God’s Law in the Heart
Study Scripture: Jeremiah 31: 29 – 34 John 1:17
Lesson 8 October 25, 2025
Key Verse
I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jeremiah 31:33b.
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INTRODUCTION
THE BOOK OF CONSOLATION
Our Lesson Study focuses on several concepts and the effects on the life and history of the 12 tribe nation of Israel, the issue of “time” as god sees it, the role of the Law in this history, what the “heart” means to the Law of God, and the relationship of this matter of the ‘Law in the heart” which we can call the New Covenant.
We will have to look first now at what one writer calls ‘The New in the Old”. He points out and advises:
There are at least two different kinds of time. One is chromos and refers to linear time, the kind of time you find represented by the watch on your wrist or the calendar in your pocket or purse…the time that tends to enslave us and make us dance to its rhythm and march toits cadence. If you are like me, and live by the watch and calendar, you know exactly what I mean.
It determines what I do and how I do it in the weeks ahead.
It is chonos, linear time, the kind of time that just seems to fly by anymore, especially when it is measured in decades
But there is another kind of time in the Bible called kairos. It doesn’t refer to linear time, the kind of time that is marked by a calendar or timepiece…..
Kairos is the kind of time that cannot be pinpointed specifically on the calendar as a future event, nor can it be determined by mere mortals like you and me. It depends on all the circumstances surrounding it to come into line in such a way that whatever event is going to happen happens. And it happens on its own momentum, and not according to anyone’s prediction.
It is the kind of time referred to in the account we read a few moments ago from John’s Gospel when Jesus tells his disciples that “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”….
It happened again as recorded in the eight chapter of john. You remember the story of the woman taken in adultery, the one where Jesus said that he who was without sin should cast the first stone? Oh, how the religious leadership seethed at him. They wanted to arrest him then, but, as John tells us, his hour had not yet come”.
So let us see how the concept of time as God sees it fits in Jeremiah’s time of ministry. Israel is in trouble in 587 B.C. Exile is decreed and it would last for 70 years in a foreign land while the enemy watched over them carefully.
But the prophet Jeremiah does not despair or is overly concerned, for he is looking at time not measured in terms of chromos. He is concerned with kairos, and he knows Yahweh is saying:
“The days are surely coming, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah……This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days (chronos). I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts: and I will be their God and they shall be my people.
No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord, for they shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sins no more (kairos).
Note the issue of your calendar time and God’s time (kairos) for it affects and permeates everything in your life, forcing you if you do not know already to know the kind of God with whom you are dealing.
We can now therefore deal with this matter of the “Law”, and then the matter of the “Heart”.
Note that this New covenant Jeremiah spoke about was to be made first with Israel and was “not according to the covenant” God made with Israel in the desert of Sinai. There god had spelled out in detail the Law, the sacrifices, the blessings and the curses attached to this covenant. One writer points out:
“The new covenant does not do away with or renounce the law. It makes the law closer and more important by setting it in the mind and heart, instead of on a stone tablet or page. ‘It would no longer be like the external one made with the fathers, but spiritual and internal, and based on an intimate knowledge of Jehovah”, (Morgan).
And again note:
“Obedience to the Law is not a prior condition for entering the New Covenant. Rather, it is one of the promised blessings of the New Covenant”. (Ryken).
The Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology joins with the other Bible Dictionaries by stating:
“”Heart” (Hebrew lebab/leb. Gk. Kardia occurs over one thousand times in the Bible, making it the most common anthropological term in the Scripture. It denotes aperson’s center for both physical and emotional-intellectual-moral activities; sometimes it is used figuratively for any inaccessible thing”.
It is explained in more detail by another writer:
“Put simply, the heart in Scripture conveys the totality of the inner self. We are governed from this one point of unity. From it “flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). It is the control center—the source of every thought, the seal of every passion, and the arbiter of every decision. All of it is generated from and overned by this one point of undivided unity.
