Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 33:19-22

"And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season; then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 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." — Jeremiah 33:19-22 (ASV)

And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying ... —The new introduction here and in Jeremiah 33:23 indicates a fresh message impressed upon the prophet’s mind after an interval of time. In substance, it repeats the promise of Jeremiah 33:17-18, but it reproduces them with even greater solemnity. The covenant of Jehovah with David and with the Levites the priests is placed on the same level of permanence as the ordered succession of day and night. If the old order ultimately gave way to the new, it was only because the new was the transfigured and glorified reproduction of the old.

Whatever may have been the thoughts of the prophet, we are authorized in looking for the seed of David and of the Levites in those who, by virtue of their union with Christ, are made both kings and priests to the Father (Revelation 1:6). Just as the promise to the seed of Abraham is fulfilled in those who are spiritually the children of the faith of Abraham (Romans 9:7–8), so in this sense only can it be true that the seed of David and the Levites shall outnumber the host of heaven and the sand of the sea.