THE PROMISE OF A NEW COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND ISRAEL

Moving ahead to the end of Jeremiah 31 we encounter a very important prophecy concerning God’s relationship with Israel.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 “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 that 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 an 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 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.”

I am sure that the message of these verses brought a song to Jeremiah’s heart. The Lord is declaring through His prophet that a future day is coming that He will establish a “new covenant” with the whole nation of Israel—both Northern and Southern Kingdoms once again joined together as one. This is not a reference to the unconditional covenant He made with Abraham. It is a reference to the conditional covenant under the law that He established with Israel through Moses. It stands out very clearly when you read through Deuteronomy in particular that under this covenant God’s blessing was dependent upon their obedience to God; disobedience would result in suffering His curse.

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.”

Deuteronomy 28:1–2 & 15 “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God….. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee….”

Instead of a covenant of law written on stones with no inherent power to empower the people to keep it, the LORD is going to write His law on their hearts. The prophet Ezekiel tells us that this covenant will be accompanied by the indwelling Spirit of God in the heart of every person in Israel from that time forward.

Ezekiel 11:17–20 “Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

Ezekiel 36:26–28 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

In other words, the covenant will be a part of their very being and will empower them through the indwelling Holy Spirit to act according to the true intent of God’s law. Every person of Jewish birth will “know” the LORD; they will have a relationship with Him that reflects their love and obedience. They will know Him and see Him and interact with Him in the person of His Son Jesus Christ who will rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem. Again, that beautiful truth—“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The Apostle Paul also talked about this glorious time in Israel’s future.

Romans 11:25–27 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

The verses in Romans above make it clear that a full number of Gentiles would be brought into covenant relationship before Israel turns back to God in faith. We know that Jesus Christ established the new covenant through His death and resurrection. The writer to the Hebrews also makes it clear that this covenant is an everlasting covenant; it will never be replaced.

Hebrews 8:6 “But now hath He [Jesus] obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”

Hebrews 13:20–21 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.”

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are privileged to have a part in that new covenant now. We are given the indwelling Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our future inheritance and empowered by Him to live in victory over sin.

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

Ephesians 1:13–14 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us….”

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

God goes on to declare through His prophet that His promises to Israel are as sure as the ongoing function of the sun, moon and stars.

Jeremiah 31:35–36 “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.”

God has not replaced Israel with the church; He has privileged us to be able to participate in the new covenant with them.