not specifically mentioned by name

KJV Jeremiah 33 : 24

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

In the above text two families are mentioned which its not clear who these two are

In the following text two families are mentioned again namely the seed of David and Levites

KJV Jeremiah 33 : 22

As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

further on the text switches to the family of Jacob and David

KJV Jeremiah 33 : 26

Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Contextual trying to identify the two families has proved a little bit difficult seeing three sets of branches have been mentioned namely Judah/Israel,David/Levites and Jacob/David

Who are the two families mentioned in Verse 24?

Answer 1

There are two separate matters in Jer 33 that should be kept distinct:

• the family of Jacob (V26) represents the nation of Israel in its entirety
• the family of David (V22) represents the regal family of the king (later fulfilled by Messiah, Jesus)
• the family of the Levites (V22) represents the priestly family (later fulfilled by Messiah, Jesus)

Thus, in V24, God is saying that any nation (the nation of Jacob, the Israelites included) that has its regal and priestly families destroyed has effectively destroyed the nation.

However, in V25 God reminds the people that His covenant is as fixed as day and night and is permanent and unmovable.

The covenant alluded to (V25) are probably the following:

• The Israelite Covenant: Ex 19-24 plus parts of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, and was eternal (1 Chron 16:17, Jer 50:5, Ps 105:8)
• The Davidic or Royal Covenant: 2 Sam 7, 23:5, 1 Kings 6:11, 12, 8:25, 1 Chron 17:11-14, 2 Chron 6:14-16, 7:17, 18, 13:5, Ps 89:4, 29, 34, 39, 132:11, 12, Jer 33:21, Eze 37:15-28, and was eternal (2 Sam 23:5, 1 Kings 9:5, 2 Chron 13:5, Eze 37:25, 26) and was fulfilled by Jesus Christ as king of Israel, Matt 1:1, 20, 9:27, 12:23, 15:22, 20:30, 15, 21:9, 15, Mark 10:35, Luke 1:32, 33, 18:38, 39, John 1:49, Acts 13:32-37, Heb 1:8
• The Levitical Covenant: – Lev 1-9, 16, 21-27 , Num 3, 4, 8, 18, 25:10-13, Deut 33:8-11, Neh 13:29, Mal 2:4-8. This is an eternal covenant (Num 25:12, 13, Ps 106:30) of salt, Num 18:19. This was also fulfilled by Jesus Christ as our Great High Priest, Heb 4:14-16, 5:10, 7:23-28, 8:1, 2, 9:1-28, 10:1-18.