That is why everything vital to the Christian life—your speech, repentance, faith, service, obedience, worship, walk, and love—must be done with “all your heart” (Deuteronony 10:12; 30:2; 1 Samuel 7:3; Psalm 86:12; 119:34; Proverbs 3:5-6; 4:23;; Isaiah 38:3; Jeremiah 24:7; Matthew 22:37).The heart is the helm of the ship. It takes a bearing and then sets the course of your life. As goes the heart, so goes the person….
Mind. Although we moderns tend to think of the heart primarily in terms of the emotions, the Bible associates the heart with our ability to think. For example, Paul prayed
“May (God) give you the Spirit of wisdom, and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened”.(Eph. 1:17-18).
Jesus said:
“Out of the heart comes evil thoughts” (Matthew 15:19). Psalms 139: 23 draws the parallel:
“Search me, O god, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!”
Our lesson with those matters in mind can now moves into what is called “The Book of Consolation”, Chapters 30 to 33.
This section of the Book of Jeremiah is so named because Jeremiah interrupted his constant message of judgment with a focus on the graciousness of God and His faithfulness to the Covenant with the Fathers, otherwise called the Patriarchs. This covenant led God to guarantee a glorious future for a reunited nation, the ten northern tribes exiled nearly one hundred years previously to Assyria, and Judah, the two tribes destined to be exiled to Babylon in just a few years.
A series of magnificent promises are made to these rebellious peoples. The declaration of the final restoration, the reunification of the twelve Tribes, and a reversal of their worldwide dispersion, is emphatically stated.
The Messiah, the Righteous Branch, is declared, and is said to be coming to transform the national life, and sit again on the throne of David.
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In this “Book of Consolation”, Jeremiah proclaimed the New Covenant. This was not of course a totally separate covenant, totally distinct from the previous covenants with Abraham, elaborated at Sinai, and expanded with David.
But here significant new features and aspects were disclosed, which would be ratified in the future, and brought to a final and full consummation at a specific future time.
In this Covenant rather than being written in stone, the Law would be written on the heart of each individual, so that persons would not have to be taught the Law, but would internally know the Law.
This of course would only be possible after a supernatural work of unheard-of dimension, a work done by God Himself.
In this work, man would have to be given what amounts to “a new nature”.
It must be stated here that these chapters, especially our Chapter of focused Study Chapter 31, has often been pulled out of context, and often severely abused. Why are the facts disregarded?
Jeremiah explicitly presents the parties to the Covenant, namely, the Lord, the House of Israel, and the House of Judah, for these ‘ Houses were God’s chosen people.
Of course, in the time of Jeremiah, there was no ‘ Gentile congregation’ or ‘ Church of God’ yet existing.
This of course raises the question as to the relationship of Gentiles and new believers to the New Covenant. It is because of these questions that many have sought to “replace” Israel and Judah with their own invention, and void the very explicit references and literal meaning of the words of God spoken by Jeremiah to his people.
As we read therefore let us carefully observe the Context, and note to whom Jeremiah spoke. In so doing we must of course look at how Jesus and the Apostles elaborated on this “New Covenant”, and faithfully follow their position without deviation.
Note also, Jesus and the Apostles gave strong warnings to those who desire to be in the Covenant, about the painful and inevitable result of disobedience to God.
Undoubtedly, these Chapters 30-33 are a most important section of the Book of Jeremiah.
The Chapter we study today is an extremely significant one.
THE NATURE OF JEREMIAH’S SOCIETY
To put our Lesson in context and understand the enormity of what God did to bring His people to repentance and salvation, we must remind ourselves of Jeremiah’s character and work and the kind of society that existed in the Judah of his day.
Jeremiah was the last major prophet that witnessed to a decaying nation that was plunging with increasing speed toward its doom. The reforms began by Manasseh after his return from the punishment of exile in Assyria, interrupted by his evil son, but revived in earnest by the righteous King Josiah, only had a superficial effect.
