Jeremiah 31:31-34

A New Covenant

The Significance of This Text:

Jeremiah – Historical Background

“These are times that try men’s souls. . .” (Thomas Paine – November 1776)

  • These words were penned by Thomas Paine at a time when it looked like America was about to lose the war of independence.
  • Jeremiah must have felt a similar sense of desperation as he penned the words of our text (Jer 31:31-34)

Jeremiah:

  • Ministry lasted for about 40 years - beginning in about 627 B.C.
  • Probably penned Jer 31:31-34 around 590 B.C. during the reign of Zedekiah (597-586) – the last king to rule in Judah before it fell.

It was a period of great difficulty:

Nations Were Rising and Falling:
  • Israel Fell to Assyria - 720 B.C.
  • Nineveh (Assyrian capital) Fell to the Babylonians and Medes - 612 B.C.
  • Egypt Driven Back by Babylon - 605 B.C.
  • Judah Itself would fall to Babylon in a few short years - 586 B.C.
Unstable rule in Judah:
  • The last good king, Josiah (640-609 B.C.) had died
  • Two of the last four kings - Jehoahaz (609) and Jehoiachin (598-597) - only ruled for a period of three months!
  • Jehoiakim (609-598) was a bad king
  • Zedekiah (597-586) was a weak king
Exiles to Babylon from Jerusalem:
  • Daniel and his three companions (Dan 1:3-6) – 606 B.C.
  • Ezekiel along with many of Judah’s key personnel – 597 B.C.

Credits:

The timeline (upper left) was adapted from the timeline that comes with BibleWorks 6.0 Software

The other illustrations can be found along with a number of other helpful materials at www.ebibleteacher.com

 

 

 

What is a Covenant?

 
Hebrew: - beriyth {ber-eeth'}
  • alliance, bond, compact, covenant, disposition, treaty (Zemek, G. Theology III {citing GIrdlestone, Synonyms of the OT, 213} p.17)
  • pact, compact, covenant . . . II. between God and man.  . . . 2. covenant, as a divine constitution or ordinance with signs or pledges. . . k. the prophetic covenant, a divine promise through a series of prophets to establish a new constitution. . . with new institutions and precepts. (Brown-Driver-Briggs unabridged Hebrew-English Lexicon – emphasis added)

     

Greek: - diatheke {dee-ath-ay'-kay}

 

Jeremiah 31:31-34 - Analysis of the Text

In Jeremiah 31:31-34 the Lord, speaking through His prophet Jeremiah, offered a word of encouragement to the troubled Israelites by announcing a future New Covenant which He reveals in two phases:

Phase I – The New Covenant is Introduced. (Jeremiah 31:31-32)

31:31a - The new covenant was worthy of their attention:

"Behold"

31:31b - The new covenant was yet future to Jeremiah:

"the days are coming"

31:31c - The new covenant was to be established by God:

"declares the LORD. . . I will make"

31:31d - The new covenant is new – that is, it replaces something old.

"I will make a new covenant "

31:31e - The new covenant was to be made with “the house of Israel and the house of Judah”.

"I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."

With whom was the new covenant made?
  • Verse 31 mentions “the house of Israel and the house of Judah” – and yet the “house of Israel ” no longer even existed at that time!
    • Is God envisioning a future restoration of both the northern and southern kingdoms – as a divided nation?
    • Is he speaking of individuals that came out of these nations?
  • But then in verse 33 he says he will make a new covenant with the “house of Israel ” and doesn’t even mention Judah!
    • Is he now suggesting there will be a new unity between these two nations – or is he just using abbreviated language here?
    • Is he perhaps using “Israel” here to refer to something other than these nations as they have known them?
      • Perhaps a new united Israel?
      • Perhaps a new “spiritual Israel” – an “Israel of God(Gal 6:16)
What about the Gentiles?
  • If the new covenant was to be made with “house of Israel” – where do the Gentiles fit in?
  • Or do the Gentiles fit in?
  • While this is the only passage in the OT that specifically mentions a “new covenant”, Dr. Walt Kaiser and others have suggested that there are a number of other OT passages that refer to this same new covenant, using similar terminology (e.g. an “everlasting covenant” - Jer 32:40; 50:5; Ezek 16:60; 37:26; Isa 24:5; 55:3; 61:8)
  • Dr. Bruce Ware comments: “One new covenant text that seems to suggest that whereas the new covenant is given particularly to Israel, it nonetheless extends beyond Israel to the nations, is Isa 55:3-5(Dispensationalism, Israel, and the Church p. 72)
    • Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor. (Isa 55:3-5)
 

A New Spiritual Israel?
  • Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. (Matthew 21:42-45)
  • Peter writing to Jews and Gentiles in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) says: “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message-- which is also what they were destined for.  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:7-10)
  • Paul writes to the Gentiles in Galatia: Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. . . Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation [Note that for Paul the term "new creation" = someone who is in Christ cf. 2 Cor 5:17]. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.  (Galatians 6:12, 15-16) [Note that Paul calls those Gentiles who "follow this rule" (that what really counts is whether one is a part of the new creation - not whether one is circumcised) "the Israel of God"!]
  • A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. (Romans 2:28-29) [Note that according to Paul a true Jew is not someone who has been outwardly circumcised, but one whose heart has been "circumcised".]
  • It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are [true spiritual] Israel. (Romans 9:6) [Note that Paul uses the term "Israel" here in two ways: the first use refers to the man Israel (aka. Jacob) - a term that was also applied to national Israel because they descended from him - his second use of the term refers to all those who are saved (which could include Jew or Gentile) - i.e. the true spiritual Israel.]

