Major Prophets Jeremiah

The New Covenant

Discover Jesus as: New Covenant Jeremiah 30-31 Read on Bible Gateway (HCSB)

Day 613 of 730
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INTRO

In Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah said the people of Judah and Jerusalem would be in captivity for 70 years, not because of King Nebuchadnezzar but because God would allow it. In Jeremiah 30:3, God promised to one day restore the fortunes of His people—both nations of Israel and Judah. Note that we have not yet seen the complete fulfillment of this promise. Jeremiah 30:7 says, “How awful that day will be!” We know there will be a great tribulation. We know the temple will be there for three- and-a-half years. We know the Antichrist has to be involved. We know the “time of trouble for Jacob” is language for the tribulation. We know “the great day” means the return of Christ. J. Vernon McGee said, “The future glorious return to the land will be preceded by the Great Tribulation.”1 All of this will take place before the millennium, which is when God is going to gather Israel and Judah. On that day God promises to raise up David as their king (Jeremiah 30:9). During this millennium period, Zion’s wounds will be healed (Jeremiah 30:12–17), and their land restored (Jeremiah 30:18–22).

TEACHING

Jeremiah 31:1, 27-30: According to Warren Wiersbe, this chapter discusses “new things the Lord would do for them.”2 At this point in the Old Testament journey, the kingdom of Israel was split. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was a lost kingdom, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah was a captive kingdom. In the opening verse, God said, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel,” meaning not just Judah but also Israel. Jeremiah expanded on this statement in verses 27–30, again talking about a united nation. Basically, what the people of both kingdoms experienced would no longer be based on what their forefathers had done, but on what they chose to do (vv. 29–30).

Jeremiah 31:2–20: God spoke into Israel, the Northern Kingdom. The mention of Samaria (v. 5), and Ephraim (v. 6), are references to the Northern Kingdom. One day, the people of the Northern Kingdom would decide to return to Zion (Jerusalem) (v. 6). God would bring Israel back (vv. 7–9,) because He had redeemed them (vv. 10–11). Verse 15 is a remarkable prophetic verse. According to John MacArthur, it describes “the distress of an Israelite mother for her children killed in the Babylonian invasion.”3 In his Gospel, Matthew depicted “something of the similar weeping of Jewish mothers when King Herod had babies murdered in Bethlehem in a bid to destroy the Messiah” (Matthew 2:17–18).4 Wiersbe offered additional information: “Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, and Joseph was the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two leading tribes in the Northern Kingdom (Genesis 30:22–24). Jeremiah heard Rachel weeping at Ramah, where the Jewish prisoners were assembled for their long journey to Babylon (Jeremiah 40:1). Her descendants through Joseph had been captured by the Assyrians, and now her descendants through Benjamin (the Southern Kingdom) were going to Babylon. Her labor as a mother had been in vain!”5 When all seemed hopeless, Jeremiah revealed God had a better picture (vv. 16–20). God promised He was with Israel and He was not done with Israel.

Jeremiah 31:21–26: God spoke into Judah. Verse 22 contains the image of backsliding. The faithless daughter is an image of a girl flirting with one lover and then another. God wanted to know how long His people would turn away from Him before coming back. Some equate the phrase, “a female will shelter a man” (v. 22), to be a prophecy of the virgin birth.6

Jeremiah 31:31–32: While reassuring Israel and Judah that He would bring them back together, God integrated one of the most profound sections in all of the Old Testament. Our word for Christ in the book of Jeremiah is New Covenant, because there will be something new that only comes through Christ. God promised to make a new covenant with Israel and Judah— with all 12 tribes. The Jews had not been able to keep the Law—the Mosaic covenant. So God promised to give them another chance under a new covenant (vv. 31–32). They had broken the old covenant so often that Joshua, Samuel, Hezekiah, Josiah, and others led the nation of Israel in reaffirming their covenant relationship with God.7

Jeremiah 31:33–40: God’s promise to write His teaching on their hearts (v. 33) was life-changing. God promised to wipe out their sin through the New Covenant (v. 34). God told His people that the city of Jerusalem would be rebuilt and would never be demolished again (vv. 38–40).