During his forty years of faithful and persevering ministry, despite his message of denunciation, Jeremiah saw no sign of success. The people remained unrepentant, disobedient, and increasingly unfaithful to God. They gloried in the fact that the Temple still stood, Priests still sacrificed and the Levites still served, and the choirs still sung. A King still sat on the throne of David, and all the rituals of the royal court still continued.
But regrettably the nation had adopted the standards of the pagan world, worshiped the abominable heathen gods, indulging in murdering and oppressing the poor, perverting justice, and following the ways of immorality. The rot extended from the throne down to the common people.
It is in this depressing situation that God sent Jeremiah. He was unquestionably the most heroic, courageous, faithful, and yet nation loving prophet.
We must never underestimate the difficulty of his work, the courage of this man, his ability to take punishment and rejection, and yet to maintain his exceedingly high level of love and affection for his rebellious and faithless countrymen. We should try to understand what Jeremiah really did, the opposition he stood up against, and the pressures he resisted.
Imagine how our nations would react if during the Cold War, a prominent preacher would constantly preach that God was really on the side of the Communists, and that God would send them to destroy our nations!
Or to bring it more up-to-date, what would be our reaction if a prominent preacher began declaring loudly and unequivocally that the evil dictator Saddam Hussein of Iraq or even more up to date the Chinese communist regime, would be the instrument of God to destroy us, and God was on His side rather than on our side. That man would most likely be attacked, arrested, and strung up in short order.
But that is what Jeremiah did with a sorrowing, weeping heart. He proclaimed judgment on his beloved nation of Judah. The hands of a hated enemy who were definitely not righteous at all would carry out this judgment.
Jeremiah was ill rewarded for his concerns for his people. He was attacked, persecuted, scorned, mocked, treated with contempt, and endured a lifetime of loneliness. Finally, for his troubles he was thrown into a deep pit filled with slimy human refuse.
The nation did not appreciate the warnings that their behavior had placed them on an irreversible course to national ruin, humiliation and disgrace. This was most depressing and discouraging.
But from that terrible dungeon, the prophet Jeremiah was led to tell Judah and Israel that despite their gross sin, eventually this most gracious God would bring the people out of exile, reunite the hostile tribes of the Northern Kingdom with those of the Southern Kingdom. He would put away their sins, once again be their God that they faithfully worshiped, and give them a high position of honor among all the nations of the earth.
Chapter 31 was the first of three Chapters, which spoke of the restoration of the people of God and the inauguration of the New Covenant.
Chapter 30 addressed Judah, and spoke about its coming restoration. Chapter 31 then recorded this dedicated prophet speaking about the restoration of Israel, the reuniting with Judah, and the New Covenant.
Chapter 32 confirmed the coming captivity and punishment for the recalcitrant people of Judah, and continued to promise a gracious return of the people to their land.
Chapter 33 then introduced the gracious promise of the Branch of righteousness that will come finally and establish the nation permanently.
This was during the reign of Zedekiah, the last King of Judah, and the nation was facing the darkest period of its history, though the people and their spiritual and political leaders did not behave as if they appreciated their predicament. The prophet Jeremiah was instructed by God to bring hope and confidence to those in the nation who would listen to the word of God.
Jeremiah was so thrilled and strengthened by this message that he declared that his sleep was pleasant to him.
In Chapter 30:8, Jeremiah emphasized the certainty of deliverance from the yoke of the strangers, and the guaranty that never again would the people serve other nations.
It is interesting to note that every nation that has ill-treated the people of Israel has never prospered. The prophet promised that God would watch over His people, and punished those that oppress them. See Verse 20.
But even more amazingly, this restoration would entail the raising up and establishment of David as their King, which would initiate an eternal time of service to the Lord their God.
Clearly this looked well past the return from the captivity in Babylon down to a time, which is future even to us.
