Jeremiah 37; 30-31
Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD,
Jeremiah 30:10-11
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
For I am with you to save you,
declares the LORD;
I will make a full end of all the nations
among whom I scattered you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
The LORD reassures His people that He is not utterly abandoning them, that He will yet save them. Amidst all the words of woe and certain destruction, this message may seem surprising. But this is not the first time we have heard such a thing from Jeremiah. In fact, we read nearly the exact same words at the end of yesterday’s passage in Jeremiah 46:27-28. And we’ve had similar words of comfort and restoration elsewhere in Jeremiah. Just consider the following that we’ve already read:
- Jeremiah 3:12-4:2
- Jeremiah 4:27; 5:18
- Jeremiah 16:14-21
- Jeremiah 24:4-7
- Jeremiah 29:10-14
- Jeremiah 50:4-5,20,33-34
Now in Jeremiah 30-31 the LORD opens the floodgates of consolation, proclaiming that Israel’s current chastisement will come to an end and they will be restored to their land. But what Jeremiah describes is not merely an eventual release from captivity and a return to the land, but a restoration of relationship with the LORD. Further, this restoration applies not only to Judah, but to the whole house of Israel:
At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 31:1
As we shall see, the exiles in Babylon are eventually released from their captivity and return to the land. But that return only hints at the fulfillment of the LORD’s promises here. The LORD has something much bigger and better in mind:
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, 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. 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. 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.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Stay tuned.
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…
Early in my born-again years, I attended a strong, non-denominational Bible church. Then I met a friend who took me to his church, a mildly charismatic (Pentecostal) church named New Covenant Fellowship. I became active there and to this day I cannot read Jeremiah 31:31 without thinking of my time in that church.