31:31e - Therefore I contend that we amend this outline point to state that the new covenant was to be made with “the true spiritual house of Israel and the true spiritual house of Judah”.

31:32a - The new covenant was not going to be like the old covenant – the one God made through Moses with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai when he graciously freed them from slavery in Egypt.

"not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt"

Please Note!
  • The old covenant was given to a redeemed people, but it was only a physical redemption from slavery in Egypt, not a spiritual redemption (i.e. salvation from sin, regeneration, going to heaven etc.)!
  • It is true that some of them were saved spiritually as well (e.g. Moses - Heb 11:24-28) – but the NT writers describe most of them as having died in unbelief:
  • For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food  and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did-- and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did-- and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did-- and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (1 Corinthians 10:1-12)
     

31:32b - Lastly, God reminds them that they broke the old covenant (even though he kept his end of it) – which explains why he must now make a new covenant!

my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

Why did God need to make a new covenant?

 

Hebrews 8:6-13

Vs.

The Holy Spirit, speaking through the writer of Hebrews, comments on Jer 31:31-34 and explains why God needed to make a new covenant:

 

6
But the [high priestly] ministry Jesus has received
is as superior to theirs [the high priests in the Old Covenant]
as the [new] covenant of which he is mediator
is superior to the old one [i.e. the old covenant] ,
and it is founded on better promises.
 

[Note: The new covenant is founded on the promise that God will give his people a new heart and forgive their sin (Jer 31:33-34) – the old covenant is founded on the promise that "The man who does these things {i.e. perfectly} will live {i.e. receive eternal life} by them." (Lev 18:5) which of course no one can do, (cf. Gal 3:12)]

7
For if there had been nothing wrong
with that first covenant [i.e. the old covenant],
no place would have been sought for another.
 

[The writer is now going to tell us what is “wrong” with the old covenant (see the beginning of verse 8 below): it’s the people! Why? Because they can’t keep it! And to prove his point he goes on and cites Jer 31:31-34 in its entirety, because, as we have already seen, Jeremiah implies that is why God needed to make a new covenant:]

8

But God found fault with the people and said:"

The time is coming, declares the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

9

It will not be like the covenant

I made with their forefathers

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,

and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

10

This is the covenant

I will make with the house of Israel

 after that time, declares the Lord.

I will put my laws in their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God, and they will be my people.

11

No longer will a man teach his neighbor,

or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

12

For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more."

 
[After quoting Jer 31:31-34 in its entirety (in vs. 8-12) , the writer of Hebrews draws the following divinely inspired interpretations:]
13

By calling this covenant "new,"

he has made the first one obsolete;

and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

 

[Why does he say that the first covenant "will soon disappear"? He tells us that it is already obsolete, so hasn't it already "disappeared"? Either one of two things:

  • He may be saying that Jeremiah knew the Mosaic covenant would soon disappear since his prophesy had in effect declared that it was obsolete

  • or

  • Perhaps the writer of Hebrews is referring to the last vestiges of Judaism that still existed in his day and in keeping with Jesus'  prophesies of the coming destruction of the temple, etc. (Mat 24:1-2) and the fact that the covenant is already obsolete, he prophesies that it will soon completely disappear when Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed (in  70 A.D.)]

Summary of Phase I – The New Covenant is Introduced. (Jeremiah 31:31-32):

  • 31:31a - The new covenant was worthy of their attention (“Behold”)
  • 31:31b - The new covenant was yet future to Jeremiah (“the days are coming”)
  • 31:31c - The new covenant was to be established by God (“the Lord declares . . .I will make”)
  • 31:31d - The new covenant is “new” – that is, it replaces something old.
  • 31:31e - The new covenant was to be made with “the [true spiritual] house of Israel and the [true spiritual] house of Judah
  • 31:32a - The new covenant is “not like the old (Mosaic) covenant
  • 31:32b - Lastly, God reminds them that they “broke” the old covenant (even though he kept his end of it) – which explains why he must now make a new covenant!

 

Phase II - The New Covenant is Explained and Implicitly Contrasted with the Old Covenant (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

31:33a - In the new covenant God will bring about an inward change in the hearts of God’s people.

I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.