Verses 10 to 12 then emphasized that the nation would be restored, and the people brought back from all over the earth. They would worship God joyfully, and be blessed in every way. In the “latter days” they would be brought back to the land in belief. There would be joy and gladness after the many years of darkness, wandering, and sorrow.
The taste for strange gods and strange ideas would be wiped out of their minds completely.
MERCY PROMISED TO ISRAEL
Verses 1-22. In this Chapter God declared His intention to, in the latter days, bring together all the families of Israel, and once again make them His people and His people alone.
The love and faithfulness of God to His Covenant would result in His gracious act of once again making Israel His people. All the tribes that had been separated into the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah would be reunited and delivered.
Note carefully that the re-gathering and repatriation of the Tribes would take place at the same time, that is, in the latter days, and precede the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
Just as He had delivered the people out of Egypt and graciously led them through the wilderness to Canaan, so He would find rest for His wandering, weary people. During the forty years in the wilderness, God had gone before them in the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud, and led them all the way. Their clothes had not worn out, and their shoes had never become tattered despite the rough ground in the wilderness.
Jeremiah told the people of God’s assurance to him, that in spite of their rebellions and misbehavior he had continued to love the people of Israel with an everlasting love. All during the time of reprimanding them, and the time of their distress, He had watched over them, protected them, and led them.
This was an everlasting love, one that never failed, even though it allowed a withholding of the blessings that it contained.
This love therefore was so powerful that its limits, if limits existed, lay outside of the experience of human beings, and they therefore were unable to understand it. It was greater than human understanding and knowledge, stretching into infinity.
Because of this love, the people were drawn, kept, and preserved from destruction. God’s action was based on the covenant with Abraham that was unchanging and perpetual.
It followed of necessity therefore that Israel would be built up again, made to prosper increasingly, its people enjoying great and holy enjoyments. The barren hills of Samaria would then overflow with the fruit of the vine. There would be plenty for all, and no danger would ever threaten.
The watchmen, instead of preventing the people from going up to Jerusalem to worship and directing them to the idol worshiping centers, would now stir up the people to go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feasts and worship their God.
The people would be extremely glad and jubilant at their salvation, and the salvation of the remnant of Israel. This great company of the remnant, the repentant, would include the blind, disabled, the weak, and pregnant women, even if they were in labor. All would return weeping and repentant, but given a very comfortable passage to their land. God would guide then carefully, refreshing and nurturing them, so that none would fall by the wayside.
All the heathen nations would see that the God of Israel, who had sent them into exile, had now intervened on behalf of His people to restore them. They would realize that no one could prevent God from delivering His people.
Never again would God’s people be chastised and placed under pagan bondage.
There would be no need for the exiled and suffering people to mourn, for God Himself guaranteed their return. All the people would enjoy the fat of the land, and would present many thank-offerings to God because of the blessings He had given them.
What is very important is the fact that Israel (Ephraim) repented fully for his sins, and prayed for God to help restore him.
In verses 18 to 19 he was in deep sorrow and mourning for the miseries he had brought on himself. He was angry with himself over his wayward behavior so he smote his thigh, just as the publican smote his breast. He was ashamed and confounded, and had prayed that God would turn him from his foolishness.
The Spirit of God had done His work of convicting him of his sins, in spite of himself.
The compassion and love of God was now revealed. While Ephraim had mourned, God had regarded him with kindly feelings, and in divine, fatherly compassion had regarded him as a “dear son”, and a “pleasant child”, a delightful child, regarding him with the most heartfelt sympathy and tenderness. He had threatened him, punished him, and watched him suffer distress, but He had never enjoyed his suffering.
God therefore called Israel to pay attention to the route that they used to go into exile so that they could retrace their steps when God called on them to return home. They were to therefore seriously think about returning home to the Lord their God, having first repented and turned to Him with all their heart.
