Jeremiah 33:18 - Exposition

Neither shall the priests the Levites, etc. It has Been thought that this passage is inconsistent with the prophecies of a time when the ark should no more be remembered ( Jeremiah 3:16 ), and when all should know Jehovah from the least to the greatest ( Jeremiah 31:34 ). But though sin offerings would in this glorious time become things of the past, yet thank offerings are expressly excepted from abolition ( Jeremiah 33:11 ), and in Jeremiah 31:14 a special latter-day promise is given to the priests. Moreover, Ezekiel, who repeats the prophecy of the new spiritual covenant ( Ezekiel 11:19 ; Ezekiel 36:26 ; Ezekiel 37:26 ), gives an elaborate sketch of a new temple with a sacrificial system ( Ezekiel 40:1-49 ; etc.); and, if there is any inconsistency, we find the same one in the latter part of Isaiah. In Isaiah 61:6 the whole regenerate people of Israel is called "the priests of Jehovah;" but in Isaiah 66:21 the prophet distinctly states that there will be, in some sense, a priestly class within the chosen people.