What does it mean for God’s law to be “written on their heart”?
  • Dr. Bruce Ware suggests that “we should note the complementary yet differing description of God’s new dealings with Israel as given in Ezek 36:24-32. Although Ezekiel does not mention a new covenant, he describes a future decisive and unilateral action resulting in the same faithfulness as described by Jer 31 and other new covenant texts [but] . . .where Jeremiah speaks of God putting his law within the people (Jer 31:33), Ezekiel speaks of God putting his Spirit within them. . .
  • And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezek 36:26-27)
  • . . .God’s sure and certain remedy to this problem of covenant infidelity is to effect a fundamental transformation of human agents under the new covenant, and he does this as his Spirit indwells those covenant participants (Ezek 36:27), making his law a very part of their inner life (Jer 31:33)(Dr. Bruce Ware, Dispensationalism, Israel, and the Church p. 76-77)
 

2 Corinthians 3:3,6

  • Writing to the Corinthians under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul gives us a divinely inspired commentary on how God has written his law on the hearts of new covenant believers in 2 Cor 3:3:
  • You show that you are a letter from Christ,
    the result of our ministry,
    written not with ink
    but with the Spirit of the living God,
    not on tablets of stone
    but on tablets of human hearts. (or literally: “hearts of flesh” - ASV)
 
  • Notice the similarity to the language used in Ezek 36:26-27:
  • I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
 
  • Paul goes on to say in  2 Cor 3:6:
  • He has made us [apostles] competent
    as ministers of a new covenant [promised in Jer 31:31-34]
    -- not of the letter [on tablets of stone like in the old covenant]
    but of the Spirit; [“written” in human hearts]
    for the letter [i.e. the law of Moses]
    kills, [exposes our sin and condemns us to death]
    but the Spirit gives life. [by changing their hearts making them spiritually alive]
  • So we see from this passage that the apostle Paul interprets the “writing” on the “heart” that takes place in the “new covenant” as the giving of the Holy Spirit who then changes our heart, giving us new life and a desire to obey God’s law.

31:33a - In the new covenant God will bring about an inward change in the hearts of God’s people.

I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  
Implicit Contrast:
  • In the new covenant God will bring about an inward change in the hearts of God’s people – so that the people will obey God’s laws by the power of the indwelling Spirit (cf. 2 Cor 3:3,6)
  • In the old covenant the Law was written externally on tablets of stone and served to justly condemn the people who heard it but were powerless to obey it.

31:33b - The new covenant will be characterized by intimate fellowship between God and His people.

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Implicit Contrast:
  • In the new covenant the relationship between God and His people will be characterized intimate fellowship 
  • In the old covenant
    • A similar formula was often proposed by God to the nation of Israel (Ex 6:7, Lev 26:12, Jer 7:23; 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 31:1; 32:38; Ezek. 11:20; 36:28; etc.)
    • But because of their disobedience the nation of Israel was never able to universally enjoy this kind of relationship with God.

31:34a - The new covenant will be characterized by a universal knowledge of God among his people

And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD.   
What does it mean when it says that members of the New Covenant “know the Lord”?
  • The verb know here probably carries its most profound connotation, the intimate personal knowledge which arises between two persons who are committed wholly to one another in a relationship that touches mind, emotion, and will.(Thompson, J.A. The Book of Jeremiah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament) Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980. p. 581)
  • The knowledge spoken of is not theoretical knowledge transmitted by religious instruction. It is rather knowledge of God based on a heart experience of divine grace and imparted by the Holy Spirit with assurance that the believer has been received into the family of God through the forgiveness of sins. (Feinberg, Charles L. Jeremiah (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary) Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. p. 577)
     

31:34a - Therefore we can more specifically say: The new covenant will be characterized by a universal saving knowledge of God among his people

Implicit Contrast:

  • In the new covenant there will be a universal saving knowledge of God among his people
  • In the old covenantthroughout its history Israel was characterized as a nation of people who did not know the Lord (Jer 2:8; 4:22)
    • The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. (Jer 2:8)
    • My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good. (Jer 4:22)
    • Cf. also 1 Cor 10:5ff; Heb 4:6; Mat 21:43; 23:37;Acts 7:51-53
       

31:34b - The members of the new covenant are who they are because God has forgiven their sins!

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more  
Implicit Contrast:
  • In the new covenant the members are who they are because God has forgiven their sins!
  • In the old covenant
    • Because of their sin and rebellion throughout their history God did not forgive their sin but punished them and sent them into exile (cf. Lam 3:42).
    • Eventually God rejected them altogether and replaced them with a new covenant people (Mat 21:42-43)
       

Summary of Phase II - The New Covenant is Explained and Implicitly Contrasted with the Old Covenant (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

  • The New Covenant Involves:
    • An Inward Change in the Heart of God’s People (vs. 33a)
    • An Intimate Fellowship Between God and His People (vs. 33b)
    • A Universal Saving Knowledge of God Among His People (vs. 34a)
    • All resulting from the Forgiveness of Sin in God’s People (vs. 34b)

 

Concluding Observations:

The new covenant was inaugurated by Jesus’ death on the cross:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me”      (1 Corinthians 11:23-25 - cf. Mat 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20)
Ephesians 2:8-22 says it all!
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--  not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)--  remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.