Verse 22 called on the people to remember the sorrows that followed their disobedience, to note the way that they went into bondage, and to reverse their steps. They were to turn and set their heart on the land of God, and away from the things of Babylon. They should begin to prepare themselves for the journey back to God, along the highway God had opened for them to return home, to cease being unfaithful, wandering away from God and backsliding.
God was about to do something “new” or unprecedented, which had never been done before. It would be amazing and hard to believe. It was unbelievable, but it was certain, for God had guaranteed it. The future was guaranteed to be unbelievably new, astounding, unheard of and bright.
Verse 23. Now Jeremiah turns away from Israel to discuss promises to Judah, coupling this with the guarantee and backing of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the Armies of Heaven.
The completely reformed and renewed inhabitants coming back from captivity will be so different that they will be fit to be in Jerusalem or Zion.
Every nation around will see that Jerusalem and the re-united peoples have been transformed.
The God of Hosts would once again, fight on behalf of His people so that they would live in security and in peace.
Zion would be the “Holy Mountain”, and the city would be the ‘ habitation of righteousness’. Justice would flow out from there throughout the land, for the seat of the righteous Ruler would obviously be there. The Lord uttered a benediction and special blessing for this sacred mountain.
Clearly the people would care for spiritual things and follow a life of holiness, recognizing in their speech the holiness of this place.
Verse 24. With the transformation of the people, and recognition of the holiness of this sacred mountain of Zion, material blessings would everywhere flow in abundance. All who are in Judah would enjoy the fruits of their labor free from oppression and theft. Everyone would work in his or her chosen occupations. There would be a conjunction between spiritual blessing and material blessing.
Verse 25. The prophet then summarized the reason for this happy condition. God had given abundant rest to fully satisfy every weary soul, and give the weak and faint strength, joy, and comfort. God guaranteed a time of plenty all around and in every respect. There would be a happy settlement in the Promised Land.
Verse 26. This was a most sweet consolation to the suffering and weeping Prophet.
It appears that Jeremiah had received this ‘ consolation’ from God during a state of ecstatic sleep, and the prophet therefore declared that his sleep was pleasant.
The truths (facts) about the future that God had given him had revealed the certain future blessing for his people, and the revelation of the glory of God, who would now live among them forever.
The promises revealed to Jeremiah were sweet indeed for they showed that not only would Israel and Judah survive, but also in future all the covenant blessing would be forever poured out on them. All disappointments, pain, and backsliding would cease. For Jeremiah the pain of his prophetic ministry would be no more.
Verse 27. With a re-united twelve tribes under one King David, the material blessing promised is further elaborated. God Himself will do the planting, for there would be a need to repopulate the land that had been emptied by the many deportations, wars, and national calamities.
He will abundantly increase the number of people and tame domestic animals, which would enable their prosperity.
So note that when God plants and waters, there is bound to be a plenteous increase.
Verse 28. God made no bones about the fact that it was He who had decimated the land, and had judged them for their idolatry, immorality and continued disobedience.
He had been against them for a long time, and everything that happened would of necessity have led to their ruin. Apostasy had brought certain punishment from God.
Just as the all-powerful God had watched over this faithless people to uproot and punish, he would now watch in order to plant and build them up.
His prophet would therefore now stress this part of his message, since God had decided that their chastisement and suffering would be eventually over, and the time of refashioning them would come.
God would then be most happy and diligent to strengthen, comfort, and prosper His people.
THE TEXT
Verse 29. The people obviously were saying, or using as the time- worn excuse which is still used today. The excuse is that the sins of their parents and ancestors had led to their exile.
This threatened exile therefore was an unjustified hardship, for it was brought about by events that they were not responsible for.
We note that the prophet Ezekiel in 18:2-4 commented on this same feeling and attitude among the exiles. Of course these complainers completely disregarded Deuteronomy 24:10 and 2 Samuel 12:1-15, which taught that children could not claim that they were paying for the sins of their parents.
They instead erroneously interpreted Exodus 20:5-6 to deflect attention from the fact that they had persisted in the sins of their fathers.