Jesus will provide a fulfillment of these promises to individuals first, then to the nation of Israel, through a new covenant.8 MacArthur explains this new covenant would bring about “a spiritual, divine dynamic by which those who know Him would participate in the blessings of salvation.”9 God was setting things up so His people could be saved, not based on what they do but based on their relationship with Him. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said He didn’t come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. Jesus is the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:33.

When you embrace the fact that Jesus died on the cross, was buried for three days and came back to life, realize God puts this on your heart. Remember the suffering servant of Isaiah 53? Remember in Jeremiah the righteous Branch of David that would come to give us hope? This is the New Covenant that is now put in our hearts. The work of Christ on the cross is truly the basis of the New Covenant. In Matthew 26:26–28, Jesus established the new covenant that Jeremiah talked about. Mark 14:22–24 also portrays Jesus establishing this new covenant. Luke also recorded the event (Luke 22:19–20).

The prophets talked about the end times, the first coming of the Messiah, the return of Christ, and the millennium, which is the time of peace that’s coming. That millennium comes when the Jews realize they pierced the Messiah—when they realize He died on the cross and shed His blood for them (Zechariah 12). When they realize Jesus is the New Covenant established for them, then we’ll begin to enter into this period of peace.

CLOSING

Christ is the New Covenant. Whether you are Jew or Gentile, Jesus Christ died for all. When you can understand it is no longer about being good or keeping the law, but about embracing the law in your heart and Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will begin to understand that you have life in the New Covenant.

  1. J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible: The Prophets (Jeremiah/Lamentations), vol. 24 (Nashville: Nelson Word Publishing Group, 1991), n.p.

  2. Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament (Colorado Springs, David C. Cook, 2002), p. 1245.

  3. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005), p. 867.

  4. MacArthur, p. 867.

  5. Wiersbe, p. 1246.

  6. MacArthur, p. 867–868.

  7. Wiersbe, p. 1246.

  8. MacArthur, p. 868.

  9. MacArthur, p. 868.

Questions

  1. Jeremiah 30:12–13 stated Judah’s wound was incurable, and there was no one to plead its case. Yet Jeremiah 30:17 says, “‘I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the Lord.” Explain this seeming contradiction.
  2. Read Jeremiah 30:21. What leader/ruler would come from his own people and yet be able to approach the Lord? For example, he would serve as both king and priest? (Zechariah 6:12–13; Hebrews 5:10; Revelation 19:16)
  3. Jeremiah 31:12 foretold future joy with the description, “And they will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.” Could this be a reminder of Genesis 2:8–10 before the fall, while pointing ahead to a time of restoration from the curse of sin?
  4. Jeremiah 31:15 is quoted in Matthew 2:18. According to the book of Matthew, how was this prophecy fulfilled, and what was the connection to the Messiah (Matthew 2:13–18)
  5. Jeremiah 31:31–34 is also quoted in the book of Hebrews. What point was the author of Hebrews making (Hebrews 8:6–13)
  6. How does the “new covenant” link directly to the Messiah? (Matthew 26:27–29; Mark 14:22–24; Luke 22:15–20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; Hebrews 10:15–17; 12:24; 13:20)
  7. What did the Holy Spirit highlight to you in Jeremiah 30—31 through the reading or the teaching?

Next: the Daily Word →

Daily Word

Laura Martin Jeremiah 31:33–34

“‘Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days’—the LORD’s declaration. ‘I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them’—this is the LORD’s declaration. ‘For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.’”

FURTHER SCRIPTURE

  • Jeremiah 31:3 — “The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.”
  • Jeremiah 31:17 — “‘There is hope for your future’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘and your children will return to their own territory.’”
  • Mark 14:22–24 — “As they were eating, He took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is My body.’ Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them, and so they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many.’”