Today’s Reading Jeremiah 31
Jeremiah is one of the big prophets that is critical to the history and wisdom of God in the Old Testaments. Jeremiah is the author of the Book of Jeremiah and Lamentations. He has an eyewitness account the fall of Jerusalem and conquest of the Babylonians. But in these verses in Chapter 31, he reveals two promises that have been addressed previously: God will bring his people to him AND God will dwell in them.
Jeremiah 31: 31-34
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 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, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: 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. 34 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. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
In this section, God reveals for a second time (first in Isaiah with the coming of Christ) that He will create a new covenant with Judah and Israel. This is important because the children of Israel new something big is going to happen, but they are not sure when or how. This is the covenant with Christ. This promise meant that some suffering and sacrifice would have to be made. God reveals here that he understands the ultimate price is something that we, as humans, were unable to complete. He has seen our inability to complete our promises and He being a merciful father will aid us in this promise. After many times and attempts, God steps in and creates peace in the disorder that we have made.
The first promise is Salvation with Christ. The second promise is the creation of the temple of God dwelling in each of us with the Holy Spirit.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I willbe their God, and they shall be my people. 34 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. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
This is the combination of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working in tandem for His benefit for us. God is revealing the promise of not only will He save us from the hurt and destruction that we have subjected ourselves, but He will wipe away everything that is blocking our connection, then He will then reside within us. He even states that there is no one that would be able to take credit for or against it because He will reveal Himself to everyone. These are the promises that God has made. Let us remember. {Further reading Romans 8}