Unfortunately, people still do that today, and blame their problems on generational curses, instead of repenting and turning to the all-powerful Lord of Hosts.
In fact, the proverbial expression fits more neatly with the doctrine of fatalism than with the teachings of God.
God never calls or encourages fatalistic despair.
Verse 30. Now God was making it clear that the time of national punishment would be unmistakably succeeded by a time in which there was no ongoing period of national suffering. Therefore any individual suffering could clearly be only a result of individual sin.
The salvation of the nation was a given. As one writer puts it:
“Public salvation will give no impunity, no security, to private sinners; still every man that eats the sour grapes shall have his teeth set on edge.
Note, those that eat forbidden fruit, how tempting so ever it looks, will find it a sour grape, and it will set their teeth on edge; sooner or later they will feel from it and reflect upon it in bitterness. There is as direct a tendency in sin to make a man uneasy as there is in sour grapes to set the teeth on edge.”
God’s compassion had so changed the people that they would recognize their sin, and repent as Ephraim had done. (Verses 18-22) They would understand that the divine judgment was justified, and everyone would recognize that punishment followed the individual for his own sin.
After making this clear statement of fact, establishing the reason for the punishment God had brought, Jeremiah went on to explain what God now had to do, putting before the people the necessity for a “New Covenant”. The terms of this New Covenant was based on recognition of sin, repentance, and the forgiveness of iniquity by God.
Verse 31. The next verses to the end of the Chapter are most important, for here Jeremiah spoke of God’s promise of a radical change in His dealing with the people of Judah and Israel. Note several specific things about this ‘New Covenant’.
First, reference is made to the time of the Covenant. The prophet says the ‘ days’ or ‘ time’ is coming.
The time reference ‘ the days to come’ or ‘ in that day’ generally refer to the Messianic Age. Certainly in this case, the ultimate fulfillment of this is in future, though clearly some application has begun prior to our days according to the specific teaching of Jesus and the Apostles.
The phrase, used previously by Jeremiah, places the prophecy squarely in the Messianic “Day of the Lord”.
This statement points to the monumental spiritual deliverance from sin and death which had been done at Calvary, and which will be fully applied to believers on the Date of the Lord. Roman 11: 27 states that the Covenant with be fully realized in the ‘ last days’.
Second, reference was made to the Maker of the Covenant. The name used for this Maker is that of Jehovah, the “I am who I am”.
Note that the Study Bible describes ‘ covenant’ as
“An agreement between two or more parties. The term often refers to God’s self-imposed obligation to reconcile fallen humanity to him. God’s redemption plan throughout history promise salvation and blessing to those who obediently serve him”.
The third reference was to a “New” “Covenant”. The word used here does not mean:
“to make an appointment” but rather means, “to conclude a covenant”, to establish a relation of mutual duties and obligations.
Every covenant which God concludes with men consists, on the side of God, in assurance of his favors and actual bestowal of them; these bind men to the keeping of the commands laid on them.”
This ‘New Covenant’, is stated in verse 32 to be different from the Covenant God made with His people when He brought them out of Egypt and made a Covenant with them at Sinai. God had then literally married them to Himself, and was a husband to them, and had led them.
But the nation broke that Covenant. They made a great split between themselves and God, their husband, by their continued idolatry. They had been treacherous and false to a loving, tender, careful husband. He had given them numerous blessings, but they proved to be unfaithful to the marriage bond.
One observant writer on verse 32 makes this precise observation as to why the “New Covenant” was necessary.
“The two closely related connected expressions indicate why a new covenant was necessary; there is no formal statement, however, of the reasons, which is nearly given in a subordinate and appended clause. For the proper reason why a new covenant is made is not that the people have broken the old one, but that, though Jahveh had united Israel to Himself, they had broken the covenant and thereby rendered it necessary to make a new one. God the Lord, in virtue of his unchangeable faithfulness, would not alter the relation he had himself established in his love, but simply found it anew in a way which obviated the breaking of the covenant by Israel. For it was a defect connected with the covenant made with Israel at Sinai, that it could be broken on their part. This defect is not to exist in the covenant which God will make in after times. The expression “after those (not these) days” is remarkable…and yet the days meant can only be the “coming days”, accordingly, it is “those days” (as in vs. 29) that are to be expected.”
