“At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be
the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.” (Jer.
31:1). In order to understand the first verse of this chapter in Jeremiah we
must come to a clear understanding of the term Israel as it is defined under
the tenets of the New Covenant in Christ for it is not the same as Israel under
the Old Testament. In Christ the meaning of the term undergoes a great
expansion to include all who truly embrace Christ in his work of redemption and
then continue in faithfulness to the covenant. Let us examine this concept as
it is expressed in the epistle first in Romans, and then in Galatians. “Not as though the word of God hath taken
none effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel: Neither because
they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but in Isaac shall the
seed be called. That is, They which are
the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed.” (Rom. 9:6-8). “Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds as many; but as of one, And thy seed
which is Christ. And this I say, that he covenant, that was confirmed before of
God in Christ, the law which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot
disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the
inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham
by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of
transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made……
(I.e. Jesus Christ).Gal.3:16-19.
So we see that this new covenant promised by Jeremiah not only extended
and included a multitude of people form among the Gentiles but it also abrogated
the old covenant of law “And I say unto
you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of
the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 8:11-12).Jeremiah had a commentary
prophetically to verify exactly what is stated above: “Behold, I will bring them from the North Country, and gather them from
the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with
child and her that travailith with child together a: great company shall return
thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them:
I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein
the shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel (this is not speaking of
Israel after the flesh, but rather the true Israel of God, the spiritual seed
of Abraham), and Ephraim is my first
born.”Jeremiah 31:8-9).
So
let us define it specifically from the words of Jeremiah all of which can be
verified by the Hew Testament account of the work of Christ and the advent of
the Holy Spirit too abide in a people of faith and commitment to be obedient to
the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah sets it forth as follows: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the
covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I
was a husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel; After those days saith the Lord, I will put
my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their
God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man their
neighbor, and every man his brother saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all
know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jer.
31:31-34).
The covenant is rehearsed in the New Testament book of
Hebrews in chapter eight and verses 8-12.The letter to the Hebrews was directed
at Jewish believers who were very familiar with the tenets of the law and was
given to them by Paul for instruction and encouragement as concerns the completed work of
Christ.
So within
Jeremiah’s prophesies were many details of what was to befall Judah at the hand
of Nebuchadnezzar along with multiple warnings and with explanation of the cause of
that severe judgment at the hand of the Lord. But he also assures them that
God is not finished with his work and will not be until Jesus Christ is
manifest as Redeemer and Advocate.
God’s
covenants are always conditional requiring a response of faith and after that a
performance of faithful obedience.
David Lance
Dean website and
blogs: authordavidlancedeancom
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