Reading: Jeremiah 29-31
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 his neighbour, 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. 31:33-34).
When we think of the prophecies of Jeremiah, we most often think of messages of disobedience, suffering, and destruction, but today’s reading takes a refreshingly different path. Chapters 30 and 31 provide us with one of the most complete revelations in the Old Testament of the reign of Christ and the nature of the New Covenant with His people.
The original hearers of the message that God had entrusted with Jeremiah had a limited understanding of the grace of God. They lived under the Covenant established on Mount Sinai, represented by external Law recorded on stone tablets. This Covenant expressed the holiness and righteousness of God: Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good (Rom. 7:12). It had been given so that God’s chosen people could come to know Him, yet it existed separate of the body of believers. The people were instructed, And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates (Deut. 6:8-9). To know God, His people had to attend to His laws through an external motivator, a system of rewards and punishments meant to modify behaviors so that their hearts might be opened to God’s truth.
Through the promise that God set forth via the prophecy of Jeremiah, the people were given their first glimpse at the much more intimate relationship with the Lord that was to come. 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. What an incredible scene this verse invokes! Can you imagine living in a world where everyone lived for God? Through the work of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are already much closer to this reality than were the citizens of ancient Judah. For those of us that have accepted Christ as our Savior, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16). The Holy Spirit lives inside of us, supporting us as we work to rise above our baser human nature and seek to live in the will of God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace (6:14). Yet the day that Jeremiah was speaking of, the day that God will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, the day that evil will be eradicated from God’s creation, is still to come.
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (I Thess. 4:16-17).
Thought for Today: If we surrender our lives to God, no force can take us from Him.
Christ Revealed: As the One who forgives sin (Jer. 31:34).
Word Studies: 29:11 an expected end = a hopeful future; 29:23 have committed villany = have done disgraceful things; 30:21 engaged = pledged; 31:14 satiate = fully satisfy; 31:21 high heaps = road signs (pointing back to Israel).
Pray for Counry: Antigua and Barbuda (91,295) Eastern Caribbean • Major Languages: English, Local Dialects • Religious Freedom • 76.4% Protestant; 10.4% Roman Catholic; 5.4% Other Christian; 2% Other; 5.8% None/Unspecified • Prayer Suggestion: Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him (Ps. 37:7).
Optional Reading:I John 4