It is clear therefore that there would be a radical change, and this New Covenant by its very nature would ensure that it could not be broken in future.
Before we look further at the implications of this “New Covenant”, let us look at those with whom the Covenant was made.
Fourth, it is said that God made this Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Rome 9: 1-5 makes this very clear. The Covenant is for the reunited nation, all of whom are God’s chosen people. The tribes of Israel are the Covenant people of God.
Many have attempted to teach the erroneous doctrine that Israel and Judah have been “replaced”, and that this “New Covenant” applies to their particular denomination, racial group, organization, or cult.
Note carefully that the “New Covenant” would be made “in those days” with the same chosen people that the “Old Covenant” was made with.
This “New Covenant” was not made with any other group, or with “the Church” since the former Covenant was not made with any of those groups.
THE BELIEVER TODAY AND THE NEW COVENANT
It must be noted that Gentiles now have a part in this “New Covenant”. This is because Christ died and implemented this New Covenant for all sinners. See Romans 9:30-33.
But very importantly, because of this Covenant, all believers in Christ are not in a separate Covenant, but are grafted into the stock of Abraham. Read Romans 11:16-24.
Some however, to support their erroneous conclusions, get rid of these passages, by spiritualizing them, though there is no justification for doing so.
Both Israel and Gentiles therefore are really now together redeemed directly by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, the long expected Messiah, into the New Covenant. Ephesians 3:1-7 and Hebrews 8 make this abundantly clear.
The ‘New Covenant” is therefore bound up with the death and crucifixion of Christ, who died for all men, and have made one New Body in Him.
The congregation of God, the ‘ekklesia’, or the Church, is nothing less than the chosen people of God, and through all the ages these people are well connected.
Now however we see that Gentiles are added to the people of God, and saved as Gentiles, not as Jews, through the blood of Jesus.
The Church is simply the body that consists of the people of the Covenant, including the engrafted people of God, who have all been redeemed by the Blood of Christ.
The “New Covenant” was not negotiated with Gentiles, and so clearly could not originally been applicable directly to them as an isolated group. It was the refusal of Israel to obey the terms of the covenant and accept the one and only way to redemption established by the covenant that was used by God to open the doors and bring Gentiles to salvation.
Jeremiah insisted that the “New Covenant” came to be promised following Israel’s consistent disobedience. There was no fault with God, for He had always been faithful.
Verse 33. The nature of the New Covenant is a peculiar one. God could have changed the kind of relationship he had with His people, but He did not do that. He maintained the individual, intimate relationship by this New Covenant.
There would now be a permanent change in will, and heart, instead of there simply being an external change in behavior. The behavior of the people would not be the same as the surface change in Josiah’s time.
The Law of God would become a principle of life. The Law would become part of man’s nature. Obeying it would be instinctive. The Spirit of God would implant this Law in the heart. One writer says:
“The law shall be written in their hearts by the finger of the Spirit as formerly it was written in the Tables of Stone. God writes his laws in the hearts of all believers, makes it ready and familiar to them, at hand when they have occasion to use it, as that which is written in the heart. He makes them in care to observe it, for that which we are solicitous about is said to lie near our hearts. He works in them a disposition to obedience, a conformity of thought and affection to the rules of the divine Law, as that of the copy to the original.
Another writer adds:
“In the old covenant, the Law with its requirements is the impelling force; in the new covenant, the grace shown in the forgiveness of sins is the aiding power by which man attains that common life with God which the Law sets before him as the great problem of life.
It is in this that the qualitative difference between the old and new covenants consists. The object which both set for attainment is the same, but the means of attaining it are different in each. In the old covenant are found commandment and requirement; in the new, grace and giving.
Certainly, even under the old covenant God bestowed on the people of Israel grace and the forgiveness of sins, and, by the institution of sacrifice, had opened up a way of access by which men might approach him and rejoice in his gracious gifts; His Spirit, moreover, produced in the hearts of the godly ones the feeling that their sins were forgiven, and that they were favored of God. But even this institution and this working of the Holy Spirit on and in the heart, was no more than a shadow and prefiguration of what is actually offered and vouchsafed under the New Covenant. Hebrews 10: 1.
The sacrifices of the old covenant are but prefigurations of the true atoning offering of Christ, by which the sins of the whole world are atoned for and blotted out”.
Clearly, the level of change envisaged was possible only if the change is the same as the ‘New Birth’ spoken of in the Gospels. The Holy Spirit is the only One who would achieve this work.
Note however that Law is not done away with, in the sense that it no longer exists, no longer applies, no longer has tremendous force, or can be trifled with, or can be broken by actions contrary to it. Instead, the Law is written on the heart, and so there is:
“a disposition to obedience, a conformity of thought and affection to the rules of the divine law”.
Verse 34. The intimate knowledge of the people is such that everyone will understand God and his will, without a human intermediary, such as a Priest. God will be experienced directly, for the heart will be so filled by the Holy Spirit, that there will be direct access to God through Christ.
Of course, this does not mean that people are self-sufficient and independent.All without exception will have their own experience of God, despite the variety in ability or gifts, and will cooperate with others at varying levels of maturity, and with other gifts to advance the cause of Christ.
The forgiveness of sins by God is the cause or basis of the New Covenant, and the behavior and ability of the least to the greatest.
Everyone will know and appreciate the graciousness of God as a heart felt experience, as the Holy Spirit works to assure the believer that he is indeed adopted as the son of God.
The next important element in the New Covenant to Israel and Judah is its permanence, for it is built on the unchanging purpose of God.
Jeremiah illustrated this permanence of Israel’s national existence by pointing out that just as the laws of nature are permanent, so would Israel exist permanently. As long as the permanent laws of nature remained, Israel national existence was assured. Vs. 35-37.
The next element in the New Covenant is a guarantee that Jerusalem would be rebuilt and would remain permanently holy.
Even the places that were previously polluted would be consecrated to God and to his service. A renewed covenant logically implied a renewed Jerusalem, dedicated to the glory of God. Vs. 38-40.
God the Lord confirmed the truth of this covenant by swearing the most powerful oath in verses 38 and 40. Israel and Jerusalem would be totally His, holy, and permanently there.
John 1:17 makes the source of your salvation, your redemption, your entry into the family of God, you gift of eternal life, absolutely clear. It states categorically in the Apostle John’s address to his nation:
“For the law was given by Moses, bur grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”.
CONCLUSION
So do you understand the message of Scripture based on the Promise of God in Genesis 3:15?
These words of comfort were designed to assure the people of God, even before they went into captivity, that God would in due time restore them. Even though the nation sinned and continued in disobedience, God still watched over them to save the repentant remnant.
They would eventually be a happy nation, for their promised King would be with them, and they would have permanent peace, honor, joy, and great abundant prosperity.
God’s New Covenant which them would mean a permanent materially and spiritually rich relationship.
When we realize that we have been included in this New Covenant, and will be blessed, we should live a life of praise to our Redeemer.
We too can and should remain comforted in our moments of distress, and when we face a dismal future. If we belong to God and yet sin, He will restore, after His appropriate chastisement.
We are certain that what God has promised He will deliver.
We therefore have the confidence of the Apostle Paul declared to the brethren in 1 Corinthians 1.
We are confident about you for the grace of God has been given to you by the Lord Jesus Christ, and because of that as the Apostle said,
“That in every thing you are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge:
Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
So that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that we may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